Birds of Lucknow. 53 



the bare ground, and I have never found lining of any 



sort. 



Average of 29 Lucknow eggs '17"X'Q7" 



Measurement of largest egg "83" x "70" 



„ smallest egg -70" x *65" 



No. 1027. Merops philippinus. Blue-tailed Bee-eater. 

 Large-caste Mango-bird [Martiniere boys] . 

 By no means so common as the last bird, and very locally 

 distributed. It is very fond of water, and colonies occur 

 here and there on the banks of the Goomti. I found this 

 species breeding in a colony (May 12 and 19) in a railway- 

 cutting near Mulhaur station, about four miles from the 

 College. The nests were, of course, holes in the sand, and 

 from four to six feet in depth. The number of eggs (glossy 

 white and not so round as those of M. viridis) varied from 

 4 to 6. 



Average of 16 Lucknow eggs '91" x "78" 



Measurement of largest egg -96" x "81" 



„ smallest egg -89" x - 75" 



No. 1033. Ceryle varia. Indian Pied Kingfisher. 



Kowrilla* [H.]. 



A very common and permanent resident. This Kingfisher 

 always hovers over the water when looking for fishes, and is 

 said never to plunge from a fixed perch. I once, however, 

 watched it diving into a jheel from an overhanging bank, 

 but this is the only instance which I can recollect of it 

 doing so. 



It breeds in holes in the river-banks from January to the 

 end of April, but most eggs are found between February 

 15th and April 1st. They are 4 to 6 in number, glossy 

 white, and oval ; and are laid on the bare sand, which is 

 more or less mixed with tiny fish-bones. 



Average of 10 Lucknow eggs L17" X '92" 



Measurement of largest egg 1-22" X "94" 



„ smallest egg 1*10" x "89" 



No. 1035. Alcedo ispida. Common Kingfisher. 



The European Kingfisher is not very common, but a few 



* Generally applied to all Kingfishers. 



