The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds Part 4

18. Dendrocitta himalayensis, Bl. _The Himalayan Tree-pie_.

Dendrocitta sinensis (_Lath._) _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 316.

Dendrocitta himalayensis, _Bl., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 676.

Common as is the Himalayan Tree-pie throughout the lower ranges of those mountains from which it derives its name, I personally have never taken a nest.

It breeds, I know, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet, during the latter half of May, June, July, and probably the first half of August.

A nest in my museum taken by Mr. Gammie in Sikhim, at an elevation of about 2500 feet, out of a small tree, on the 30th of July, contained two fresh eggs. It was a very shallow cup, composed entirely of fine stems, apparently of some kind of creeper, strongly but not at all compactly interwoven; in fact, though the nest holds together firmly, you can see through it everywhere. It is about 6 inches in external diameter, and has an egg-cavity of about 4 inches wide and 15 deep.

It has no pretence for lining of any kind.

Of another nest which he took Mr. Gammie says:--"I found a nest containing three fresh eggs in a bush, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground. The nest was a very loose, shallow, saucer-like affair, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and an inch or so in thickness, composed entirely of the dry stems and tendrils of creepers. This was at Labdah, in Sikhim, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and the date the 14th May, 1873." Later he writes:--

"This Magpie breeds in the Darjeeling District in May, June, and July, most commonly at elevations between 2000 and 4000 feet. It affects clear cultivated tracts interspersed with a few standing shrubs and bamboos, in which it builds. The nest is generally placed from 6 to 12 feet from the ground in the inner part of the shrubs, and is made of pieces of creeper stems intermixed with a few small twigs loosely put together without any lining. There is scarcely any cup, merely a depression towards the centre for the eggs to rest in. Internally it measures about 48 in breadth by 15 in depth. The eggs are three or four in number.

"This is a very common and abundant bird between 2000 and 4000 feet, but is rarely found far from cultivated fields. It seems to be exceedingly fond of chestnuts, and, in autumn, when they are ripe, lives almost entirely on them; but at other times is a great pest in the grain-fields, devouring large quant.i.ties of the grain and being held in detestation by the natives in consequence. Jerdon says 'it usually feeds on trees,' but I have seen it quite as frequently feeding on the ground as on trees."

Mr. Hodgson has two notes on the nidification of this species in Nepal:--"_May 18th_.--Nest, two eggs and two young; nest on the fork of a small tree, saucer-shaped, made of slender twigs twisted circularly and without lining; cavity 35 in diameter by 05 deep; eggs yellowish, white, blotched with pale olive chiefly at the larger end; young just born.

"_Jaha Powah, 6th June_.--Female and nest in forest on a largish tree placed on the fork of a branch; a mere bunch of sticks like a Crow's nest; three eggs, short and thick, fawny white blotched with fawn-brown chiefly at the thick end."

Dr. Jerdon says:--"I have had the nest and eggs brought me at Darjeeling frequently. The nest is made of sticks and roots, and the eggs, three or four in number, are of a pale dull greenish-fawn colour, with a few pale reddish-brown spots and blotches, sometimes very indistinct."

Captain Hutton tells us that this species "occurs abundantly at Mussoorie, at about 5000 feet elevation, during summer, and more sparingly at greater elevations. In the winter it leaves the mountains for the Dhoon.

"It breeds in May, on the 27th of which month I took a nest with three eggs and another with three young ones. The nest is like that of _Urocissa occipitalis_, being composed externally of twigs and lined with finer materials, according to the situation; one nest, taken in a deep glen by the side of a stream, was lined with the long fibrous leaves of the Mare's tail (_Equisetum_) which grew abundantly by the water's edge; another, taken much higher on the hillside and away from the water, was lined with tendrils and fine roots. The nest is placed rather low, generally about 8 or 10 feet from the ground, sometimes at the extremity of a horizontal branch, sometimes in the forks of young bushy oaks. The eggs somewhat resemble those of _U. occipitalis_, but are paler and less spotted, being of a dull greenish ash with brown blotches and spots, somewhat thickly cl.u.s.tered at the larger end."

Mr. J.R. Cripps says:--"On the 15th June, 1880, I found a nest [in the Dibrugarh District] with three fresh eggs. It was fixed in the middle branches of a sapling, about ten feet off the ground, in dense forest, and was built of twigs, presenting a fragile appearance; the egg-cavity was 4 inches [in diameter] and 1 inch deep, and lined with fine twigs and gra.s.s-roots."

Captain Wardlaw Ramsay writes:--"I obtained two eggs of this species at an elevation of 4200 feet in the Karen hills east of Toungngoo on the 16th April, 1875."

Taking the eggs as a body they are rather regular, somewhat elongated ovals, but broader and again more pointed varieties occur. The ground-colour varies a great deal: in a few it is nearly pure white, generally it has a dull greenish or yellowish-brown tinge, in some it is creamy, in some it has a decided pinky tinge. The markings are large irregular blotches and streaks, almost always most dense at the large end, where they are often more or less confluent, forming an irregular mottled cap, and not unfrequently very thinly set over the rest of the surface of the egg. In one egg, however, the zone is about the thick end, and there are scarcely any markings elsewhere. As a rule the markings are of an olive-brown of one shade or another; but when the ground is at all pinkish then the markings are more or less of a reddish brown. Besides these primary markings, all the eggs exhibit a greater or smaller number of faint lilac or purple spots or blotches, which chiefly occur where the other markings are most dense.

In length they vary from 106 to 122, and in breadth from 08 to 10, but the average of 34 eggs is 114 by 085.

21. Crypsirhina varians (Lath.). _The Black Racket-tailed Magpie_.

Crypsirhina varians (_Lath._), _Hume, Cat._ no. 678 quat.

This Magpie is very common in Lower Pegu, where Mr. Oates found many nests. He says:--

"This bird appears to lay from the 1st of June to the 15th of July; most of my nests were taken in the latter month. It selects either one of the outer branches of a very leafy th.o.r.n.y bush, or perhaps more commonly a branch of a bamboo, at heights varying from 5 to 20 feet.

"The nest is composed of fine dead twigs firmly woven together. The interior is lined with twisted tendrils of convolvulus and other creepers. The uniformity with which this latter material is used in all nests is remarkable. The inside diameter is 5 inches, and the depth only 1, thus making the structure very flat. The exterior dimensions are not so definite, for the twigs and creepers stick out in all directions; but making all allowances, the outside diameter may be put down at 7 or 8 inches, and the total depth at 1 inches.

"The eggs are usually three in number, but occasionally only two well incubated eggs may be found. In a nest from which two fresh eggs had been taken, a third was found a few days later.

"The eggs measure from 109 to 88 in length, and from 76 to 68 in breadth. The average of 22 eggs is 98 by 72."

In shape the eggs are typically moderately broad, rather regular ovals, but some are distinctly compressed towards the small end, some are slightly pyriform, some even pointed, though in the great majority of cases the egg is pretty obtuse at the small end; the sh.e.l.l is compact and tolerably fine, and has a faint gloss. The ground-colour seems to be invariably a pale yellowish stone-colour. The markings vary a good deal: in some they are more speckly, in others more streaky, but taking them as a whole they are intermediate between those of _Dendrocitta_ and those of _Garrulus_, neither so bold and streaky as the former, nor so speckly as the latter. The markings are a yellowish olive-brown; they consist of spots, specks, small streaky blotches and frecklings; they are always pretty densely set over the whole surface of the egg, but they are always most dense in a zone or sometimes a cap at the large end, where they are often, to a great extent, confluent. In some eggs small dingy brownish-purple spots and little blotches are intermingled in the zone. The eggs differ in general appearance 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. Platysmurus leucopterus (Temm.). _The White-winged 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 coa.r.s.e structure like a Crow's, but even more coa.r.s.ely and irregularly built, and with the egg-cavity shallower. It was composed externally of small branches and twigs, and loosely lined with coa.r.s.e 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."

24. Garrulus lanceolatus, Vigors. _The Black-throated Jay_.

Garrulus lanceolatus, _Vig., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 308; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 670.

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, I 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 gra.s.s and moss-roots. Once only I found a nest almost entirely composed of gra.s.s, and with no lining but fine gra.s.s-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 commonest 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 construction; from 15 to 30 feet up a medium-sized tree close to the trunk or sometimes in a large fork. They never seem to build in the spruce firs which abound about Murree. They are by no means shy birds, and hop about the trees close by while their nest is being examined. Five is the ordinary number of eggs, which differ very much in appearance and size: the longest I have measures 125 and the shortest 11. Some are paler, some darker; some are of a uniform pale greenish-ash colour with a darker ring, while others are thickly speckled and freckled with a darker shade of the same colour. Some lack the odd ink-scratch which is so often to be seen on the larger end, and is the most peculiar feature of the egg, while a few have it at the thinner end.

"I should describe the average type as a long egg for its breadth; ground-colour greenish ashy with very thick sprinklings of spots of a darker and more greenish shade of the same colour, a ring of a darker dull olive round the large end, on which are one or two lines that look like a haphazard scratch from a fine steel pen."

From Dhurmsala Captain c.o.c.k wrote to me that this was "a most common bird at Dhurmsala; appears in large flocks during the winter, and often mixes with _Garrulus bispecularis_ and _Urocissa flavirostris_.

Pairs off about the end of April, when nidification begins. Builds a rather rough nest of sticks, generally placed on a tall sapling oak near the top; sometimes among the thicker branches of a pollard oak: outer nest small twigs roughly put together; inner nest dry roots and fibres, rather deep cup-shaped. Eggs number from four to five and vary in shape. I have found them sometimes nearly round, but more generally the usual shape. They vary in their colour, too, some being much lighter than others, but most of them have a few hair-like streaks on the larger end."

From Mussoorie Captain Hutton tells us that "the Black-throated Jay breeds in May and June, placing the nest sometimes on the branch of a tall oak tree (_Quercus incana_), at other times in a thick bush. It is composed of a foundation of twigs, and lined with fine roots of gra.s.s &c. mixed with the long black fibres of ferns and mosses, which hang upon the forest trees, and have much the appearance of black horse-hair. The nest is cup-shaped, rather shallow, loosely put together, circular, and about 4 inches in diameter. The eggs are sometimes three, sometimes four in number, of a greenish stone-grey, freckled, chiefly at the larger end, with dusky and a few black hair-like streaks, which are not always present; they vary also in the amount of dusky freckling at the larger end. The nestling bird is devoid of the lanceolate markings on the throat."

From Nynee Tal Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:--"The Black-throated Jay builds a very small cup-shaped nest of black hair-like creepers and roots, intertwined and placed in a rough irregular casing of twigs. A nest found on the 2nd June containing three hard-set eggs was placed conspicuously on the top of a young oak sapling about 7 feet high, standing alone in an open glade, in the forest on Aya Pata, which is about 7000 feet above the sea. Another nest, found at an elevation of about 4500 feet on the 9th June, contained two eggs; it was placed about 10 feet from the ground in a small tree in a hedgerow amongst cultivated fields."

Mr. Hodgson notes from Jaha Powah:--"Found five nests of this species between 18th and 30th May. Builds near the tops of moderate-sized trees in open districts, making a very shallow nest of thin elastic gra.s.ses sparingly used and without lining. The nest is placed on some horizontal branch against some upright twig, or at some horizontal fork. It is nearly round and has a diameter of about 6 inches. They lay three or four eggs of a sordid vernal green clouded with obscure brown."

The eggs are somewhat lengthened ovals, very much smaller than, though so far as coloration goes very similar to, those of _G. glandarius_.

The ground-colour in some is a brown stone colour, in others pale greenish white, and intermediate shades occur, and they are very minutely and feebly freckled and mottled over the whole surface with a somewhat pale sepia-brown. This mottling differs much in intensity; in some few eggs indeed it is absolutely wanting, while in others, though feeble elsewhere, it forms a distinct, though undefined, brownish cap or zone at the large end. The eggs generally have little or no gloss.

It is not uncommon to find a few hair-like dark brown lines, more or less zigzag, about the larger end.

In length they vary from 103 to 123, and in breadth from 078 to 088; but the average of twenty-four eggs is 112 by 085.

25. Garrulus leucotis, Hume. _The Burmese Jay_.