as a rule they are a good deal higher up.

They lay from four to six eggs, but the usual number is five.

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"The Yellow-billed Blue Magpie breeds
commonly about Murree. I have never seen the bird below 6000 feet in
the breeding-season. They do not commence laying till May, and I have
taken eggs nearly fresh as late as the 15th August. I do not think the
bird breeds twice, as the earliest eggs taken were found on the 10th
May.

"They build in hill oaks as a rule, the height of the nest from the
ground varying much, some being as low as 10 feet, others nearer 30
feet. The hen bird sits close, and sometimes (when the nest is high
up) does not even leave the nest when the tree is struck below.
The nest is a rough structure built close to the trunk, externally
consisting of twigs and roots and lined with fibres. The egg-cavity is
circular and shallow, not at all neatly lined. The outer part of
the nest is large compared to what I should call the true nest, and
consists of a heap of twigs, &c. like what is gathered together for
the platform of a Crow's nest.

"The eggs, which are four in number, vary in length from 1·45 to 1·25,
and in breadth from 0·9 to 0·75. The ordinary type is an egg a good
deal pointed at the thinner end. The ground-colour is greenish white,
blotched and freckled with ruddy brown, with a ring at the larger end
of confluent spots. The young birds are of a very dull colour until
after the first month. The normal number of eggs laid appears to be
four."