The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 written by Allan O. Hume

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Mr. Mandelli sent me nests of this species, which were taken, at
Ging, near Darjeeling, on the 26th April and on the 22nd May, the one
contained one fresh egg, the other three. They were both placed on
branches of large trees at heights of about 20 feet from the ground.
They are broad shallow cups, from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, about 2
in height, compactly composed of fine twigs and grass-stems, bound
together with cobwebs and with many pieces of lichen and some tiny dry
leaves worked in on the outer surface. Interiorly, they are lined with
very fine hair-like grass-stems. The saucer-like cavities are about 3
inches in diameter and about 11/4 in depth.

Dr. Jerdon says:--"I found its nest on one occasion, in April, in
Lower Malabar. It was shallow and loosely made with roots, and lined
with hair, about 20 feet from the ground, on the fork of a tree; and
it contained three eggs of a pinkish-white colour, with some longish
rusty or brick-red spots."

There are two very strongly marked types of this bird's eggs. The eggs
of both types are moderately broad, or, at most, somewhat elongated
ovals, and comparatively devoid of gloss. The first, in its colouring,
exactly resembles the eggs of _Caprimulgus indicus_; a pinkish
salmon-coloured ground, streaked, blotched, and clouded, but nowhere
densely (except towards the large end, where there is a tendency to
form a cap or zone), with reddish pink, not differing widely in hue
from, though deeper in shade than, the ground-colour. Here and there,
where the markings are thickest, under-clouds of very faint purple
occur, but these are too feeble to attract attention, unless the egg
is looked into closely. In the other type of egg, the ground-colour
is pale pinkish white, pretty boldly blotched and spotted almost
exclusively towards the large end, where there is a broad irregular
imperfect zone, with brownish red, intermingled with blotches of very
faint inky purple. My description possibly fails to make this as
apparent as it should be, but no two eggs can, to a casual observer,
appear more distinct than these two types. There is yet, according to
Mr. Brooks, a third type of this bird's eggs; of this he has given me
a single example. In shape it is excessively long and narrow, of the
type of the eggs of _Chibia hottentotta_, but its coloration and
character of markings are unlike those of any Shrike or Drongo with
which I am acquainted, and exactly resemble those of many types of the
eggs of the several Bulbuls. The ground-colour is pinkish white, and
is thickly speckled and spotted throughout with primary markings of
rich brownish red, and feeble secondary ones of excessively pale
inky purple. This egg, moreover, possesses a degree of gloss never
observable in those of the _Dicruri_, and therefore, well assured
though Mr. Brooks is of the parentage of this egg which he took with
his own hands, I feel confident, having since obtained many eggs
of _Hypsipetes psaroides_ which are exactly similar to this last
described egg, that in, perhaps, indifferent light he mistook this
bird for a _Dicrurus_. I may add that the first described type, of
which I have procured numerous specimens from different parts of
the Himalayas, taking _several_ nests with my own hands, is most
characteristic of this species.

In the type with the pinky-white ground, large or small spots often
occur about the large end of a deep purple colour, so deep as to be
almost black, and but for the absence of gloss some of these paler
eggs are very close to those of some of the Orioles. Intermediate
varieties between the two types above described occur, but in not one
of more than sixty specimens that I have examined has there been any
perceptible gloss.

The eggs vary in length from 0.85 to 1.01 inch, and in breadth from
0.7 to 0.75 inch, but the average of fifty-one eggs is 0.95 by 0.74
inch.

329. Dicrurus nigrescens, Oates. _The Tenasserim Ashy Drongo_.

Dicrurus nigrescens, _Oates; Oates, B.I._ i, p. 315.

Mr. Oates found the nest of this Drongo in Pegu. He says:--"I found
one nest on the 27th April at Kyeikpadein, near the town of Pegu, on
a small sapling near the summit. It contained four eggs[A]; they are
without gloss; the ground-colour in all is white. In three eggs the
whole shell is marked with spots of pale purple; these are perhaps
more numerous at the thick end, but not conspicuously so. The fourth
egg is blotched, not spotted, with the same colour.

[Footnote A: I recorded the nest and eggs of this bird under the name
of _Buchanga intermedia_ (S.F. v, p. 149). The parent birds of these
eggs are fortunately still in the British Museum, and I am able to
identify them with this species, which occurs generally throughout
Tenasserim and many parts of Lower Pegu.--ED.]

"The nest is composed of fine twigs and the dry branches of weeds; it
is lined very firmly and neatly with grass. Exterior diameter 5 inches
and depth 2; egg-chamber 31/2 inches across and 11/4 deep. The outside
of the nest is profusely covered with lichens and cobwebs. The eggs
measure from .83 to .95 in length, and .68 to .71 in width."

330. Dicrurus caerulescens (Linn.). _The White-bellied Drongo_.

Dicrurus caerulescens (_L._), _Jerd B. Ind_ i, p. 432.
Dicrurus caeruleus (_Muell._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 281.

I have never seen a nest of the White-bellied Drongo. Mr. R. Thompson
says:--"This bird's breeding-habitat is from 2500 to 6000 feet in the
Himalayas. It is common on the south-eastern slopes of Nyneetal. It
lays in May and June, placing its shallow cup-shaped nest in some
little fork near the top of a moderate-sized oak-tree, if breeding on
a mountain-side, but of some tall _Alnus nipalensis, Acacia elata_,
or _Acer oblongum_, if nesting in deep dells or valleys. The nest
appeared to be exactly like that of _D. ater_; but I can say nothing
very positive about it or the eggs, as, though continually seeing
them, I never, I think, took the trouble of getting one down."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall, commenting on Mr. Thompson's remark that this
Drongo is common near Naini Tal, says:--"My experience on this point
is negative; I have carefully searched the south-eastern slopes of
Naini Tal for four years without even seeing the bird, so that I do
not think it can be classed as a common breeder here."

Mr. J. Davidson informs us that on the 16th July he saw a brood of
_Dicrurus caerulescens_ on the Kondabhari Ghat, just able to fly.
Referring to Western Khandeish, he tells us that he saw only two
nests. They were on adjoining trees in the Akrani; they were largish
nests, not like those of _D. ater_, but more resembling those of _D.
longicaudatus_ described in 'Nests and Eggs.' One nest contained three
young ones, the other was only building; and nothing could have been
more plucky than the way the old ones defended their nest.

331. Dicrurus leucopygialis, Blyth. _The White-vented Drongo_.

Buchanga leucopygialis (_Bl._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 281
bis.

Colonel Legge gives us the following account of the breeding of this
Drongo, which is confined to Ceylon:--"The breeding-season of this
Drongo is from March until May; and the nest is almost invariably
built at the horizontal fork of the branch of a large tree, at a
considerable height from the ground, sometimes as much as 40 feet. It
is a shallow cup, measuring about 21/4 inches in diameter by 1 in depth,
and is compactly put together, well finished round the top, but
sometimes rather loose on the exterior, which is composed of fine
grass-stalks and bark-fibres, the lining being of fine grass or
tendrils of creepers. The number of eggs varies from two to four,
three being the most common. They vary much in shape, and also in the
depth of their ground-tint; some are regular ovals, others are stumpy
at the small end, while now and then very spherical eggs are laid.
They are either reddish white, 'fleshy,' or pure white, in some cases
marked with small and large blotches of faded red, confluent at
the obtuse end, and openly dispersed over the rest of the surface,
overlying blots of faint lilac-grey; others have a conspicuous zone
round the large end, with a few scanty blotches of light red and
bluish grey on the remainder; in others, again, the markings are
confined to a few very large roundish blotches of the above colours at
one end, or, again, several still larger clouds of brick-red at the
obtuse end, with a few blotches of the same at the other. Dimensions
from 1.0 to 0.86 inch in length, by 0.72 to 0.68 in breadth. I once
observed a pair in the north of Ceylon very cleverly forming their
nest on a horizontal fork by first constructing the side furthest from
the angle, thus forming an arch, which was then joined to the fork by
the formation of the bottom of the structure.

"The parent birds in this species display great courage, vigourously
sweeping down on any intruder who may threaten to molest their young."

334. Chaptia aenea (Vieill.). _The Bronzed Drongo_.

Chaptia aenea (_V._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 433; _Hume, Rough Draft N.
& E._ no. 282.

The Bronzed Drongo breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, in the
central hills of Nepal, or rather in the plains near to these hills,
rarely quitting large woods. They begin to lay in March, and build a
broad somewhat saucer-shaped nest some 4 or 5 inches in width and 2 to
3 in depth externally. The nest is placed in some slender horizontal
fork, to one at least of the twigs of which it is firmly attached by
vegetable fibres; it is composed of fine twigs and grass, and bound
round with, cobwebs in which pieces of lichen and small cocoons are
often intermingled. Mr. Hodgson specially notes:--"_June 6th, valley_.
Female, nest and eggs; nest on fork of upper branch of large tree, 4.5
inches wide by 2.25 deep, cup-shaped, made of fibres of grass bound
with cobweb, lining none; three eggs, obtusely oval, the ground fawn
tinged white, blotched (especially at larger end) with fawn or reddish
brown,"

It appears that four is the maximum number of eggs laid; both sexes
participate in the work of incubation and rearing the young, but they
are very jealous of the approach of any birds when they have eggs or
young, driving all such intruders away with the utmost bravery. The
eggs measure from 0.88 to 0.95 inch by 0.65.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I have found the Bronzed Drongo
breeding from April to June in the low hot valleys at about 2000 feet
above the sea. It suspends its nest in a slender horizontal fork at 10
feet or more from the ground, and appears, like its frequent neighbour
_Dicrurus longicaudatus_, to prefer a bamboo-clump to breed in. The
nest is a compact cup, neatly made of fine grass-stalks, with an
outer coating of dry bamboo-leaves plastered over with cobwebs; it is
fastened to the supporting branches by cobwebs. Externally it measures
3.5 inches wide by 2 inches deep, internally 2.5 by 1.5.

"The usual number of eggs is three."

Major M. Forbes Coussmaker, writing from Bangalore, tells us:--"I took
the nest of this bird on 6th April in the Shemagah District, Mysore.
It was built on the fork of a bare branch about 20 feet from the
ground in big tree-jungle, and was composed of fine grass, fibre, and
a few dry bamboo-leaves woven together with cobwebs, making a small
compact cup-like nest which measured 3 inches in diameter externally,
2.5 internally, and 1.4 deep.

"From where I stood I saw the bird come and sit on the nest and fly
off again a dozen times at least. The eggs, three in number, measured
.9 by .65, and were pinkish white with darker pink and light purple
blotches and spots all over, principally at the larger end."

Mr. J.R. Cripps informs us that at Furreedpore, in Eastern Bengal,
this species is "rather common; generally to be found perching on the
dead branches of high trees overlooking water, especially whenever
there is a dense undergrowth of jungle. On the 1st June, 1878, I
secured a nest with three fresh eggs; it was built on a slender twig
on the outer side of a mango-tree which was standing near a ryot's
house, and was about 15 feet off the ground. External diameter 31/2
inches, depth 2; internal diameter 2-1/3, depth 1-1/8. Saucer-shaped;
the outside consisted of plaintain-leaves torn up into slips, all of
which were firmly bound together by fibres of the plaintain-leaf and
jute, which were wound round the twigs and secured the nest. Inside
lining was made of very fine pieces of 'sone' grass. The pair were
very pugnacious, attacking any birds coming near their nest. These
birds have a clear mellow ringing whistle."

Mr. Oates writes from Pegu:--"I procured one nest on the 23rd April.
It was placed at the tip of an outer branch of a jack tree, and
attention was drawn to it by the vigorous attacks the parents made on
passing birds. The nest was suspended in a fork; the outside diameter
is 4 inches and inside 3, total depth 21/2, and the egg-cup is about 11/2;
deep. The nest is composed of fine grass, strips of plaintain-bark,
and other vegetable fibres closely woven together; the edges and the
interior are chiefly of delicate branchlets of the finer weeds and
grasses. It is overlaid at the edges, where it is attached to the
branches, with cobwebs, and a few fragments of moss are stuck on at
various points.

"There were two fresh eggs; the ground-colour is a pale salmon-fawn,
and the shell is covered with darker spots and marks of the same. They
are only very slightly glossy. The two eggs measure 0.85 by 0.62."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"On the 10th March, 1880,
being encamped at the head-waters of the Queebawchoung, a feeder of
the Meplay, and having an hour to spare, I took my gun and climbed up
a steep hill to the very sources of the Queebaw. Here, hanging over
the trickling stream, was a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ firmly woven and
tied on to a fork in the branch of a little tree, at a height of about
10 feet from the ground. The nest was of roots and grass lined by
soft fine black roots, and held three eggs, of a rich salmon-pink,
obscurely spotted darker at the large end; they measure 0.83 by 0.61,
0.82 by 0.61, and 0.80 by 0.61 respectively.

"On the 15th March, 1880, in the fork of a branch of a small
zimbun-tree (_Dillenia pentagyna_), hanging over a pathway along the
bank of the Meplay stream, I found a nest of the above species. A neat
strongly-made little cup of vegetable fibres and cobwebs, containing
two fresh eggs; ground-colour dull salmon, obscurely spotted with
brownish pink. They measure 0.86 by 0.64 and 0.88 by 0.65."

Mr. J.L. Darling, Jun., records the following notes:--

"26th March. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_, building, when on the
march from Tavoy to Nwalabo, some seven miles east of Tavoy, in the
fork of a bamboo-branch 12 feet from ground.

"29th March. Took two fresh eggs of _Chaptia aenea_, and shot the bird
off nest, about twenty-three miles east of Tavoy, in open bamboo-land,
very low elevation. The nest was built in the fork of an overhanging
branch of a bamboo some 50 feet from the ground.

"13th April. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ with two large young
ones. Nest built in a tree some 40 feet from ground, in open forest
about twenty miles east of Tavoy.

"22nd April. Found a nest of _Chaptia aenea_ with two large young
ones. Nest built at the end of a bough about 30 feet from ground, near
Tavoy."

The nests of this species are quite of the Oriole type, more or less
deep cups suspended between the forks of small branches or twigs of
some bamboo-clump or tree. Exteriorly they are composed of dry flags
of grass, bits of bamboo-spathes, or coarse grass, bound together with
vegetable fibres and often with a good deal of cobweb worked over
them; sometimes a tiny bit or two of moss may be found added, and
often the fine thread-like flower-stems of grass. Interiorly they are
generally lined with excessively fine grass. In one or two nests very
fine black fern-roots are intermingled with the grass lining. The
nests vary a good deal in size, but are all extremely compact, and
while some are decidedly massive, nearly an inch thick at bottom,
others are scarcely a quarter of this in thickness beneath. In one the
cavity is 2.5 inches broad by 3 long, and fully 2 deep; in another it
is about 2.5 inches in diameter by scarcely 1.25 inches in depth. In
one nest four fresh eggs were found; in another three fully incubated
ones. The nests were suspended at heights of from 10 to 30 feet from
the ground.

The eggs sent by Mr. Gammie very much recall the eggs of _Niltava_ and
others of the Flycatchers. They are moderately elongated ovals, in
some cases slightly pyriform, in others somewhat pointed towards the
small end. The shell is fine and compact, smooth and silky to the
touch, but they have but little gloss. The ground-colour varies from
a pale pinkish fawn to a pale salmon-pink, and they exhibit round
the large end a feeble more or less imperfect and irregular zone of
darker-coloured cloudy spots, in some cases reddish, in some rather
inclining to purple, which zone is more or less involved in a haze
of the same colour, but slightly darker than the rest of the
ground-colour of the egg.

The eggs vary in length from 0.76 to 0.88, and in breadth from 0.6 to
0.64. The average of fifteen eggs is 0.82 by 0.61.

335. Chibia hottentotta (Linn.). _The Hair-crested Drongo_.

Chibia hottentota (_L.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 439; _Hume, Rough Draft
N. & E._ no. 286.

Mr. R. Thompson says:--"The Hair-crested Drongo is extremely common as
a breeder in all our hot valleys (Kumaon and Gurwhal). It lays in May
and June, building in forks of branches of small leafy trees situated
in warm valleys having an elevation of from 2000 to 2500 feet. The
nest is circular, about 5 inches in diameter, rather deep and hollow;
it is composed of fine roots and fibres bound together with cobwebs,
and it is lined with hairs and fine roots. They lay from three to
four much elongated, purplish-white eggs, spotted with pink or claret
colour."

Dr. Jerdon remarks:--"The Lepchas at Darjeeling brought me the nest,
which was said to have been placed high up in a large tree; it was
composed of twigs and roots and a few bits of grass, and contained
two eggs, livid white, with purplish and claret spots, and of a very
elongated form."

The Jobraj, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures, begins to
lay in Nepal in April. It builds a large shallow nest, 8 or 9 inches
in diameter externally, with the cavity of about half that diameter,
attached, as a rule, to the slender branches of some horizontal fork,
between which it is suspended much like that of an Oriole, though much
shallower than this latter; it is composed of small twigs, fine roots,
and grass-stems bound together, and it is attached to the branches by
vegetable fibre, and more or less coated with cobwebs; little pieces
of lichen and moss are also blended in the nest. It lays three or four
eggs, rather pyriform in shape, measuring 1.25 by 0.86 inch, with a
whitish or pinky-whitish ground, speckled and spotted pretty well all
over, but most densely towards the large end, with reddish pink.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took two nests of the Hair-crested
Drongo this year in June, both at about an elevation of 1500 feet in
wooded valleys, placed well up in the outer branches of tall, slender
trees; they are of a broad saucer-shape, openly but firmly made of
roots and stems of slender climbers, and destitute of lining. There
is a good deal of cobweb on the outsides of the nests, and they were
attached to the supporting branches by the same material. One was
fixed in among several upright sprays, the other suspended in a
slender fork after the manner of an Oriole. They measured about 6
inches broad by 21/4 deep externally, internally 4 by 13/4. One nest
contained four fresh eggs, the other three partially-incubated eggs."

Mr. Oates, writing from Pegu, says:--"In the first week of May I took
several nests of this bird, but in all cases the nests were situated
in such dangerous places that most of the eggs got broken; there were
three in each nest. The position of the nest and the nest itself are
very much like those of _D. paradiseus_. Comparing many nests of both
species together, the only difference appears to be that the nests of
the Hair-crested Drongo are slightly larger on the whole.

"The only two eggs saved measure 1.10 by .8 and 1.11 by .81; they are
slightly glossy, dull white, minutely and thickly freckled and spotted
with reddish brown and pale underlying marks of neutral tint.

"I may add that at the commencement of May all the eggs were much
incubated."

Major C.T. Bingham remarks:--"During the breeding season in the end
of March and in April I saw a great number of nests round and about
Meeawuddy in Tenasserim, but all inaccessible, as they were invariably
built out at the very end of the thinnest branches of eng, teak,
thingan (_Hopea odorata_), and other trees.

"Except during those two months, I have not seen the bird plentiful
anywhere."

Mr. J.R. Cripps has written the following valuable notes regarding
the breeding of the Hair-crested Drongo in the Dibrugarh district in
Assam:--

"17th May, 1879. Nest with three fresh eggs, attached to a fork in one
of the outer brandies of an otinga (_Dillenia pentagyna_) tree, and
about 15 feet off the ground.

"15th May, 1880. Three fresh eggs in a nest 20 feet off the ground,
and a few yards from my bungalow, in an oorian (_Bischoffia javanica_,
Bl.).

"5th June, 1880. Nest with three partly-incubated eggs, in one of the
outer branches of a jack (_Artocarpus integrifolia_) tree, and about
15 feet off the ground.

"27th May, 1881. Three fresh eggs in a nest on a soom (_Machilus
odoratissima_) tree at the edge of the forest bordering the tea. The
nests are deep saucers, 31/2 inches in diameter, internally 11/2 deep,
with the sides about 1/4 thick; but the bottom is so flimsy that the
eggs are easily seen from below, the materials being grass, roots, and
fine tendrils of creepers, especially if these are thorny, when they
are used as a lining. The nest is always situated in the fork of a
branch."

The nests are large, shallow, King-Crow-like structures, often
suspended between forks, sometimes placed between four or five upright
shoots, at times resting on a horizontal bough against and attached to
some more or less upright shoots. They are composed mainly of roots
thinly but firmly twisted together, have sometimes a good deal of
cobweb twisted round their outer surface, often a good deal of
vegetable fibre used for the same purpose and, though they have no
lining, are always composed interiorly of finer material than that
used for the outer portion of the structure. Exteriorly the diameter
varies from 6 to nearly 7 inches, the height from nearly 2 to 21/2; the
cavity is usually about 4 inches in diameter and 1.5 to 1.75 in depth.
I have taken the nests in May and June alike in small and large trees,
at elevations of from 10 to 30 feet from the ground.

Typically the eggs are rather broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards
the small end, but they vary a great deal both in size and shape, are
occasionally very much elongated, and again, at times, exhibit the
characteristic pointing but feebly. The ground-colour varies from
greyish white to a delicate pale pink; as a rule the markings are
small and inconspicuous frecklings and specklings of pale purple
reddish where the ground, is pink, greyish where it is white,
tolerably thickly set about the large end and somewhat sparsely
elsewhere; but in some eggs these markings are everywhere almost
obsolete. In many there is a dull pale purplish cloud underlying the
primary markings, extending over the greater part of the large end of
the egg. Not uncommonly a few specks and spots of yellowish brown
are scattered here and there about the egg. In one egg before me the
markings are larger, more decided, and fewer in number--distinct
spots, some of them one tenth of an inch in diameter; and in this egg
the spots are decidedly brownish red, while intermixed with, them are
a few specks and clouds of inky purple. The ground in this case is a
pale pinky white.

As a rule the eggs are entirely devoid of gloss, but one or two have a
very faint gloss.

The eggs measure from 1.01 to 1.21 in length, and from 0.79 to 0.86 in
breadth; but the average of twenty-nine eggs is 1.12 by 0.81.

338. Dissemurulus lophorhinus (Vieill.). _The Ceylon Black Drongo_.

Dissemuroides lophorhinus (V.), _Hume, cat._ no. 283 quat.

Colonel Legge says, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"This species breeds in
the south of Ceylon in the beginning of April. I have seen the young
just able to fly in the Opate forests at the end of this month; but I
have not succeeded in getting any information concerning its nest or
eggs."

339. Bhringa remifer (Temm.). _The Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo_.

Bhringa remifer (_Temm._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 434.
Bhringa tenuirostris, _Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 283.