From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"In the first week of June I found a
nest in low jungle, at 2000 feet, containing four greenish-blue eggs,
but, as I did not see the bird, left it until my return a week later.
I then saw the female, but in the interval the young had been hatched.
The nest closely resembled that of _D. caerulatus_ [p. 46], both in
shape and composition, and was similarly situated between several
upright slender shoots to which it was firmly attached. It was,
however, within five feet of the ground, which is lower by 5 feet or
so than _D. caerulatus_ generally builds.
"I have found this species breeding from April to June, up to
elevations not much exceeding 2500 feet. It affects the low, dense
scrub growing in moist situations, and usually fixes its nest between
several upright sprays, within 5 or 6 feet of the ground. The nest
is cup-shaped, made of dry bamboo-leaves, intermixed with a very few
pieces of climber-stems, and thickly lined with old leaf-stalks of
some pinnate-leaved tree. Externally it measures about 5·5 inches in
diameter by 4 in height; internally 3·5 by 2·75.
"The eggs are four or five in number."
Mr. Oates writes:--"On the 27th April I shot a female in the Pegu
Hills off her nest. This latter contained one young one, and one
deformed egg, which unfortunately got broken; colour a deep blue.
The nest was placed in a small seedling bamboo about 6 feet from the
ground at a joint where a number of small twigs shot out, inverted
umbrella fashion. The nest in every respect closely resembled that of
_G. pectoralis_."
He subsequently remarked:--"Breeds in Lower Pegu chiefly in July.
Average of six eggs, 1·16 by ·88; colour, very glossy deep blue.
Nest placed in forks of saplings within reach of the hand, massive,
cup-shaped, and made of dead leaves and small branches; lined with
fine twigs. Outside diameter 7 inches and depth 4; interior 4¼ by 2."
A nest found below Darjeeling in the first week of June on the branch
of a good-sized tree, at a height of 12 feet from the ground, was
similar to that described by Mr. Gammie, and contained a single fresh
egg. This is a moderately broad oval, somewhat pointed towards the
small end, and exhibits very little gloss. It is of precisely the same
colour as those of the preceding species, but measures only 1·2 in
length by 0·9 in breadth.
Writing from Tenasserim, Major C.T. Bingham says:--"Between the 25th
March and 28th April I found at least twenty nests of this bird. They
were broad, shallow cups of roots and twigs, lined with fine black
grass-roots, and placed at heights varying from 4 to 10 feet above
the ground, invariably in the forks of low bamboo. The number of eggs
varied from 3 to 5; blue in colour, and fairly glossy."
Numerous nests from Sikhim, Pegu, and Tenasserim are all of precisely
the same type as described by Mr. Gammie; but some are fully 7 inches
in external diameter, and in several the cavity is at least 4 inches
in diameter.