Colonel Marshall has since kindly sent me two of the eggs above referred to; they are clearly, it seems to me, eggs of Dicrurus longicaudatus, or the slightly smaller hill-form named himalayanus, Tytler.
Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:—"A nest found at about three feet from the ground in a thick bush at Bheem Tal, at the edge of the lake, contained five fresh eggs on the 28th May: the nest was a coarsely built massive cup; the eggs were about the same size as those of L. erythronotus, but the spots were larger and less closely gathered than is usual with that species."
Dr. Scully says:—"The Grey-backed Shrike is common in the Valley of Nepal from about the end of September to the middle of March; it is the only Shrike found in the Valley during the winter season, but it migrates further north to breed. In December it was fairly common about Chitlang, which is higher than Kathmandu, but seemed to be entirely replaced in the Hetoura Dun by L. nigriceps. It frequents gardens, groves, and cultivated ground, perching on bushes and hedges and small bare trees. It has a very harsh chattering note, louder than that of L. nigriceps, and appears to be most noisy towards sunset, when its cry would often lead one to suppose that the bird was being strangled in the clutches of a raptor."
Mr. O. Möller has kindly furnished me with the following note:—"On the 7th June, 1879, my men brought a nest containing four fresh eggs, together with a bird of the present species; I send two of the eggs: perhaps you recollect the eggs of L. tephronotus, in which case you of course will be able to see at a glance if I am correct. I have never come across such large eggs of L. nigriceps, the eggs of which also as a rule have well-defined spots and no blotches; the two other eggs the nest contained measure 1 by 0·74, and 1·01 by 0·76 inch."
The eggs of this species are of the ordinary Shrike type, moderately elongated ovals, a little compressed towards the small end. The shell extremely smooth and compact, but with scarcely any perceptible gloss. The ground-colour pale greenish or yellowish white; the markings chiefly confined to a broad irregular ill-defined zone round the large end—blotches, spots, specks, and smears of pale yellowish brown more or less intermingled with small clouds and spots of pale sepia-grey or inky purple. In some eggs a good number of the smaller markings and occasionally one or two larger ones are scattered over the entire surface of the egg, but typically the bulk of the markings are comprised within the zone above referred to.
In length four eggs vary from 0·97 to 1·06 inch, and in breadth from 0·76 to 0·81 inch.
481. Lanius cristatus, Linn. The Brown Shrike.
Lanius cristatus, Linn., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 406: Hume, Rough Draft
N. & E. no. 261.
I am induced to notice this species, the Brown Shrike, although I possess no detailed information as to its nidification, in consequence of Lord Walden's remarks on this subject in 'The Ibis' of 1867. He says "Does it, then, cross the vast ranges of the Himalaya in its northern migration? or does it not rather find on the southern slopes and in the valleys of those mountains all the conditions suitable for nesting?"; and he adds in a note, "It is extremely doubtful whether any passerine bird which frequents the plains of India during the cooler months crosses to the north of the snowy ranges of the Himalaya after quitting the plains to escape the rainy season or the intense heat of summer."
Now, it is quite certain, as I have shown in 'Lahore to Yarkand,' that several of our Indian passerine birds do cross the entire succession of Snowy Ranges which divide the plains of India from Central Asia, and it is tolerably certain from my researches and those of numerous contributors that L. cristatus breeds only north of these ranges. True, Tickell gives the following account of the nidification of this species in the plains of India:—