832 CAPITONIDJE. 



And from Belgaum he records : — "Nests taken at Belgaum from 

 the nth February to the 25th March. 



" In the case of a nest taken on the 7th March I cut a wedge 

 out of tlie bougli opposite the egg-chamber about a week before, 

 and finding no eggs gummed the wedge in again, but the birds did 

 not forsake the nest. Soon after taking the eggs from this nest, 

 the birds commenced boring a fresh hole on the same old branch, 

 about a foot below where it had been sawn across to take the first 

 egg, and on cutting into it on the 10th April I found two more 

 eggs. 



"I have seen nes*s as low down as 7 feet from the ground, and 

 as high as 30 or 40 feet." 



Major C. T. Bingham remarks : — " Breeds at Allahabad from 

 February to the end of April, and I think also in July ; at Delhi 

 in March and April." 



Colonel A. C. McMaster relates that " a pair bred in my garden 

 at Bellary in the cross-beam of a vinery, and at Bombay I found a 

 nest in the dead branch of a tree close to the house. The entrance 

 was so small that it was difficult lo believe that the bird could get 

 through it ; it was perfectly circular, and as well bored as if it had 

 been cut with an auger ; the hole was not more than IS inches in 

 depth, but the little carpenter was busily employed in enlarging it 

 by cutting out very small chips and throwing them about the spot ; 

 as far as could be judged from probing, the inside appeared beau- 

 tifully smooth." 



In Ceylon this species breeds from January to June. 



Mr. Oates writes from Pegu : — " This year I took several 

 clutches of eggs from the 6th March to the 5th April." 



The long, narrow, pure white egg of this species, whose fragile 

 shell has rarely much, and is often devoid of all gloss, reminds one 

 much of those of our Common Indian Swift (C. afinis). Typically 

 the eggs are almost cylindrical, tapering somewhat towards one 

 end, but the ends themselves are broad and obtuse, and no 

 tendency to point is observable ; they vary, however, nuich in 

 size, and within certain limits in shape also. Here and there a 

 tolerably perfect oval ma)^ be met with, and a slightly pyriform 

 variety is occasionally obtained. AVhen fresh and unblown, like 

 so many eggs of this type, they have a delicate pink blush. 



In length they vary from 0-87 to 1-07 inch, and in breadth from 

 0*62 to 0-72 inch ; but the average of a very large series is 0-99 by 

 0-69 inch. 



Xantholaema malabarica (Blyth). The Crhmon-ihroated 

 Barhet. 



Xantholaema malabarica [Bhjth), Jerd, B. Ind, i, p. olT ; Hume, 

 Cat. no, 198. 



Mr. F. W. Bourdillon, wi'iting from Travancore, says : — " This 

 species is very common throughout the low country, and during 



