Part 102

524. Eulabes intermedia (A. Hay). The Indian Grackle.

Eulabes intermedia (A. Hay), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 339. Eulabes javanensis (Osbeck), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 693.

The Indian Grackle, under which name I include E. andamanensis, Tytler, breeds, I know, in the Nepal Terai and in the Kumaon Bhabur; and many are the young birds that I have seen extracted by the natives out of holes, high up in large trees, in the old anti-mutiny days when we used to go tiger-shooting in these grand jungles. I never saw the eggs however, which, I think, must have all been hatched off in May, when we used to be out.

"In the Andamans," writes Davison, "they breed in April and May, building a nest of grass, dried leaves, &c. in holes of trees." He also, however, never took the eggs.

Mr. J.R. Cripps tells us that this species is "common during March to October in Dibrugarh, after which it retires to the hills which border the east and south of the district. About the tea-gardens of Dibrugarh there are always a number of dead trees standing, and in these the Grackles nest, choosing those that are rotten, in which they excavate a hole. I have seen numbers of nests, but as these were so high up and the tree so long dead and rotten, no native would risk going up."

Mr. J. Inglis notes from Cachar:--"This Hill-Mynah is common in the hilly district. It breeds in the holes of trees during April, May, and June."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"I saw several nest-holes of this bird, which was very common in the Reserve, but none of them were accessible; and it wasn't till the 18th April that I chanced on one in a low tree, the nest being in the hollow of a stump of a broken branch. It was composed and loosely put together of grass, leaves, and twigs, and contained three half-fledged young and one addled egg of a light blue colour, spotted, chiefly at the large end with purplish brown."

The eggs very similar to those of E. religiosa, but, what is very surprising, it is very considerably smaller.

Of E. religiosa the eggs vary from 1·2 to 1·37 in length, and from 0·86 to 0·9 in breadth, and the average of eight is 1·31 by 0·88.

This present egg only measures 1·12 by 0·8, and it must, I should fancy, be abnormally small.

In shape it is an extremely regular oval. The ground is a pale greenish blue, and it is spotted and blotched pretty thickly at the large end (where all the larger markings are) and very thinly at the smaller end with purple and two shades (a darker and lighter one) of chocolate-brown, the latter colour much predominating. The shell is very fine and close, but has but little gloss.

And later on Major Bingham again wrote:--"One of the commonest and most widely spread birds in the province. The following is an account of its nidification:--

"This bird lays two distinct sizes of eggs, all, however, of the same type and coloration. Out of holes in neighbouring trees, on the bank of the Meplay, on the 13th March, 1880, I took two nests, one containing three, and the other two eggs. The first lot of eggs measured respectively 1·15 x 0·77, 1·15 x 0·80, and 1·16 x 0·79 inch; while those in the second nest 1·30 x 0·95, and 1·27 x 0·93 inch respectively. All the eggs, however, are a pale blue, spotted chiefly at the larger end with light chocolate. The nests were in natural hollows in the trees, and lined with grass and leaves loosely put together."

The eggs apparently vary extraordinarily in size; they are generally more or less elongated ovals, some slightly pyriform and slightly obtuse at both ends, some rather pointed towards the small end. The shell in all is very fine and compact and smooth, but some have scarcely any appreciable gloss, while others have a really fine gloss. The ground-colour is pretty uniform in all, a delicate pale greenish blue. The markings are always chiefly confined to one end, usually the broad end; even about the large end they are never very dense, and elsewhere they are commonly very sparse or almost or altogether wanting. In some eggs the markings are pretty large irregular blotches mingled with small spots and specks, but in many eggs again the largest spot does not exceed one twelfth of an inch in diameter. In colour these markings are normally a chocolate, often with more or less of a brown tinge, in some of the small spots so thickly laid on as to be almost black, in many of the larger blotches becoming only a pale reddish purple, or here and there a pale purplish grey. In some eggs all the markings are pale and washed out, in others all are sharply defined and intense in colour. Occasionally some of the smaller spots become almost a yellowish brown.

526. Eulabes ptilogenys (Blyth). The Ceylon Grackle.

Eulabes ptilogenys (Bl.), Hume, cat. no. 693 bis.

Colonel Legge writes in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"This species breeds in June, July, and August, laying its eggs in a hole of a tree, or in one which has been previously excavated by the Yellow-fronted Barbet or Red Woodpecker. It often nests in the sugar- or kitool-palm, and in one of these trees in the Peak forest I took its eggs in the month of August. There was an absence of all nest or lining at the bottom of the hole, the eggs, which were two in number, being deposited on the bare wood. The female was sitting at the time, and was being brought fruit and berries by the male bird. While the eggs were being taken the birds flew round repeatedly, and settled on an adjacent tree, keeping up a loud whistling. The eggs are obtuse-ended ovals, of a pale greenish-blue ground-colour (one being much paler than the other), sparingly spotted with large and small spots of lilac-grey, and blotched over this with a few neutral-brown and sepia blots. They measure from 1·3 to 1·32 inch in length by 0·96 to 0·99 in breadth."

527. Calornis chalybeïus (Horsf.). The Glossy Calornis.

Calornis chalybaeus (Horsf.), Hume, cat. no. 690 bis.

Of the Glossy Calornis Mr. Davison remarks that "it is a permanent resident at the Nicobars, breeding in holes in trees and in the decayed stumps of old cocoanut-palms, apparently from December to March. At the Andamans it is much less numerous, and is only met with in pairs or in small parties, frequenting the same situations as it does in the Nicobars."

Mr. J. Inglis writes from Cachar:--"This Tree-Stare is rather rare. It breeds about April in the holes of dead trees; when the young are able to fly it departs. It again returns about the middle of February."

In Tenasserim this species was observed nesting by Mr. J. Darling, junior, who says:--"22nd March. Noticed several pairs of Calornis, with nests, in the big wooden bridge over the Kyouk-tyne Creek about 1½ mile out of Tavoy, and also a great number of their nests in the old wooden posts of an old bridge further down the Creek."

Mr. W. Davison, when in the Malay peninsula, took the eggs of this bird. He remarks:--"I found a few pairs frequenting some areca-palms at Laugat, and breeding in them, but only one nest contained eggs, three in number. The nest was a loose structure almost globular, but open at the top, composed externally of very coarse dry grass (lallung or elephant-grass), and lined with green durian leaves cut into small bits. The nest was too lightly put together to preserve. This nest and several other empty ones were placed at the base of the leaves where they meet the trunk.

"The three eggs obtained were slightly set, so that three is probably the normal number laid.

"I noticed several other pairs breeding at the same time in holes of a huge dead tree on Jugra Hill at Laugat, but I was unable to get at the nests."

The eggs are quite of the Eulabes type, moderately broad ovals, more or less compressed towards the small end, occasionally pyriform. The shell firm and strong, though fine, smooth to the touch in some cases, with but little, but generally with a fair amount of gloss. The ground is a very pale greenish blue. A number of fairly large spots and blotches, intermingled with smaller specks and spots, are scattered about the large end, often forming an imperfect irregular zone, and a few similar specks and spots are scattered thinly about the central portion of the egg, occasionally extending to the small end. The colour of these spots varies; they are generally a brownish-reddish purple and a paler greyer purple, but in some eggs the spots are so thick in colour that they seem almost black. In some they are almost purely reddish brown without any purplish tinge, and some again, lying deep in the shell, are pale grey.

Six eggs measure from 0·92 to 1·1 in length, and from 0·71 to 0·76 in breadth, but the average of six eggs is 1 by 0·74.

Family STURNIDAE.