NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA. 15 



is uo nest. The eggs, three in number, n,rc glossy milk-white oval?, 

 shaded delicate pink when fresh and unblown. They average 0*87 

 inches in length by nearly O'GS in breadth. 



Deesa, March. II. E. Barnes. 



Nassick and Khandesh, Feb. to April. J. Davidson* C. 8. 



Baroda, Feb. to April. II, Litiledale, Esq. 



104.— THE SOUTHERN PIGMY WOODPECKER. 



Yungipicus nanus, Vig. 

 The Southern Pigmy Woodpecker occurs sparingly all along" 

 the Sahyadri range, where it is a permanent resident, breeding during- 

 February and March. It is exclusively a jurigic bird and rare, 

 except in the broken country b 'low the ghats. 



In West Khandesh, where it is abundant, in one week in the 

 beginning of March, Mr. Davidson, C.S., took twenty nests. They were 

 almost all in thick branches, about 16 feet up a tree that had been 

 pollarded for rabi cultivation, and with two exceptions all contained 

 callow young on that date. It cuts a tiny hole in the side of a large 

 branch of a tree, which is generally more or less decayed. There 

 is no nest. The eggs, three or four in number, are glossy-white and 

 measure 0'67 inches in length by 0'5 in breadth. 



W. Khandesh, March, nestlings. J. Davidson, C. S. 



166 bis.— THE LARGE GOLDEN-BACKED WOODPECKER. 



Chrysocolaptes delesserti, Malh. 

 The Woodpecker occurs not uncommonly all along the Sahyadri 

 range and adjacent forests. It is a permanent resident, and of 

 course breeds, but I cannot find any satisfactory account of its nesting. 

 It is said to breed from December to Februry in large holes, which 

 itcutsintruuks of trees, at various heights from the ground, laying 

 but a single egg, which is glossy white and of a broad oval shape. 



107.— THE BLACK-BACKED WOODPECKER. 



Cliri/Jocula'pfes festiuus, Bodd. 



This very handsome Woodpecker has been recorded from Ratuagiri 



but is not common. It occurs, but very rarely on Mount Aboo and 



the adjacent hills. Tt is fairly common throug;hout the ghats, both 



in Nassick and Khandesh, also on the Satpooras. It cuts a very 



