312 PICID^E. 



far off. Keeping my eye on her I got one of the peons with me 

 to widen the hole and see whether there were any eggs. In a few 

 moments he announced three. I then shot the bird, which proved 

 to be the above-mentioned Woodpecker, a female. The three eggs 

 were translucent whity pink and rather glossy, laid on the de- 

 cayed wood in a natural hollow, a passage to which the bird had 

 cut from the outside at only 4 feet from the ground. It was 

 a wonder that when the jungle was fired they had not been 

 roasted." 



These three eggs measured 1*18, 1-19, and 1-11 in length, and 

 were uniformly 0*8 in breadth. 



Mr. Frank Bourdillon obtained the eggs of this species in the 

 Assamboo Hills in Southern India. He says : " Of this bird two 

 eggs, of which I send a single specimen, were taken hard-set on 

 March 23, 1873. The eggs are white, somewhat elongated, and 

 polished, and measure 1-88 inch long by 0-68 broad and 1'12 long 

 by 0*75 broad. The nest, of dead leaves and chips of wood, was 

 in a hole some 2 feet deep and 30 feet from the ground, hollowed 

 out by the bird itself, or rather by the pair, for the cock and hen 

 used to take it in turns to work at the cutting." 



The egg is a typical Woodpecker egg, a much-elongated oval, a 

 good deal pointed towards one end ; the shell thin, glossy, and 

 pure white. 



Writing of another nest, he says : 



" March 29$,, 1873. We obtained two eggs of this bird, which 

 were deposited in a hole excavated by the bird at a depth of about 

 2 feet. The eggs were slightly set, and are very similar in shape 

 to those of an English Swift." 



The eggs, like those of all this group of Woodpeckers, vary a 

 good deal in shape, and are rather regular moderately elongated 

 ovals or somewhat broader and somewhat pyriform or somewhat 

 pointed at the small end. They are white, more or less pure 

 according to their degree of freshness, and have a more or less 

 amount of gloss accordingly. 



Chrysocolaptes festivns (Bodd.). The Black-backed 

 Woodpecker. 



Chrysocolaptes goensis (Gm.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 282. 

 Chrysocolaptes festivus (Bodd.), Hume, Cat. no. 167. 



Mr. J. Davidson makes the following remarks regarding the 

 Black-backed Woodpecker in Western Khandesh : " Permanent 

 resident. Moderately common through the Satpuras, Western 

 Nandurbar, and the Pimpalnir Ghats, but does not seem, like 

 Brachypternus aurantius, to come down to the plains. It breeds 

 very early in November, December, and January. The first pair 

 I noticed were at Taloda in December 1879. I shot the male, not 

 noticing that they had just finished excavating a hole. Next year 



