HAEPACTES. 343 



above the gi'oimd, and I almost tuiiibled ofi iu my delight on find- 

 ing a cup-shaped hollow on the upperside, some 3 inches deep by 

 3| in diameter, containing two roundish creamy-white eggs, quite 

 fresh, laid on the bare wood. 



" I looked round now for the bird, and saw her, joined by her 

 mate, seated on a bamboo not ten yards off. Slipping down the 

 tree quietly I took my gun and fired, hoping to bring both down 

 as they were seated close together, but succeeded only in securing 

 the male. 



" It rather surprised me to find a nest, or even to see Trogous 

 in such open dry forest as I was going through ; and the nest, too, 

 in a tree on the very border of the highroad (though it is a mere 

 pathway after all) from Maulmain to the 8han country. 



" I cannot say whether the hollow in the dead branch was made 

 by the Trogons themselves or not ; the wood \\'as rotten enough 

 to be easily pecked out by the bird, but I rather suspect the cavity 

 must have been hollowed out first by a Woodpecker, and that then 

 a portion was after\^ards broken off or more probably fell off'."' 



Subsequently he added the following note : — " This handsome 

 Trogon was very common in the Sinzaway Forest. I found on the 

 ]lth March two nests — one containing tA\o young just hatched, 

 and the other one broken egg and one addled one. On the 14tli 

 March I found a third nest, and on the 15th three more, all con- 

 taining young ones. Again, on the 19th I found a nest with two 

 fresh eggs. In all cases the nests were mere hollows scraped or 

 ^\■orn away in decayed branches or stumps of trees. The one 

 addled egg differs in being a longer oval than others I have 

 found." 



A very large series of these eggs sent me by Major Bingham and 

 obtained by my collectors show that this egg vai'ies very little iu 

 colour, and is always a very uniform delicate cafe-au-lait. The 

 shell has ah^ays a fine gloss, but in shape and size the eggs vary a 

 great deal, from a moderately long oval to a very broad and round 

 one, often exhibiting a pyriform tendency, and though almost in- 

 variably very obtuse at both ends occasionally slightly pointed 

 towards the small end. 



Numerous eggs measure from 0-92 to 1"18 in length by 0*79 to 

 0-87 in breadth. 



