elongated,
spherical, and pyriform varieties occur; some are nearly round like a
Kingfisher's, and I have seen one almost as slender as a Swift's, but,
as a rule, the eggs vary but little either in shape or colour. They
are perfectly spotless, moderately glossy, and of a delicate pale
greenish blue, which of course varies a little in shade and intensity
of colour, but which is very much paler on the average than those of
any of the _Crateropi_, and at the same time less glossy. I am not at
all sure whether _T. lineatum_ is rightly associated with species like
_T. cachinnans, T. variegatum_, and _T. erythrocephalum_, which all
have spotted eggs.

In length the eggs vary from 0.8 to 1.13, and in breadth from 0.63 to
0.8; but the average of fifty-eight eggs carefully measured is 1.01 by
0.73.

101. Grammatoptila striata (Vig.). _The Striated Laughing-Thrush_.

Grammatoptila striata (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii; p. 11; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 382.

The Striated Laughing-Thrush, remarks Mr. Blyth, "builds a compact
Jay-like nest. The eggs are spotless blue, as shown by one of Mr.
Hodgson's drawings in the British Museum."

A nest of this species found near Darjeeling in July was placed on the
branches of a large tree, at a height of about 12 feet.

It was a huge shallow cup, composed mainly of moss, bound together
with stems of creepers and fronds of a _Selaginella_, and lined with
coarse roots and broken pieces of dry grass. A few dead leaves were
incorporated in the body of the nest. The nest was about 8 or 9 inches
in diameter and about 2 in thickness, the broad, shallow, saucer-like
cavity being about an inch in depth.

The nest contained two nearly fresh eggs. The eggs appear to be rather
peculiarly shaped. They are moderately elongated ovals, a good deal
pinched out and pointed towards the small end, in the same manner
(though in a less degree) as those of some Plovers, Snipe, &c. I do
not know whether this is the typical shape of this egg, or whether it
is an abnormal peculiarity of the eggs of this particular nest. The
shell is fine, but the eggs have very little gloss. In colour they are
a very pale spotless blue, not much darker than those of _Zosterops
palpebrosus_.

The eggs measure 1.3 and 1.32 in length, and 0.89 and 0.92 in breadth.

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"In the first week of May I took a
nest of the Striated Laughing-Thrush out of a small tree growing in
the forest at 5500 fee