6 Mr. R. B. Sharpe's Contributions to the 



in the female. The flight of these birds is strong, and com- 

 bines the swift skimming of the Swallow with the airy hover- 

 ing of the Falcon. Now they will flutter up just as a Sky- 

 lark doeSj and then swoop earthwards like a Hawk after its 

 quarry, and then again will rise and float almost without 

 motion, merely balancing themselves in the breeze by a slight 

 quivering of the pinions. When at rest they commonly perch 

 on the topmost twigs of the lower Casuarina trees. The giz- 

 zard always contains insects — beetles, dragon-flies, and or- 

 thoptera, as well as wasps and bees. — A. E.] 



Nyctiornis amicta (Temm.) ; Salvad. t. c. p. 91. 



a. S . Bintulu. Iris pure orange-red ; bill black ; feet 

 green. 



b. 6 . Bintulu. Iris vermilion. 



c. c? juv. Tagora, May 1875. Iris greyish brown; legs 

 bluish lead-grey. 



[Tolerably common throughout the territory. A nest 

 containing two eggs was brought me at Belidah in January. 

 The eggs were rather small in comparison with the size of 

 the bird, nearly equal at both ends, and spotted with faint 

 red in a ring round the larger end, the ground being white. 

 The nest was neatly lined with dry grass inside, and exte- 

 riorly was roughly put together with bamboo-leaves and 

 rush. — A. E.] 



Alcedo bengalensis, Gm. ; Salvad. t. c. p. 92. 



a,b. $ . Bintulu. BiU dark brown, reddish at base ; feet 

 orange-red ; iris brown. 



c. $ . Bintulu. Bill blackish brown, reddish at base ; 

 feet dull vermilion. 



[Common at Bintulu on the shore and in the Nipah 

 creeks. — A. E.] 



Ceyx iiUFiDORSA, Strickl. 



Ceyx innominata, Salvad. t. c. p. 97. 



a. Bintulu. 



b. 6. Jambusan. Iris chocolate. 



Both these specimens are true C. rufidorsa. 



