Pericrocotus speciosus (_Lath.). Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 419; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 271.
Captain Hutton records that the Indian Scarlet Minivet breeds both on
the Doon and in the hills overlooking it, to an elevation of about
5000 feet. He says:--"The nest is generally placed high up on the
branch of some tall tree, often overhanging the side of a fearful
precipice. On the 6th and 17th of June I procured two nests in ravines
opening upon the Doon, one of which contained four, and the other five
eggs, of a dull-white colour, sparingly spotted and blotched with
earthy brown, more thickly so at the larger end, where they form an
open ring of spots; other small blotches of a fainter colour are seen
beneath the shell.
"It is a curious fact that in the latter nest, out of the five eggs
_three_ were ringed at the larger end, and the other two _at the
smaller end_. The nest is rather coarsely made, being very thick at
the sides, and the materials not neatly interwoven; it is composed
externally of dried grasses and the fine stalks of various small
plants, interspersed with bits of cotton and grass-roots, and lined
with the fine seed-stalks of small grasses."
I am not at all sure that there is not some mistake here. The nest
described is rather that of _L. erythronotus_ than of any of the
_Pericrocoti_, and but for the excellent authority on which the above
rests, I should certainly not have accepted it.
This species breeds in the forests of the central hills of Nepal;
recording to Mr. Hodgson's notes and drawings they begin laying about
April, and lay three or four eggs, which are neither described nor
figured. The nest is a beautiful deep cup externally about 3·25 inches
in diameter, and rather more than 2 inches high, composed of moss
and moss-roots lined internally with the latter, and entirely coated
exteriorly with lichen and a few stray pieces of green moss firmly
secured in their places by spiders' webs. The nest is placed in some
slender branch between three or four upright sprays. This, I may note,
is just the kind of nest one would have expected this Large Minivet to
build.
The only specimens, supposed to be the eggs of this species, that I
possess I owe to Captain Hutton. They closely resemble the eggs of _L.
erythronotus_, but are perhaps shorter, and hence _look_ broader than
those of this latter. They are slightly bigger than the eggs of _L.
vittatus_. In shape they seem to be typically a slightly broader oval
than those of any of our true Shrikes, but elongated and pointed
examples occur. Their ground-colour is a very pale greyish white,
thickly spotted all over the large end, and thickly dotted elsewhere,
with specks, spots, and tiny blotches of pale yellowish brown and pale
inky-purple. Compared with the eggs of the other _Pericrocoti_, they
are very dingily coloured. The eggs are devoid of gloss. I am doubtful
about these eggs.
In length they vary from 0·88 to 0·93 inch, and in breadth from 0·72
to 0·75 inch; but the average of five eggs is 0·9 by 0·72 inch.