The nest is that of a typical Oriole, usually very firmly and substantially built, and of course always suspended at a fork between two twigs. A nest taken by Mr. Gammie in Sikhim on the 20th April, at an elevation of about 2500 feet, is a deep substantial cup, nearly 4 inches in diameter and 2½ in depth internally. It is everywhere nearly an inch in thickness. The suspensory portion composed of vegetable fibres; towards the exterior dead leaves, bamboo-sheaths, green moss, and tendrils of creeping plants are profusely intermingled; interiorly, it is closely and regularly lined with very fine grass.
A nest sent me by Mr. Mandelli was found on the 3rd April at Namtchu, and contained three fresh eggs. It is precisely similar to the one above described, except that in the lining roots are mingled with the fine grass, and that instead of being suspended in a fork, it was partly wedged into and partly rested on a fork.
As a rule, however, as I know from other nests subsequently obtained, the nests are always suspended like those of the Common Oriole.
Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie closely resemble those of O. melanocephalus. In shape they are regular moderately elongated ovals; the shell is strong, firm, and moderately glossy. The ground is white with a creamy or brownish-pink tinge; the markings are blackish-brown spots and specks, almost confined to a zone about the large end, where they are all more or less enveloped in a brownish-red haze or nimbus. In length they measure 1·12 by 0·82, and 1·14 by 0·83.
Family EULABETIDAE
523. Eulabes religiosa (Linn.). Jerd. B. Southern Grackle.
Eulabes religiosa (Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 337; Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E. no. 692.
The Southern Grackle breeds in Southern India and Ceylon from March to
October.
Mr. Frank Bourdillon, writing from Travancore, gives me the following account of the eggs. He says:—"This bird, an abundant resident, lays a blue egg pretty evenly marked with brown spots, some light and some darkish, in a nest of straw and feathers in a hole of a tree generally a considerable height from the ground.
"I have only taken one nest, which contained a single egg slightly set, on 23rd March, 1873, the egg measuring 1·37 long and 0·87 broad."