26 COEYIDJE.

ance a good deal, because in some almost all the markings are fine
grained and freckly, and in such eggs but little of the ground-
colour is visible, while in other eggs the markings are bolder (in
comparison, for they are never really bold) and thinner set, and
leave a good deal of the ground-colour visible.

23. Platysmuras leucopterus (Temm.). TJie WUle-unngecl Jay.
Platysmurus leucopterus (Temm.), Hume, Cat. no. 678 quint.

Mr. W. Davison writes :—

" I found a nest of this bird on the 8th of April at the hot
springs at Ulu Laugat. The nest was built on the frond of a
Calamus, the end of which rested in the fork of a small sapling,
The nest was a great coarse structure like a Crow's, but even
more coarsely and irregularly built, and with the egg-cavity
shallower. It was composed externally of small branches and
twigs, aud loosely lined with coarse fibres and strips of bark. It
contained two young birds about a couple of days old. The nest
was placed about 6 feet from the ground. The surrounding jungle
was moderately thick, with a good deal of undergrowth.77

24. Grarrulns lanceolatus, Vigors. Tlu J3lac7c-tkroated Jay.

Giirrulus lanceolatus, Viy., Jerd. J3. 2nd. ii, p. 308; Hume, Rough
Draft N. $ E. no. G70.

The Black-throated Jay breeds throughout the Himalayas, at
elevations of from 4000 to 8000 feet, from the Valley of Nepal to
Murree.

They lay from the middle of April until the middle of June.

They build on trees or thick bushes, never at any great height
from the ground, and often within reach of the hand. They
always, 1 think, choose a densely foliaged tree, and place the nest
sometimes in a main fork and sometimes on some horizontal bough
supported by one or more upright shoots.

All the nests I have seen were moderately shallow cups, built
with slender twigs and sticks, some 6 inches in external diameter,
and from less than 3 inches to nearly 4 inches in height, with a
nest-cavity some 4 inches across and 2 inches deep, lined with
grass and moss-roots. Once only I found a nest almost entirely
composed of'grass, and with no lining but fine grass-stems.

The eggs vary from four to six, but this latter number is rarely
met with.

Colonel C. H. T. Marshall writes :—" This is one of the com-
monest birds about Murree; we always found it well to the front
during our rambles, chattering about in the trees. They breed
from the middle of April till the end of June. "We have taken
their eggs between the 20th April and the 16th June. They keep
above 5000 feet. I never observed any in the lower ranges. The
nest is not a difficult one to find, being large and of loose cou-