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."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures this species breeds in
the Valley of Nepal, laying in April and May, and building in thorny
bushes, hedges, and trees, often in the immediate neighbourhood of
villages. The following are two of Mr. Hodgson's notes:--

"Valley, May 18th.--Nest near the top of a fir of mean size, fixed
securely in the midst of several diverging branches, made compactly of
dry grasses, of which the inner ones, which constitute the lining, are
hard and elastic, and well fitted to preserve the shape, which is a
deep cup with an internal cavity 3.5 inches in diameter and nearly 3
deep. It contained six eggs, milk-and-water white, with pale olive
spots, chiefly at the large end, measuring 0.95 by 0.68 inch.

"Jahar Powah, May 16th.--Ascent of Sheopoori, skirts of large forests;
nest on lateral branches of a large tree made of downy tops of plants,
of moss and thick grasses strongly compacted, and lined with fi