Graucalus macei, _Less., Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 417; _Hume, Rough Draft
N. & E._ no. 270.
My friend Mr. F.R. Blewitt seems to be the only ornithologist who
has taken many nests of the Large Grey Cuckoo-Shrike. I never was so
fortunate as to find one. He says:--"This Shrike begins to pair
about May, and in June the work of nidification commences. The place
selected for the nest is the most lofty branch of a tree, and is built
near the fork of two outlying twigs. If this bird has a preference it
would appear to be for mango and mowa trees, on which I found most of
the nests. The nest is in form circular, and its exterior is somewhat
thickly made; the interior is moderately cup-shaped. Thin twigs and
grass-roots are freely used in its construction, while the outer
part of the nest is somewhat thickly covered with what appears to be
spider's web. Altogether the nest, considering the size of the birds,
is of light structure. I am sorry I did not take the dimensions of
each nest secured, but I sent you two very perfect ones. I found the
first eggs in the beginning of July. They are of a dull lightish
green, with brown spots of all sizes, more dense towards the large
end. The maximum number of eggs is three. The bird breeds from June to
August."
The nests which Mr. Blewitt sent me remind one a good deal of those
of the _Dicruri_. They are broad shallow saucers, with an egg-cavity
about 3 inches in diameter, and ¾ inch in depth, composed in the only
two specimens that I possess of very fine twigs, chiefly those of the
furash (_Tamarix orientalis_). Exteriorly they are bound round with
cobwebs, in which a quantity of lichen is incorporated. The nests are
loose flimsy fabrics, which but for the exterior coating of cobwebs
would certainly never have borne removal.
Dr. Jerdon remarks:--"I once obtained its nest and eggs. The nest was
built in a lofty casuarina tree, close to my house at Tellicherry; it
was composed of small twigs and roots merely, of Moderate size, and
rather deeply cup-shaped, and contained three eggs, of a greenish-fawn
colour, with large blotches of purplish brown."
Professor H. Littledale writing from Baroda says:--"The Large
Cuckoo-Shrike is a permanent resident here. I found six nests last
August near Baroda, each with one egg; and my men found a nest
building in the Police Lines at Khaira on the 10th October."
Mr. J. Davidson informs us that "a pair of _Graucalus macii_ were
apparently breeding near this place (the Kondabhari Ghât). He found a
nest with two young in the previous September near the same place."
Mr. G.W. Vidal, referring to the South Konkan, says:--"Common; breeds
in February and March."
A nest that was placed in the fork of a bough was composed entirely
of slender twigs, the petioles of some pennated-leaved tree, bound
together all round the outside with abundance of cobwebs, so that
notwithstanding the incoherent nature of the materials the nest was
extremely firm. It is a shallow saucer quite of the Dicrurine type,
with a cavity 3 inches in diameter and barely 0·75 in depth.
The eggs are typically of a somewhat elongated oval, a good deal
pointed towards one end, but some are broader and more of a typical
Shrike shape. The eggs are of course considerably larger than those of
_Lanius lahtora_. The shell is compact and fine, and faintly glossy.
The ground-colour is a palish-green stone-colour, greener in some, and
somewhat more creamy in others. The markings are very Shrike-like, and
consist of brown blotches, streaks, and spots, with numerous clouds
and blotches of pale inky-purple, which appear to underlie the brown
markings. The markings in some eggs are all very faint, and, as it
were, half washed out, while in others they are very bright and clear.
In some these are comparatively sparse and few; in others close-set
and numerous, especially in a broad zone near the large end; but this
zone is by no means invariably present; in fact, not above one in five
eggs exhibit it. There is something in these eggs which reminds one
of some of the Terns' eggs; and although, when compared with a large
series of _L. lahtora_, individuals of this latter species may be
found resembling them to a certain extent, I do not think that at
first sight any zoologist would have felt sure that they _were_
Shrike's eggs.
They vary in length from 1·12 to 1·41 inch, and in breadth from 0·8 to
0·95 inch, but the average of eight eggs is 1·26 by 0·9 inch nearly.
Subfamily ARTAMINAE.