mules' hair, shreds
of juniper-bark, &c., &c. Other nests were found in willows by the
river-bank and in apricot-trees. In a large orchard at Shalofyan,
in the Kurrum valley, I found three nests within a few yards of one
another."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"I have only found one nest of this
Shrike, which is, however, common enough both at Allahabad and at
Delhi. This nest I found on the 3rd June in the Nicholson gardens at
Delhi. It was placed high up in the fork of a babool tree, and though
more straggling and loosely built was very like that of _L. lahtora_;
the two eggs it contained, except that they are a trifle smaller, are
very like those of _L. lahtora_"

Colonel Butler has furnished me with the following note:--The
Rufous-backed Shrike commences nidification at Mt. Aboo about the end
of May. I took a nest on the 11th June containing five fresh eggs. It
was placed in the fork of one of the outer branches of a mango-tree
about 15 feet, from the ground. The hen bird sat very close, allowing
the native I sent up the tree to put his hand almost on to her
back before she moved, and then she only flew to a bough close by,
remaining there chattering and scolding angrily the whole time the
nest was being robbed. The nest, which is coarse and somewhat large
for the size of the bird, is composed externally of dry grass-roots,
twigs, rags, raw cotton, string, and other miscellaneous articles
all woven together. The interior is neatly lined with dry grass and
horsehair. The eggs, five in number, are of a pale greenish-white
colour, spotted all over with olivaceous inky-brown spots and specks,
increasing in size and forming a zone at the large end. They vary much
in shape, some being pyriform, and others blunt and similar in shape
at both ends. I took another nest on the 19th June near the same
place containing five fresh eggs, similar in every respect to the one
already described, except that it was built on a thorn-tree about 10
feet from the ground. I took a nest at Deesa on the 8th July, 1875,
containing four fresh eggs; these eggs are smaller and rounder than
those from Aboo, and the blotches are larger and more distinct. The
same pair of birds built another nest a few days later, on 18th July,
within ten yards of the tree from which the other nest was taken,
laying five eggs.

"I found other nests at Deesa on the following dates:--

"July 2nd. A nest containing 4 incubated eggs.
" 7th. " "