Nidification of Indian Birds. 353 



Both the other nest-holes were in trees standing in bamboo- 

 jungle; one just a rotten stump like that above described, 

 the other a tree which had been ringed, but not quite deep 

 enough, and it was still alive on one side. The eggs, which 

 I gave away without measuring, only differed, so far as I 

 remember, in being rather smaller. 



61. Iyngipicus canicapillus, {Blanford, op. cit. iii. 

 p. 46.) 



Although this bird is so extremely common in Cachar, I 

 have managed to find very few nests. It is difficult to say 

 what sort of country or jungle it prefers, and I think, so long 

 as the tree is suitable, the bird does not much mind where it 

 stands. Unlike l.pijgm(Rus, hardwickii, and gymnophthalmus, 

 which all seem to make their nest-holes not far from the 

 ground, the Burmese Pigmy Woodpecker selects boughs at a 

 very great height. Whilst camping in the extreme north of 

 the district, I discovered a pair of these birds that were nesting 

 on a small branch almost at the very top of an enormous 

 simul. It was quite impossible to get at the nest, but with 

 a pair o£ glasses I could watch the birds going in and out, 

 which they did seemingly quite unconcerned by my looking 

 on. As usual, the hole had been bored from the under side 

 of the branch. 



Another nest, which had been occupied for two years, had 

 been made in a very lofty dead stump, in which also there 

 was a nest of Coracias affinis. The little Woodpeckers had 

 selected the extreme summit of the tree for their operations, 

 and as it was a very rotten one, it was not safe for any one 

 to attempt to get at their nest. The entrance itself could not 

 be seen, as there was a large excrescence just below it. This 

 tree was just outside ray office. 



Other nests, which I have been able to get at, have all 

 been made at great heights from the ground, and I cannot 

 call to mind any case in which I remember its being lower 

 than some 30 feet from it. The hole seems to be nearly 

 always made in a rather small branch, very rarely in 

 the trunk itself or the larger limbs ; the entrance, which 



