composed entirely of fine
stems, apparently of some kind of creeper, strongly but not at all
compactly interwoven; in fact, though the nest holds together firmly,
you can see through it everywhere. It is about 6 inches in external
diameter, and has an egg-cavity of about 4 inches wide and 1.5 deep.
It has no pretence for lining of any kind.

Of another nest which he took Mr. Gammie says:--"I found a nest
containing three fresh eggs in a bush, at a height of about 10 feet
from the ground. The nest was a very loose, shallow, saucer-like
affair, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and an inch or so in thickness,
composed entirely of the dry stems and tendrils of creepers. This was
at Labdah, in Sikhim, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and the date
the 14th May, 1873." Later he writes:--

"This Magpie breeds in the Darjeeling District in May, June, and July,
most commonly at elevations between 2000 and 4000 feet. It affects
clear cultivated tracts interspersed with a few standing shrubs and
bamboos, in which it builds. The nest is generally placed from 6 to 12
feet from the ground in the inner part of the shrubs, and is made of
pieces of creeper stems intermixed with a few small twigs loosely
put together without any lining. There is scarcely any cup, merely a
depression towards the centre for the eggs to rest in. Internally it
measures about 4.8 in breadth by 1.5 in depth. The eggs are three or
four in number.

"This is a very common and abundant bird between 2000 and 4000 feet,
but is rarely found far from cultivated fields. It seems to be
exceedingly fond of chestnuts, and, in autumn, when they are ripe,
lives almost entirely on them; but at other times is a great pest in
the grain-fields, devouring large quantities of the grain and being
held in detestation by the natives in consequence. Jerdon says 'it
usually feeds on trees,' but I have seen it quite as frequently
feeding on the ground as on trees."

Mr. Hodgson has two notes on the nidification of this species in
Nepal:--"_May 18th_.--Nest, two eggs and two young; nest on the
fork of a small tree, saucer-shaped, made of slender twigs twisted
circularly and without lining; cavity 3.5 in diameter by 0.5 deep;
eggs yellowish, white, blotched with pale olive chiefly at the larger
end; young just born.

"_Jaha Powah, 6th June_.--Female and nest in forest on a largish tree
placed on the fork of a branch; a mere bunch of sticks like a
Crow's nest; three eggs, short and