TBOCHALOPTEKTJM.	63
webs : sometimes there is a foundation of dead leaves.    The cavity
is lined with fur, cotton-wool, feathers, <fec.
" The eggs are two or three in number."
Mr. "Wait, writing from Coonoor, says :—" T. cacJiinnans breeds
about May, and lays from three to five oval eggs. The ground is
bluish, with ash-coloured and brown spots and blotches, and occa-
sionally marks." None of my other correspondents, however,
admit that the bird ever lays more than three eggs.
Mr. Davison tells me that " this bird breeds commonly on the
Nilghiris, just before the rains set in, in May and the earlier part
of June, but it occasionally breeds earlier (in April) or later (in
the latter end of. June). The nest is cup-shaped, composed of
dead leaves, moss, grass, &c., and lined with a few moss-roots or
fine grass. It is placed in the fork of a branch about 6 or 8 feet
from the ground. The eggs are a bluish green, mottled chiefly
towards the larger end, and sometimes also streaked with purplish
brown. The normal number of eggs is two; sometimes, however,
three are laid."
From Kotagherry, Miss Cockburn remarks :—" The name
^6 Laughing-Thrush ' is most applicable to this bird, and its notes
are often mistaken for the sound of the human voice. This bird
is very shy, except when its nest contains eggs or young, when it
becomes extremely bold. I was quite surprised to see a pair
whose nest I was taking come so close as to induce me to put out
my hand to catch them. The Laughing-Thrush builds a pretty,
though large, nest, and generally selects the forked branches of a
thick bush, and commences its nest with a large quantity of moss,
after which there is a lining of fine grass and roots, and the
withered fibrous covering of the Peruvian Cherry (PJiysalis peru-
viana), the nest being finished with a few feathers, in general
belonging to the bird. The inside of the nest is perfectly round,
and rarely contains more than two eggs, belonging to the owner.
The eggs are of a beautiful greenish-blue colour, with a few large
and small brown blotches and streaks, mostly at the large end. I
have found the nests of these birds in February, March, and April.
Occasionally the Black-and-white Crested Cuckoo, which appears
on these hills in the month of March, deposits its eggs (two in
number) in the nest of this Thrash. They are easily distinguished,
as their colour is quite different from the Thrush's eggs, being
entirely dark bluish green."
Mr. Ehodes W. Morgan writing from South India, says, in ' The
Ibis':—" It builds a very neat nest of moss, dried leaves, and the
outer husk of the fruit of the Brazil Cherry, lined with feathers,
bits of fur, and other soft substances. The nest is cup-shaped,
and generally contains three eggs, most peculiarly marked with
blotches, streaks, and wavy lines of a dark claret-colour on a light
blue ground. The markings are almost always at the larger end."
The first specimens that I obtained of the eggs of this species
were kindly sent to me by the late Captain Mitchell and Mr. H.
E. P. Carter of Madras ; they were taken on the Mlghiris. They