64 Mr. E, C. Stuart Baker on the [Ibis, 



neither Dr. Coltart nor myself ever succeeded iu finding a 

 nest, though a pair undoubtedly bred in an enormous 

 Bombax standing a couple of hundred yards or so behind 

 Dr. Coltart's bungalow. A pair of birds were always about 

 this tree, and as it stood in solitary grandeur in a fairly 

 Avide stretch of tea-garden, it was very easy to Avatch, but 

 in spite of this we never succeeded iu tracing either of the 

 birds to their nest. 



In shape, texture, and general appearance the few eggs 

 I have seen have been all alike, as they also were in colora- 

 tion with the exception of the second oue described. 



Two eggs measure respectively 28*7 x 23"0 mm, and 

 29-0 X 22-8 mm. 



The breeding-season apparently begins early in March, 

 and extends through that month and April into the first few 

 days of May, but most eggs will undoubtedly be found in 

 March and the first half of April. Ou the other hand, an 

 occasional clutch, possibly a second laying, may be taken 

 as late as July. 



Like most Eagles and Falcons, these little birds pair for 

 life, and keep close to their same home surroundings year 

 after year ; but owing to the height at which they breed, it 

 is often almost impossible to spot their nest-hole, so that 

 season after season they escape molestation. 



Despite their tiny size, the little Falcons of this genus 

 are amongst the gamest of the game, and unite the dash and 

 pluck of the true Falcons with the imperial attitudes and 

 demeanour of the Eagles. In the ' Avicultural Magazine' 

 (vol. V. 1914, pp. 93-98) I gave an account of one of these 

 little birds which I kept for about two years in an aviary. 

 At first I kept in the same cage a dozen little Kestrels 

 (^Erythropus amurens'is) and a pair of large Woodpeckers 

 (Chrysoculaptes gutticristatus) . The latter were certainly 

 three times his size and weight, but eventually he killed the 

 female, and I had to remove the widower to save his life. 



In all his ways he was an intolerable little bully, and 

 though he never molested the Kestrels as long as they kept 

 well away from his particular perch, he resented all approach 



