boulders have fallen, it constructs its nest, and where, unless
when assailed by man, it rears its young in safety, secure alike from
the howling blast and the attack of wild animals. It is known to the
natives by the name of 'Kaljet,' and to the Europeans as the 'Hill
Blackbird.' The situation in which the nest is placed is quite unlike
that of any other of our Hill-Thrushes with which I am acquainted. The
bird itself is as often found in open rocky spots on the skirts of the
forest as among the woods, loving to jump upon some stone or rocky
pinnacle, from which it sends forth a sort of choking, chattering
song, if such it can be called, or, with an up-jerk of the tail, hops
away with a loud musical whistle, very much after the manner of the
Blackbird (_M. vulgaris_)."

Sir E.C. Buck says:--"I found a nest at Huttoo, near Narkhunda, date
27th June, 1869, on an almost inaccessible crag overhanging a torrent.
It contained three eggs, but two were broken by stones falling in
climbing down to the nest. Nest not brought up; one egg secured and
forwarded. I saw the bird well, and have no doubt as to its identity."

Writing from Dhurmsalla, Captain Cock informed me that he had obtained
several nests in May in and about the neighbouring streams, up to an
elevation of some 5000 feet. From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall
remarks:--"Several nests found in June, near running streams, about
4000 feet up."

Dr. Stoliczka tells us that "it breeds at Chini and Sungnum at an
elevation of between 9000 and 11,000 feet."

The eggs are typically of a very long oval shape, much pointed at one
end, but more or less truncated varieties (if I may use the word)
occur. They are the largest of our Indian Thrushes' eggs, and are
larger than those of any European Thrush with which I am acquainted.
Their coloration, too, is somewhat unique; a French grey,
greyish-white, or pale-greenish ground, speckled or freckled with
minute pink, pale purplish-pink, or pinkish-brown specks, in most
cases thinly, in some instances pretty thickly, in some only towards
the large end, in some pretty well all over. In the majority of
the specimens there is, besides these minute specks, a cloudy,
ill-defined, purplish-pink zone or cap at the large end. In some few
there are also a few specks of bright yellowish brown. The eggs have
scarcely any gloss.

In length, they vary from 1.24 to 1.55 inch, and in breadth from 0.95
to 1.1 inch, but the average of fifty eggs