348 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PltODUCTTOXS. 



Crairfiirdi, G. viridis, Y. cankapiUus, all working together, and mixed up with a lot 

 of Garrulax Belangeri and tnontllger, Cissa speciosa, etc. " Such a paradise of wood- 

 peckers 1 never saw." They were probably drawn together in pursuit of a swarm of 

 winged white ants or expelled, en masse, from some burning forest. 



Cali.cii.opih-s MKN'TALis, Tem. Southern Tenasseriin only. Sumatra. 



C. rr.Mci:i;s, Horsf. Southern Tenasserim only. 



A solitary bird, according to Davison, which never feeds on the ground, and has 

 a note differing fi'om other woodpeckers. It will ascend to the summit of a tree and 

 there utter its peculiar cry, becoming veiy noisy towards dusk, when other wood- 

 peckers are silent. 



C. M.iLAccExsrs, Luth. Southern Tenusserira. 



Davison writes that this is a bird of tlie evergreen forests, not occurring in the 

 open country, but, unlike the other CallolojM, being rather partial to mangrove 

 swamps. 



BLYTHiprccs rvEEHOTis, Hodg. Toung-ngoo. Northern Tenasserim. 



This bird frequents dense grass and underwood, is very shy, and moves about in 

 pairs, and never, according to Davison, ascends a tree till disturbed. 



B. roErnmoMELAS, Boie. Tenasserim south of Mergui. 



This species has all the shy stealthy habits of the last. It is fond of working on 

 fallen trees, and avoids the open forest and large trees (Davison). 



Gecixulus vieidis, Blyth. Toung-ngoo. Tenasserim. 



This bii'd is solitary, or seen in pairs, and is commonly found in bamboo jungles. 



MicEoriEEXUS RUFiNOTUs, Malh. Arakan to Tenasserim. 



31. Phaioceps, Blyth. 

 M. Burmanicus, Hume. 



This is quite a bird of the open country, writes Davison, and fond of gardens and 

 bamboo clumps. It is always smeared with some gummy substance, and has a strong 

 peculiar smell. The tails too are usually studded with ants' heads. These are the 

 large reds of the open jungle, who, when once they seize anything, never quit their 

 hold. These ants seize the tail feathers of the bird, but in time their liodies get rubbed 

 off, leaving their heads adhering, sometimes in scores, on the lateral web of the tail 

 feathers. Mr. Gates, on the other hand, remarks, that in Pegu this species is confined 

 to the evergreen forests, and adds, ' ' The head, top of tail, and abdomen are much smeared 

 with some gum, or rather, as I fancy, with honey. The contents of the stomach of three 

 specimens were black ants and a small yellow bee-like insect, the latter in considerable 

 quantities." From this, it may be inferred that the main food of this species consists 

 of Hymenoptera, both adults and larva:', in jnusuit of which its jtlumage gets rather 

 daubed (S.F. iii. p. 72). A still more curious trait in this bird is that it breeds in 

 ants' nests, according to the observations of Mr. J. Gammie, who took several so 

 situated near Sittoung. The species of ant is not clear, but I take it not to be 

 F. smaraydina (the edible yellow ant, whose nests are sold in the bazaar, for the acid 

 flavour the crushed ants impart to it), but some species which nudies its nests on 

 bamboos, and of a more or less globose shape, constructed of loose materials, in the 

 midst of which the eggs are laid. According to Mr. Gammie, the ants desert a nest 

 so treated, and ho thinks the strong smell of the bird may conduce to this result; 

 but the habit quite explains the presence of ants among its fc^'athers, as noticed 

 above. As a note to llr. Gammie's communication, Mr. Hume adds that Halcyon 

 occipitalis also breeds in ants' nests (S.F. iv. p. 511). 



M. BEACHYuuus, Vieill. Tenasserim south of Mergui. 



Meigleftes jugul.ujis, Blyth. Arakan. Pegu. Tenasserim. 



M. TKisTis, Horsf. Southern Tenasserim. Java. 



M. TUKKi, Less. Southern Tenasserim. Singapore. 



All these three species are birds of dense forest, and have the usual woodpecker 

 note, a rolling " kirr r-r " (Davison). 



