PICA. 13

In the cold season of course the Jackdaw descends into the
plains of the North-west Punjaub, is very numerous near the
foot of the hills, and has been found in cis-Indus as far east as
Umballa, and south at ITerozpoor, Jhelum, and Kalabagh. In
Trans-Indus it extends unto the Dehra Grhazi Khan district.

I have never taken its eggs myself.

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on its nidifica-
tion in the Valley of Cashmere :—

" Lays in the first week of May ; eggs four, five, and six in
number, ovato-pyriforin and long ovato-pyriforra, measuring from
1-26, 1-45, to 1-60 in length, and from 0*9 to 1-00 in breadth ;
colour pale, clear bluish green, dotted and spotted with brownish
black; valley generally; in holes of rocks, beneath roofs, and in
tall trees."

Dr. Jerdon says :—" It builds in Cashmere in old ruined palaces,
holes in rocks, beneath roofs of houses, and also in tall trees, laying
four to six eggs, pale bluish green, dotted and spotted with
brownish black."

Mr. Brookes writes :—" The Jackdaw breeds in Cashmere in all
suitable places : holes in old Clrinar (Plane) trees, and in house-
walls,-under the eaves of houses, &c. I did not note the materials
of the nests, but these will be the same as in England."

The eggs of this species are typically rather elongated ovals,
somewhat compressed towards one end. The shell is fine, but has
only a faint gloss. The ground-colour is a pale greenish white,
but in some eggs there is very little green, while in a very few the
ground is quite a bright green. The markings, sometimes very
fine and close, sometimes rather bold and thinly set, consist of
specks or spots of deep blackish brown, olive-brown, and pale inky
purple. In most eggs all these colours are represented, but in
some eggs the olive-, in others the blackish brown is almost
entirely wanting. In some eggs the markings are very dense
towards the large end, in others they are pretty uniformly dis-
tributed over the whole surface; in some they are very minute
and speckly, in others they average the tenth of an inch in
diameter.

The eggs that I possess vary from 1*34 to 1'52 in length, and
from 0-93 to 1'02 in breadth; but the average of sixteen eggs was
1-4 by 0-98.

10. Pica rustica (Scop.). The Magpie.
Pica bactriana, Bp.y Hume, Rough Draft N. $ JE, no. 668 "bis.

The Magpie breeds, we know, in Afghanistan, and also through-
out Ladak from the Zojee-la Pass right up to the Pangong Lake,
but it breeds so early that one is never in time for the eggs. The
passes are not open until long after they are hatched.

Captain Hutton says this bird "is found all the year round
from Quettah to Gririshk, and is very common. They breed in