GEATTCALOS. 349

interior is moderately cup-shaped. Thin twigs and grass-roots are
freely used in its construction, while the outer part of the nest is
somewhat thickly covered with what appears to be spider's web.
Altogether the nest, considering the size of the birds, is of light
structure. I am sorry I did not take the dimensions of each nesi
secured, but I sent you two very perfect ones. I found the first
eggs in the beginning of July. They are of a dull lightish green,
with brown spots of all sizes, more dense towards the large end.
The maximum number of eggs is three. The bird breeds from
June to August/'

The nests which Mr. Blewitt sent me remind one a good deal
of those of the Dieruri. They are broad shallow saucers, with an
egg-cavity about 3 inches in diameter, and | inch in depth, com-
posed in the only two specimens that I possess of very fine twigs,
chiefly those of the furash (Tamarix orientdlis). Exteriorly they
are bound round with cobwebs, in which a quantity of lichen is
incorporated. The nests are loose flimsy fabrics, which but for
the exterior coating of cobwebs would certainly never have borne
removal.

Dr. Jerclon remarks :—" I once obtained its nest and eggs. The
nest was built in a lofty casuarina tree, close to my house at
Tellicherry; it was composed of small twigs and roots merely, of mo-
derate size, and rather deeply cup-shaped, and contained three eggs,
of a greenish-fawn colour, with large blotches of purplish brown/'
Professor H. Littledale writing from Baroda says :—" The Large
Cuckoo-Shrike is a permanent resident here. I found six nests
last August near Baroda, each with one egg ; and my men found
a nest building in the Police Lines at Khaira on the 10th October/''
Mr. J. Davidson informs us that " a pair of Gmucalus iiuic-ii
were apparently breeding near this place (the Kondabhari G-hat).
He found a nest with two young in the previous September near
the same place."

Mr. Gr. W. Vidal, referring to the South Konkan, says:—
" Common; breeds in February and March."

A nest that was placed in the fork of a bough was composed en-
tirely of slender twigs, the petioles of some pennated-leavecl tree,
bound together all round the outside with abundance of cobwebs, so
that notwithstanding the incoherent nature of the materials the
nest was extremely firm. It is a shallow saucer quite of the
Dicrurine type, with a cavity 3 inches in diameter and barely 0'75
in depth.

The eggs are typically of a somewhat elongated oval, a good deal
pointed towards one end, but some are broader and more of a
typical Shrike shape. The eggs are of course considerably larger
than those of Lanius lahtora. The shell is compact and fine, and
faintly glossy. The ground-colour is a palish-green stone-colour,
greener in some, and somewhat more creamy in others. The mark-
ings are very Shrike-like, and consist of brown blotches, streaks, and
spots, with numerous clouds and blotches of pale inky-purple, which
appear to underlie the brown markings. The markings in some