From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:—­“In the first week of June I found a nest in low jungle, at 2000 feet, containing four greenish-blue eggs, but, as I did not see the bird, left it until my return a week later.  I then saw the female, but in the interval the young had been hatched.  The nest closely resembled that of D. caerulatus [p. 46], both in shape and composition, and was similarly situated between several upright slender shoots to which it was firmly attached.  It was, however, within five feet of the ground, which is lower by 5 feet or so than D. caerulatus generally builds.

“I have found this species breeding from April to June, up to elevations not much exceeding 2500 feet.  It affects the low, dense scrub growing in moist situations, and usually fixes its nest between several upright sprays, within 5 or 6 feet of the ground.  The nest is cup-shaped, made of dry bamboo-leaves, intermixed with a very few pieces of climber-stems, and thickly lined with old leaf-stalks of some pinnate-leaved tree.  Externally it measures about 5.5 inches in diameter by 4 in height; internally 3.5 by 2.75.

“The eggs are four or five in number.”

Mr. Oates writes:—­“On the 27th April I shot a female in the Pegu Hills off her nest.  This latter contained one young one, and one deformed egg, which unfortunately got broken; colour a deep blue.  The nest was placed in a small seedling bamboo about 6 feet from the ground at a joint where a number of small twigs shot out, inverted umbrella fashion.  The nest in every respect closely resembled that of G. pectoralis.”

He subsequently remarked:—­“Breeds in Lower Pegu chiefly in July.  Average of six eggs, 1.16 by .88; colour, very glossy deep blue.  Nest placed in forks of saplings within reach of the hand, massive, cup-shaped, and made of dead leaves and small branches; lined with fine twigs.  Outside diameter 7 inches and depth 4; interior 41/4 by 2.”

A nest found below Darjeeling in the first week of June on the branch of a good-sized tree, at a height of 12 feet from the ground, was similar to that described by Mr. Gammie, and contained a single fresh egg.  This is a moderately broad oval, somewhat pointed towards the small end, and exhibits very little gloss.  It is of precisely the same colour as those of the preceding species, but measures only 1.2 in length by 0.9 in breadth.

Writing from Tenasserim, Major C.T.  Bingham says:—­“Between the 25th March and 28th April I found at least twenty nests of this bird.  They were broad, shallow cups of roots and twigs, lined with fine black grass-roots, and placed at heights varying from 4 to 10 feet above the ground, invariably in the forks of low bamboo.  The number of eggs varied from 3 to 5; blue in colour, and fairly glossy.”

Numerous nests from Sikhim, Pegu, and Tenasserim are all of precisely the same type as described by Mr. Gammie; but some are fully 7 inches in external diameter, and in several the cavity is at least 4 inches in diameter.