272 The Indian Magpie Bobin or Bhayal Bird. 
to mc that the parent birds were dependent upon the moisture 
in the atmosphere to enable them to lay properly filled eggw, 
and also to find the proper kind, and proper amount of in- 
sect food for their young. The Dhayal is a bold bird, and 
a grand fighter, and can defend his nest against most of his 
foes, but even he has to lose his eggs sometimes, and choose 
a nesting place more secure from foes. One pair in my gar- 
den nested in a hole in a tree about 20 feet up, and as I 
noticed one day that they had deserted, I sent a Mali up the 
tree to have a look at the nest. The Mali walked up the 
tree, very much after the same fashion a monkey might, using 
his bare feet almost as well as his hands and without much 
difficulty reached the hole and peeped in. He came down 
much quicker than he went up, and told me with an awe- 
struck face that there was a gohera (a poisonous lizard) in 
the nest. I, not being able to walk up the tree m-onfcey 
fashion, and being unwilling to make an exhibition of myself 
in swarming up like a schoolboy, and spoiling my clo'.thes 
in the effort, sent for a ladder, and went up easily and leis- 
urely to have a look for myself. Sure enough Ithere wasf a 
ground lizard in the hole, and I presumed the eggs were in- 
side him, for they had disappeared. I sent for my saloon 
rifle and slew him at close range, and threw his carcase down 
The lizard was not poisonous, but I could not persuade my 
servants of ihe fact, nor did it make any difference to the 
Dhyals, as far as their eggs were concerned. 
Another enemy of the Dhayal is the small fruit -bear, 
a kind of civet cat, which comes into the fruit-trees and 
and takes his fill at night time, and eats any eggs he may 
come across. The safest position for the Dhayal to choose 
for his nest is rather low down, and near a road or footpath. 
Whenever I have found nests in such a position the youmg 
ones have always been reared successfully. 
The materials used for building are twigs, coarse 
grass, tendrils of plants, and fine roots, very roughly placed 
in the lx)ttom of some hole in a tree and not at all neatly 
made. The eggs vary from two in number to six; the average 
clutch numl)ers four. Once I found a nest containing six 
eggs. They are rather bigger than a Sparrow's egg, of a 
pale bluish brown, and sometimes the spots form a blotched 
ring at the larger end. \ 
