HYPOPICTIS. DENDEOCOPTJS. 301 



" On the 18th March, I found a nest of this Woodpecker in a 

 nole in a pynkado tree (Xylia dolabriforniis), on the bank of the 

 Meplay choung. Cutting it out with chisel and hammer, I found 

 the passage (about 10 inches in length by 1| inches in diameter) 

 go obliquely down, and end in a slightly enlarged chamber, in 

 which I found two white, rather long and glossy eggs lying on 

 chips of wood. They measure 1-18 by 0'85 and 1-19 by 0-83. I 

 may add that I shot both male and female before cutting out the 

 nest." 



Two eggs of this species taken by Major Bingham are very 

 regular rather elongated ovals, one very obtuse at both ends, 

 much of the Goatsucker type, the other distinctly pointed towards 

 the small end. The shell is fine and glossy, and white, though 

 here and there a good deal soiled with pale yellowish-brown stains. 



Hypopicus hyperythrus (Vig.). The Rufous-bellied Pied 

 Woodpecker. 



Hypopicus hvperythrus (Vig.}, Jerd. B, 2nd. i. p. 276; Hume. 

 "Rough Draft N. $ E. no. 161. 



Colonel C. H. T. Marshall found nests of this species, the 

 .Rufous-bellied Pied Woodpecker, at Murree towards the latter end 

 of April. They were, as usual, mere holes in trees with the eggs 

 deposited on the bare wood. The only egg I possess of this 

 species and \vhich was one of those taken by Colonel Marshall, is 

 a wonderfully regular oval, pure white, the shell very fine and 

 glossy, and measuring 0'89 by 0'67. 



Two other eggs taken by Colonel Marshall at Murree on the 

 21st April measure, he tells ine, 0'85 by 0-65 and 0-87 by 0-67 

 inch. 



Dendrocopus himalayensis (J. & 8.). The Himalayan Pied 

 Woodpecker. 



Ticus hinialayamis, J. $ &, Jerd. B. Lid. i, p. 269. 



Picus himalayensis, J. $ $., Hume, Hough Draft N. 8f E. no. 154. 



The Himalayan Pied Woodpecker breeds freely all over the 

 lower ranges of the Himalayas west of 8ikhim, at elevations of 

 from 3000 to 8000 feet. They lay in holes in trees, oaks being 

 decidedly their favourites, and, as a rule, in holes excavated by 

 themselves, and with a narrow, circular, neatly-cut aperture. I 

 once, however, saw a pair with young in a natural cavity, to which 

 the birds appeared to have done nothing. The hole varies greatly 

 in depth and diameter, but the egg-chamber, when excavated by 

 the birds, is about 4 inches in diameter, generally quite devoid of 

 lining, the eggs being laid on chips of wood but at times with a 

 few dead leaves, some moss, or moss-roots, which, whether blown 

 in by the wind or intentionally deposited by the birds, constitute a 

 kind of lining. 



