456 Mr. H. K. Jones on the Nidification of 



preventing further progress, after a few inches or a foot 

 has been drilled out. It follows, therefore, that perhaps not 

 more than one hole in five penetrates the complete distance 

 in a Kingfisher^s bank, while a dozen openings may be seen 

 on its face. A distance of ten inches has been measured, 

 which was excavated, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., by a pair 

 of H. pileatus. 



The eggs, as in all other species of the genus, are laid on 

 the bare earth of the burrow, with which in Hong Kong they 

 are invariably stained, and round them an ever-increasing 

 amount of castings is piled up. In the case of H. pileatus 

 this consists largely of the elytra and other chitinous parts 

 of sundry Coleoptera, but also, in general, of fragments of 

 the shells and other cretaceous parts of crabs and various 

 marine Crustacea. The crabs are often carried more than 

 a mile from the sea to the nest. 



It is of interest to note that although the shells of crabs 

 are often found in the nesting-holes of H. smyrnensis , which 

 is also a common breeding-bird in Hong Kong, the bones of 

 small reptiles almost invariably occur among the castings 

 of that species, but are never found amongst those of 

 H. pileatus. 



The eggs, it need scarcely be said, are white and glossy, 

 like those of all members of the family. The earliest date 

 on which eggs have been taken w^as May 25th, when the clutch 

 was fairly hard-set, so that they must have been laid a week 

 at least. The latest date on which fresh eggs have been 

 obtained was June 9th, so that from about the middle of May 

 to the middle of June is the laying-season at Hong Kong. 



The eggs are four or five in number, usually five, and are 

 rounded like those of all Kingfishers ; they are often less so 

 than those of Halcyon smyrnensis and are also, as a rule, a 

 little larger. 



After the eggs are laid the male fiying backwards and 

 forwards with food is very noisy, uttering continuously his 

 ringing laughing cry, but when once the eggs have been 

 hatched the birds are extremely silent on their journeys to 

 and fro. 



