IIYPOPICUS.— DENDROCOPTJS. 301 



" On the ISth March, I found ii uesl of this Woodpecker in a 

 nole in a pynkado tree (XiiUa dolahriforuiis), on tlie bank of the 

 Meplay choung. Cutting it out with chisel and hammer, I found 

 the passage (about 10 inches in length by 1^ inches in diameter) 

 go obliquely down, and end in a slightly enlarged chamber, in 

 wliich I found two white, ratlier long and glossy eggs lying on 

 chips of wood. They measure 1-18 by 0-85 and 1-19 by 0-83. I 

 may add that I shot both male and female before cutting out the 

 nest." 



Two eggs of this species taken by Major Bingham are very 

 regular rather elongated ovals, one very obtuse at both ends, 

 much of the Goatsucker type, the other distinctly pointed towards 

 the small end. The shell is fine and glossy, and white, though 

 here and there a good deal soiled with pale yellowish-brown stains. 



Hypopicus liyperythrus (Vig-)- ^''^^ liufous-beUied Pied 

 WoodjMcl-er. 



Hypopicuri hvpervtlu-us (T/V/.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 27(3; Hume, 

 "Rough Draft N. e^- E. no. 161. 



Colonel C. H. T. Marshall found nests of this species, the 

 Kufous-bellied Pied Woodpecker, at Murree towards the latter end 

 of xipril. They were, as usual, mere holes in trees with th(5 eggs 

 deposited on the bare ^\•ood. The only egg I possess of this 

 species and which was one of those taken by Colonel ^Marshall, is 

 a wonderfully regidar oval, pure white, the shell A'ery fine and 

 glossy, and measuring 0-89 by 0-67. 



Two other eggs taken by Colonel Marshall at ^lurree on the 

 21st April measure, he telis me, 0-85 by 0-65 and 0-87 by 0-67 

 inch. 



Lendrocopiis himalayensis (J. k, S.). Tlic Himahijaa Flal 

 Wood.peclcer. 



ricus liimalayauus, /. iy S., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 2(39. ^ 

 Picus himalayeusis, /. ^- S., Hume, liowjh Draft i\\ c^- E. 



uo. 154. 



The Himalayan Pied Woodpecker breeds freely all over the 

 lower ranges of the Himalayas west of «ikhim, at elevations of 

 from 30U0 to 8000 feet. They lay in holes in trees, oaks being 

 decidedly their favourites, and, as^ a rule, in holes excavated by 

 themselves, and with a narrow, circular, neatly-cut aperture. _ 1 

 once, however, saw a pair with young in a natural ca^•ity, to whicb 

 the birds appeared to have done nothing. The hole varies greatly 

 in depth and diameter, but the egg-chamber, when exca^•atecl by 

 the birds, is about 4 incbes in diameter, generally quite devoid of 

 lining, the eggs being laid on chips of wood — but at times with a 

 few dead leaves, some moss, or moss-roots, which, whether blown 

 in by the wind or intentionally deposited by the birds, constitute a 

 kind of lining. 



