352 BCIIMA. ITS rEOPLE AXI) f'/lODrCTIOXS. 



tlio m;ilc continues to feud lier and the youn^ family. The i)risonor ficucrally becomes 

 quite fat and is esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives, wliile the poor slave 

 of a husband gets so lean, that on the sudden lowering of the temperature, which 

 sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls down and dies." 



It cannot be supposed, ilr. Bartlett urges, " that the mere collecting food for the 

 female is the cause of this fatality ; it is doubtless overtaxing the system, by the 

 constant secretion of this nutritive matter, reminding one of the blood in the nests 

 of the esculent swifts, after the birds have been robbed of the first and second nests." 

 " That parrots and pigeons and many other birds reproduce their partially digested 

 food during the pairing and breeding season for the support of the female and j'oung, 

 is well known. The tame male hornbill is particularly distinguished at all seasons 

 by this habit of throwing up its food, which he not only ofi'ers to the feniale, but to 

 the keepers and others who are known to him. The male concave Hornbill {Biiceros 

 cari(fiis) now in the gardens, will frequently throw up grapes, and holding them in the 

 point of the bill, thrust them into the mouth of the keeper, if he is not on the alert 

 to prevent or avoid this distinguished mark of the bird's goodwill and kindness." 

 Mr. Bartlett might have also instanced the somewhat analogous act in many young 

 birds which void their ' faeces ' in a ' bag ' or ' sac ' which the mother flies away with 

 in her bill, and drops at a safe distance from the nest. 



Dr. Murie, in his paper (I.e.), figures two empty 't/izzard saci' as he terms them, 

 ejected by the liuceros siihciilindricus, and conclusively proves that they are nothing 

 more nor less than an epithelial horny bag, " the veritable gizzard lining itself, as 

 opposed to any glandular or secretive product," and adds: "That the ejected 'sue' 

 should retain the shape and peculiar corrugated appearance of the interior of the 

 gizzard, is not to be wondered at, when we consider that it is but a solid, though 

 flexible, impress of the sinuosities, elevations, and depressions of the mucous folds 

 of that organ." 



Family Upupidee. 



TJpuPA LONGiEOSTEis, Jcrdon. Pegu. 



Toung-pi-tsok. 



Blyth considers this as merely a " deep-coloured race of JJ. epops." 



Family Meropidae. 



Meeops Puilippinus, L. Arakan. Pegu. Tenasscrim. Java. 



M. D.vuDiNi, Cuv. Pegu. Toung-ngoo. Andamans. 



M. Leschenaulti, Yieill. Arakan. Pegu. Tenasscrim. 



M. erythroccphalus, Gm. Penang. 



M. Swinhoei, Hume. Andamans. 



Lord Walden remarks: "The STalaccan habitat is doubtful. For reasons already 

 stated (Ibis, 1873, p. 301), Gmelin's title, taken from Brisson, cannot be adopted. 

 If, however, the title of quinticolor, Vieillot, is to be used for the Javan race, the 

 continental form must take the name of M. LeschenaiiUi, Yieill. In either Wew the 

 necessity of coining the new title of M. Swinhoei, Hume, does not seem apparent." 



M. viRiBis, L. Arakan. Tenasscrim to Mergui. 



var. M. ferrugeiceps, Hodg. 



Nyctioenis Aihebtoni, Jard. and Selb. Pegu. Tenasserim. Kareu-ni. 



Pya-twe-hnet. 



N. AMicTA, Tem. 



N. Mahccensis, Cab. (juv.) Martaban. Pegu. 



This bird is usually found in pairs, and never gregariously, as other bee-eaters 

 are. When uttering its note ' quo-qua-qua-(iua,' the bird loans forward, stretches 

 out its neck and pulls out the fcatliers of its throat, and at each syllable of its note 

 bobs its head up and down (Davison). 



