332 Letters, Announcements, &^c. 



usually rather thickly studded with dead ants {vide ' Stray 

 Feathers/ vol. vi. p. 145). 



" Two species of Kingfishers also to my knowledge nidi- 

 ficate in ants^ nests — viz. Halcyon occipitalis, confined to 

 the Nicobar Islands^ and H. chloris, which ranges from India 

 as far south as Sumatra. 



''At Merguij in South Tenasserim, I found a nest of 

 H. chlo7ns in a hornets' nest, and although I saw the birds 

 repeatedly enter the hole they had made in the hornets' 

 nest the hornets did not seem to mind it, but they resented 

 in a very decided manner my attempt to interfere with the 

 nest." 



In the number of ' Nature ' for May (vol. xxxii. p. 52) 

 is the following letter from Mr. Charles Bingham, Deputy 

 Conservator of Forests, British Burmah, on the same sub- 

 ject :— 



" Oamp Meplay, Thoung-yeen Valley, Tenasserim, 

 April 20, 1882. 



" This morning, in going from my camp to the Meplay 

 Forest Reserve, I had to pass through several densely over- 

 grown phonzohs. While making my way along with some 

 difficulty, I startled a brown Woodpecker {Micropternus 

 phceoceps) from a small pyingado tree (Xylia dolabriformis). 

 Looking up into the branches I saw a large ants' nest, in the 

 centre of which appeared a circular hole so exactly like the 

 borings made by Woodpeckers ordinarily in the trunks of 

 trees, that I sent up a Karen boy who was with me to ascer- 

 tain whether it was possible the Micropternus had been 

 boring into the ants' nest, as I had heard was the bird's 

 curious habit. The ants' nest was only about ten feet above 

 the ground, placed in the fork of the pyingado, two small 

 branches of which passed clean throiigh it. Climbing up, 

 putting in his fingers and then a twig, my Karen follower 

 announced that there were two eggs. Leaving the nest 

 alone for the time being, in the evening I returned by the 

 same route, and was able not only to cut off" and carry into 

 camp the whole nest as it was ; but I managed to secure 

 also the bird as she flew from the eggs. Arrived in camp, I 



