The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1Hume, Allan Octavian
Philosophy
The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1
Hume, Allan Octavian
Birds -- India; Birds -- Nests
"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
coarse structure like a Crow's, but even more coarsely and irregularly
built, and with the egg-cavity shallower. It was composed externally
of small branches and twigs, and loosely lined with coarse 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 grass and
moss-roots. Once only I found a nest almost entirely composed of
grass, and with no lining but fine grass-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 1·25 and the
shortest 1·1. 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.
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