1918.] Nidiji cation of some Indian Falco7iidce. 63 



surface is much stained with yellow and grey, presumably 

 from the rotten insect-remains upon which it had been 

 lying, although it was quite fresh. 



Whilst examining the bird and egg under the tree in 

 which the nest-hole was, the mate of the former came 

 wheeling round and round, but as I did not require it 

 as a specimen for identification, I did not shoot it. The 

 bird killed proved to be a female. 



This particular nest-hole was made in a branch of a dead 

 tree, standing in a Naga "jhura,'-' or cultivation clearing, 

 surrounded on all sides by dense bamboo and tree jungle, in 

 which, however, there were other similar "jhums." The 

 trees in these clearings are not cut down by the Nagas, but 

 merely ringed so that they die within a few weeks, though 

 it may be years before they rot away and fall. The branch 

 in which the Barbet had bored her nest-hole was about 

 40 feet above the ground, with the entrance cut, as usual, 

 in the lower surface of the bough. 



A second egg brought to me by Nagas, and said to have 

 been taken from a deserted nest-hole of a Barbet or AVood- 

 pecker, was similar to the above in size, shape, and texture, 

 but was well marked with bold reddish blotches like those 

 on a Sparrow-Hawk's eggs. Thinking that they had been 

 faked by the Nagas, I tried to rub them off, but only 

 succeeded in taking off the soft outer covering and leaving 

 the hard inner shell exposed. It may be, therefore, that 

 this little Falcon does sometimes lay spotted eggs. This 

 egg measures 27*7 X 22'7 mm. 



Other eggs taken in the Khasia Hills are exactly like that 

 first described, and were taken on each occasion from holes 

 in trees excavated either by Woodpeckers or Barbets. In 

 one case the tree was one standing in a patch of rice 

 cultivation on a hillside covered elsewhere with bamboos, 

 and a few scattered trees ; in another the hole had been 

 bored in the under surface of a large branch high up in 

 a tree standing on the outskirts of evergreen forest. 



In Dibrugarh, Assam, where the bird was much more com- 

 mon than in either the North Cachar or the Khasia Hills, 



