tone-colour, greener in some, and
somewhat more creamy in others. The markings are very Shrike-like, and
consist of brown blotches, streaks, and spots, with numerous clouds
and blotches of pale inky-purple, which appear to underlie the brown
markings. The markings in some eggs are all very faint, and, as it
were, half washed out, while in others they are very bright and clear.
In some these are comparatively sparse and few; in others close-set
and numerous, especially in a broad zone near the large end; but this
zone is by no means invariably present; in fact, not above one in five
eggs exhibit it. There is something in these eggs which reminds one
of some of the Terns' eggs; and although, when compared with a large
series of _L. lahtora_, individuals of this latter species may be
found resembling them to a certain extent, I do not think that at
first sight any zoologist would have felt sure that they _were_
Shrike's eggs.

They vary in length from 1.12 to 1.41 inch, and in breadth from 0.8 to
0.95 inch, but the average of eight eggs is 1.26 by 0.9 inch nearly.

Subfamily ARTAMINAE.

512. Artamus fuscus, Vieill. _The Ashy Swallow-Shrike_.

Artamus fuscus, _V., Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 441; _Hume, Rough Draft N. &
E._ no. 287.

Mr. R. Thompson says:--"I have frequently found the nests of the Ashy
Swallow-Shrike, and have watched the old birds constructing them, but
never took down their eggs. Two or three pairs may always be found
nesting on the long-leaved pine, as one comes up from Kaladoongee to
Nyneetal and passes halfway up from the first dak chokee at Ghutgurh.
They lay in May and June, constructing their nest on the horizontal
extension of a main branch of some lofty tree, generally _Pinus
longifolia_. The nest, composed of fine grasses, roots, and fibres,
is a loose, only slightly cup-shaped structure, some 5 inches in
diameter."

Dr. Jerdon says on the other hand:--"I have procured the nest of this
bird situated on a palmyra tree on the stem of the leaf. It was a deep
cup-shaped nest, made of grass, leaves, and numerous feathers, and
contained two eggs, white with a greenish tinge, and with light brown
spots, chiefly at the larger end. I see that Mr. Layard procured the
nest in Ceylon, where this bird is common, in the heads of cocoanut
trees, made of fibres and grasses, and it was probably the nest of
this bird that was brought to Tickell as that of the Palm-Swift."

According to Mr. Hodgson this s