OALOENIS. 367 



at the time, and was being brought fruit and berries by the male 

 bird. While the eggs were being taken the birds flew round 

 repeatedly, and settled on an adjacent tree, keeping np a loud 

 whistling. The eggs are obtuse-ended ovals, of a pale greenish-blue 

 ground-colour (one being much paler than the other), sparingly 

 spotted with large and small spots of lilac-grey, and blotched over 

 this with a few neutral-brown and sepia blots. They measure from 

 1-3 to 1-32 inch in length by 0-96 to 0-99 in breadth." 



527. Calornis chalybe'ius (Horsf.). The Glossy Oalornis. 

 Oalornis chalybaeus* {Horsf.), Hume, Cat. no. 690 bis. 



Of the Glossy Calornis Mr. Davison remarks that " it is a per- 

 manent resident at the Nicobars, breeding in holes in trees and in 

 the decayed stumps of old cocoanut-palms, apparently from Decem- 

 ber to March. At the Andamans it is much less numerous, and is 

 only met with in pairs or in small parties, frequenting the same 

 situations as it does in the Nicobars." 



Mr. J. Inglis writes from Cachar : — " This Tree-Stare is rather 

 rare. It breeds about April in the holes of dead trees ; when the 

 young are able to fly it departs. It again returns about the middle 

 of February." 



In Tenasserim this species was observed nesting by Mr. J. Darling, 

 junior, who says : — " 22nd March. Noticed several pairs of Oalornis, 

 with nests, in the big wooden bridge over the Kyouk-tyne Creek 

 about 1| mile out of Tavoy, and also a great number of their nests 

 in the old wooden posts of an old bridge further down the Creek." 



Mr. ~W. Davison, when in the Malay peninsula, took the eggs of 

 this bird. He remarks : — " I found a few pairs frequenting some 

 areca-palms at Laugat, and breeding in them, but only one nest 

 contained eggs, three in number. The nest was a loose structure 

 almost globular, but open at the top, composed externally of very 

 coarse dry grass (lallung or elephant-grass), and lined with green 

 durian leaves cut into small bits. The nest was too lightly put 

 together to preserve. This nest and several other empty ones 

 were placed at the base of the leaves where they meet the 

 trunk. 



" The three eggs obtained were slightly set, so that three is pro- 

 bably the normal number laid. 



" I noticed several other pairs breeding at the same time in holes 

 of a huge dead tree on Jugra Hill at Laugat, but I was unable to 

 get at the nests." 



The eggs are quite of the Eulabes type, moderately broad ovals, 

 more or less compressed towards the small end, occasionally pyri- 

 form. The shell firm and strong, though fine, smooth to the touch 

 in some cases, with but little, but generally with a fair amount of 



* Mr. Hume considers the Andaman Calornis distinct from the Oalornis 

 inhabiting Cachar, Tenasserim, &c. I have united them in the 'Birds of 

 India.'— Ed. 



