Six nests of this species found between the 4th May and 2nd July in Native and British Sikhim were sent me by Mr. Mandelli. They were placed in small trees or dense bushes at heights of from 3 to 8 feet, and contained in some cases two, and in others three fresh or fully incubated eggs, so that sometimes the bird only lays two eggs. Three nests were also sent me by Mr. Gammie, taken in the neighbourhood of the Sikhim Cinchona-Plantations. All are precisely of the same type, all constructed with the same materials, but owing to the different proportions in which these are used some of the nests at first sight seem to differ widely from others. Some also are a good deal bigger than others, but all are massive, deep cups, varying from 5·25 to 6·5 inches in diameter, and from 3 to fully 4 in height externally; the cavities vary from 3 to 3·5 in diameter, and from 2 to 2·5 in depth. The body of the nests is composed of grass; the cavity is lined first with dry leaves, and then thickly or thinly with black fibrous roots. Externally the nest is more or less bound together by creepers and stems of herbaceous plants. Sometimes only a few strings of moss and a few sprays of Selaginella are to be seen on the outside of the nest; while, on the other hand, in some nests the entire outer surface is completely covered over with green moss, not only on the sides, but on the upper margin, so as to conceal completely the rest of the materials of the nest, and in all the nine nests before me the extent to which the moss is used varies.
The eggs of this species are typically somewhat elongated ovals, some are much pointed towards the small end, others are somewhat pyriform, and others again are subcylindrical. The shell is fine and soft, but has only a moderate amount of gloss. The ground-colour, which varies very little in shade, is a delicate pale, slightly greenish blue, almost precisely the same colour as that of Trochalopterum erythrocephalum. The eggs are sparingly (in fact, almost exclusively about the large end) marked with deep chocolate. These markings are in some spots and blotches, but in many assume the form of thicker or thinner hieroglyphic lines. As a rule, three fourths of the egg is spotless, occasionally a single speck or spot occurs towards the small end of the egg. One or two eggs are almost spotless. In length the eggs vary from 1·1 to 1·23, and in breadth from 0·73 to 0·87, but the average of sixteen eggs is 1·17 nearly by 0·82.
87. Trochalopterum phoeniceum (Gould). The Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush.
Trochalopteron phoeniceum (Gould), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 48; Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E. no. 422.
Mr. Gammie says:—"I have found altogether seven nests of the Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush in and about Rishap, at elevations between 4000 and 5000 feet, and on various dates between the 4th and 23rd May. The locality chosen for the nest is in some moist forest amongst dense undergrowth. It is placed in shrubs, at heights of from 6 to 10 feet from the ground, and is generally suspended between several upright stems, to which it is firmly attached by fibres. It is chiefly composed of dry bamboo-leaves and a few twigs, and lined with black fibres and moss-roots. A few strings of moss are twisted round it externally to aid in concealing it. It is a moderately deep cup, measuring externally about 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches in height, and internally 3½ inches in width and 2 inches in depth.
"The eggs are almost always three in number, but occasionally only two. Of the seven nests taken by me, five contained eggs and two young birds."
The Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at elevations of from 3000 to 5000 feet, during the months of April, May, and June. The nest is placed in the fork of some thick bush or small tree, where three or four sprays divide, at from 2 to 5 feet above the ground. The nest is a very deep compact cup. One measured in situ was 4·5 inches in diameter and the same in height externally, while the cavity was 3 inches in diameter and 2·25 deep. It was very compact and was composed of dry leaves, creepers, grass-flowers, and vegetable fibres, more or less lined with moss-roots and coated externally with dry bamboo-leaves. They lay, we are told, three or four eggs.
Dr. Jerdon says:—"A nest and eggs said to be of this bird were brought to me at Darjeeling; the nest made of roots and grass, and the eggs, three in number, pale blue, with a few narrow and wavy dusky streaks."
The eggs are singularly lovely. In shape they are elongated ovals, generally very obtuse at both ends, and many of them exhibiting cylindrical or pyriform tendencies. The shell is very fine and fairly glossy, and the ground-colour is a most beautiful clear pale sea-green in some, greenish blue in others. The character of the markings is more that of the Buntings than of this family. There are a few strongly marked deep maroon, generally more or less angular, spots or dashes, principally about the large end, and there are a few spots and tiny clouds of pale soft purple, and then there are an infinite variety of hair-line hieroglyphics, twisted and scrawled in brownish or reddish purple, about the egg. The markings are nowhere as a rule crowded, and towards the small end are usually sparse and occasionally wholly wanting. In some eggs a bad pen seems to have been used to scribble the pattern, and every here and there instead of a fine hair-line there is a coarse thick one.
The eggs are pretty constant in size and colour, but here and there an abnormally pale specimen, in which the green has almost entirely disappeared, is met with. In length they vary from 0·98 to 1·15, and in breadth from 0·7 to 0·82, but the average of thirty-one eggs is 1·04 by 0·74.