Volvocivora sykesii (_Strickl.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 414; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 268.
Mr. F.R. Blewitt took the eggs of Sykes's Cuckoo-Shrike many years
ago. He furnishes the following note:--
"I first met with this bird in the southern part of Bundlekund.
Nowhere here is it common, and I have never seen more than a pair
together. It is to be found in wooded tracts of country, but more
frequently among thin large trees surrounding villages. Dr. Jerdon has
correctly described its restless habits, and its careful examination
of the foliage and branches of trees for food. It is usually a silent
bird, but during the earlier portion of the breeding-season the male
bird may frequently be heard repeating for minutes together his clear
plaintive notes. Each time, as it flies from one tree to another, the
song is repeated. The flight is easy, slightly undulating, and the
strokes of the wing somewhat rapid. In the latter end of July I
procured one nest. It was found on a mowa-tree (_Bassia latifolia_),
placed on and at the end of two small out-shooting branches. When my
man, mounting the tree, approached the nest the parent birds evinced
the greatest anxiety, flew just above his head, uttering all the while
a sharply repeated cry. Even when one of the birds was shot the other
would not leave the spot, but remained hovering about and uttering its
shrill cry. The nest is slightly made, and constructed of thin twigs
and roots; the exterior is covered slightly with spider's web. If we
except the size, the formation of this Cuckoo-Shrike's nest is almost
identical with that of _Graucalus macii_. I secured two eggs in the
nest. In colour they are, when fresh, of a deepish green, mottled
with dark brown spots; indeed the eggs, when first taken, a good deal
resemble those of _Copsychus saularis_. The maximum number of eggs, no
doubt, is three, as those I secured were fresh-laid. The bird breeds
from June to August."
The nest above referred to, and now in my museum, was a very shallow,
rather broad cup. The egg-cavity about 2½ inches in diameter and about
¾ inch deep, and the nest very loosely put together of very fine
twigs, and exteriorly coated and bound together with cobwebs. The
sides of the nest are about 0·6 inch thick, but the bottom is a mere
network of slender twigs, not above ¼ inch thick, and can be readily
looked through.
Mr. I. Macpherson writes:--"This bird is found in the open
scrub-forests of the Mysore district, but is nowhere common.
"14th May, 1880.--While passing a small sandal-wood tree a bird flew
out, and on looking into the tree I found a very shallow nest at the
junction of two small branches about 10 feet from the ground; the nest
contained three eggs.
"Returned again in a quarter of an hour and shot the bird (the male)
as it flew out of the tree. The eggs were within a few days of being
hatched off.
"20th May, 1880.--While out driving this morning saw a male bird
of this species fly out of a small sandal-wood tree close to the
roadside. Pulled up to watch, and shortly saw the female bird fly
into the tree. Got out and shot her and took the nest, which was
beautifully fixed in a fork with three branches only eight feet from
the ground.
"The nest contained three eggs very hard-set."
Mr. J. Davidson, C.S., remarks:--"This pretty little Cuckoo-Shrike is
one of the earliest migrants in the rains, arriving about the 8th of
June, and breeding all along the scrub-jungles which stretch between
the Nasik and Khandeish Collectorates. It appears particularly partial
to the Angan forest, and, as far as I remember, all the many nests I
have seen have been in forks of angan trees. The nest is a pretty firm
platform composed of fine roots; and the eggs, which much resemble
those of the Magpie-Robin, are three in number."
Colonel Legge writes, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"With us this
Cuckoo-Shrike breeds in April in the Western Province. Mr. MacVicar
writes me of the discovery, by himself, of two nests last year near
Colombo. One was built on the topmost branch of a young jack-tree
about 40 feet high. It was very small and shallow, measuring 2·8
inches in breadth and only 0·8 inch in depth, and the old bird could
be seen plainly from beneath sitting across it. The other was situated
on the top of a tree about 20 feet from the ground, and was built in
the same manner. The materials are not mentioned."
I have only seen two eggs of this species, sent me with the nest and
parent bird by Mr. F.R. Blewitt. They are oval eggs, moderately broad
and obtuse at both ends, about the same size as average eggs
of _Lanius vittatus_. They are slightly glossy, have a pale
greenish-white ground, and are thickly blotched and streaked
throughout, but most densely so towards the large end, with somewhat
pale brown, much the same colour as the markings on typical eggs of
_L. erythronotus_. They measure 0·85 inch in length by 0·65 and 0·68
inch in breadth respectively. Other eggs since received from Calcutta
and Mysore measure from 0·87 to 0·81 in length, and from 0·68 to 0·62
in breadth.