( 47 ) 



others. Length abont eight-and-a-half inches. Nests in the sides of 

 banks and road cuttings, and lays the regular family type of 

 extremely round eggs. 



I once dug out a nest of this bird and found it contained fully 

 fledged young. In the tunnel we found numbers of maimed butter- 

 flies with their wings damaged or off, so that they could only flutter 

 or crawl about. The old birds had evidently found this the quickest 

 and most economical way of feeding their young, who could help 

 themselves whenever they felt hungry. As far as I am aware the 

 only other members of the animal world which provides a living 

 larder for its young, are certain solitary wasps, who have a wonder- 

 ful way of paralysing caterpillars, spiders, etc., and then storing them 

 in cells in which they have laid their eggs. 



(No. 1030. M. swinhoii.) 



XXII 



THE KINGFISHERS. 



The kingfishers are a well known family noted for their bright 

 plumage, on which account they are generally persecuted to supply 

 ladies with fine feathers. The majority of them live on fish. 'J hey 

 all burrow out tunnels like the Bee-Eaters for nesting purposes and 

 lay the same glossy round white eggs. No doubt this extreme round- 

 ness is necessary to enable the parent bird to keep her eggs in posi- 

 tion, as they are practically laid on the bare earth, the only attempt 

 at a nest being a few disgorged fish bones. If the eggs were of the 

 usual elliptical shape there would be some difficulty in rolling them 

 back if they happened to get out of the nest. Fourteen kinds have 

 been recorded from Burma. Many of these are extremely rare 

 birds. Four are, however, common in most parts of the country. 



Burmese name — Danyin. 



THE INDIAN PIED KINBFISHER. 



This is the well-known black and while variety, one of the only two 

 sober coloured kingfishers ; and is very common in most parts of the 

 country. It is to be generally seen along water channels, hovering 

 above the water, with its bill pointed downwards. They are busy 

 little birds with loud twittering cries, which they constantly utter on 

 the wing, and seem to be more energetic than the other members of 

 the family, as they prefer working for their living to waiting quietly 

 on a branch for their prey to come to them. They will thoroughly 

 work a piece of water, making short flights and hovering over every 

 likely bit undeterred by many failures ; and take all misses in good 

 part, flying on with a happy sounding note. While other king- 

 fishers seem ashamed of themselves after a bad shot, immediately 

 clearing off to some other spot. 



(No. 1033. Ceryle varia.) 



