The first specimens that I obtained of the eggs of this species were
kindly sent to me by the late Captain Mitchell and Mr. H.R.P. Carter
of Madras; they were taken on the Nilghiris. They are moderately broad
ovals, somewhat pointed towards one end, larger than the average eggs
of _T. lineatum_, and about the same size as large specimens of the
eggs of _Crateropus canorus_ and _Argya malcolmi_. The ground-colour
is of a delicate pale blue, and towards the large end, and sometimes
over the whole surface, they are speckled, spotted, and blotched, but
only sparingly, with brownish red and blackish brown, and amongst
these markings a few cloudy streaks and spots of dull faint reddish
purple are observable. The eggs have not much gloss.
Numerous other specimens subsequently received from Miss Cockburn
and others correspond well with the above description. More or less
pyriform varieties are common. In some eggs the markings are almost
entirely wanting, there being only a very faint brownish-pink
freckling at the large end; and in many eggs, even some that are
profusely spotted all over, the markings consist only of darker or
lighter brownish-pink shades. Occasionally a few, almost black,
twisted lines are intermingled with the other markings, and in these
cases the lines are frequently surrounded by a reddish-purple nimbus.
The eggs vary in length from 0·92 to 1·08, and in breadth from 0·74 to
0·8, but the average of twenty eggs measured was 1·0 by 0·76.
96. Trochalopterum fairbanki, Blanf. _The Palni Laughing-Thrush_.
Trochalopterum fairbanki, _Blanf., Hume, Cat._ no. 423 bis.
The Rev. S.B. Fairbank, the discoverer of this species, found its nest
at Kodai Kanal, in the Palni Hills, in May. The nest was placed in
the crotch of a tree, at about 10 feet from the ground, and at an
elevation of nearly 6500 feet above the level of the sea. The eggs
are moderately elongated ovals, with a fine, fairly glossy shell. The
ground is pale greenish blue or bluish green; the markings are spots,
small blotches, hair-lines, and hieroglyphic-like scrawls, rather
thinly scattered about the surface, and varying in colour through
several shades of brownish and reddish purple to bright claret-colour.
The only egg I have measures 1 inch in length by 0·8 inch in breadth.
99. Trochalopterum lineatum (Vig.). _The Himalayan Streaked
Laughing-Thrush_.
Trochalopteron lineatum (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 50; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 425[A].
[Footnote A: I omit the note on _T. imbricatum_ in the 'Rough Draft,'
because, as I have shown in the 'Birds of India,' this bird was
unknown to Hodgson, and his note refers to _T. lineatum_. Sufficient
is now known about the nidification of this latter to render the
insertion of Hodgson's note unnecessary.--ED.]