Part 89

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall, writing from Murree, says:--"These little Shrikes breed in the hills, as well as the plains, up to 5000 feet high."

Colonel Butler has the following notes on the breeding of this Shrike in Sind:--

"Kurrachi, 7th May, 1877.--I found two nests on this date, one in the fork of a babool tree, the other on the stump of a broken-off branch of a tree between the stump and the trunk of the tree. The former contained four incubated eggs, exact miniatures of many eggs I have of L. erythronotus, the latter two small chicks.--May 12th, same locality, a nest containing two fresh eggs, and another containing two fully fledged young ones.--June 20th, same locality, one nest containing three fresh eggs, another containing four young birds. Eggs most typical are those which have a well-marked zone near the centre."

"Hydrabad, Sind, 19th June, 1878.--A nest on the outer bough of a babool tree about ten feet from the ground, containing three fresh eggs."

And he further notes:--"The Bay-backed Shrike breeds in the neighbourhood of Deesa at the end of the hot weather. The nest is a very firm and compactly built cup, usually placed in the fork of some low thorny tree at heights varying from seven to ten feet from the ground.

"June 15th, 1875. A nest containing 3 fresh eggs. July 1st, 1876. " " 4 " " July 15th, " " " 5 incubated eggs. July 29th, " " " 4 young birds.

"These birds always retire from the more open parts of the country to low thorny tree-jungle to breed."

Mr. R.M. Adam says:--"This species breeds about Sambhur in July. On the 1st August I saw numbers of nests and fledglings in the Marot jungle."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing of the Deccan, say:--"Abundant, and breeds all over the Deccan."

And the former gentleman informs us that this species is also very common in Western Khandeish, and that it breeds in the plains in June and July, and in the Satpuras in March.

Mr. Benjamin Aitken writes:--"This is a very familiar bird, and builds readily in some roadside tree, where men and carts are passing all day long. I have the following notes of its nests:--

"1st-8th May, 1869. Nest and three eggs taken at Khandalla, above the Bhore Ghât.

"12th May, 1871. Nest and four eggs at Poona.

"16th-18th May, 1871. Nest and four eggs at Khandalla. This nest was in a corinda bush, placed about 1½ feet from the ground.

"13th May, 1873. A clutch of young birds left the nest this morning at Poona.

"19th May, 1873. I found a nest of half-fledged young birds this day at Poona. The tree was almost denuded of leaves, and the heat of the sun being very intense, the parent bird was nevertheless sitting close. Its eyes were closed, and it was gasping hard. One of the young ones had crawled out from under the parent, and was sitting on the edge of the nest, also gasping hard.

"I do not exactly gather from your notes in the 'Rough Draft' what form the spots usually take. In my nest taken on the 12th May all four eggs had the zone quite as distinct as the eggs of a Fan-tailed Flycatcher. The seven eggs taken from two nests at Khandalla, on the other hand, had not the least appearance of a zone, but were spotted, after the manner of Sparrows' eggs. In both the latter cases I saw the old bird fly off the nest and alight on a tree a few yards off.

"I remember one little Shrike of this species which used to come down every day to pick up crumbs of bread and pieces of potatoe put out for the Sparrows. (Being a true naturalist I love Sparrows.)

"My brother on one occasion saw one of these Shrikes trying to catch a garden lizard--not a gecko.

"Of course you know that the young of this handsome and brightly coloured Shrike have a plain and curiously marked plumage, reminding one a little of the pateela Partridge. I never saw this Shrike in Bombay."

The eggs of this, the smallest of all our Indian Shrikes, differ in no particular, so far as shape, colour, and markings go, from those of its larger congeners; that is to say, for every egg of this species an exactly similar one might be picked out from a large series of L. lahtora or L. erythronotus; but at the same time there is no doubt that pale-creamy and pale-brownish stone-coloured grounds predominate more amongst the eggs of this species than in those of the two above-named. The markings are also, as a rule, more minute and less well-defined; indeed, in the large series I possess there is not one which exhibits the bold sharp blotches common in the eggs of L. lahtora, and not uncommon in those of L. erythronotus.

In length they vary from 0·75 to 0·95 inch, and in breadth from 0·62 to 0·71 inch; but the average of forty-five eggs is 0·83 by 0·66 inch nearly.

475. Lanius nigriceps (Franklin). The Black-headed Shrike.

Lanius nigriceps (Frankl.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 404. Collyrio nigriceps, Frankl., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 259.

I have never myself taken the eggs or nests of the Black-headed Shrike.

Mr. E. Thompson says:--"This Shrike breeds all along the south-western termination of the Kumaon and Gurhwal forests, and is usually found in swampy, high grassy lands. It lays in July, August, and September, building a large cup-shaped nest, composed of roots and fine grasses, in small trees or shrubs in low, open grass-covered country.

"I found this the Common Shrike in the hilly jungly tracts in Southern Mirzapore, but I do not know whether it breeds there. The cry is quite like that of L. erythronotus.

"The southern limit of Lanius nigriceps is interesting and remarkable. It disappears after you go south-west of the Mykle Range, and on the Range itself it is found only near marshy places. This Mykle Range extends as far east as Ummerkuntuk, with a spur going off north of that, and joining on with the Kymore Range, parts of which I explored in March last in Pergunnahs Agrore and Singrowlee. Down in those places this Lanius was the Common Shrike, but south and west of Ummerkuntuk all the Shrikes disappear more or less, and L. nigriceps entirely."