CTANOPS. 327 



on the 8th inst., and on the 6th May it contained another clutch of 

 three fresh eggs. 



" On the 7th March I cut into a nest-hole in an old dead tree, 

 and took three slightly incubated eggs. The birds commenced a 

 fresh hole a day or two afterwards in another branch about 6 feet 

 below the other one, and on the 23rd March it contained three 

 slightly incubated eggs. 



" On the 7th March I also took a single fresh egg from a hole in 

 a jack-tree ; the tree was green, but where the hole was bored a 

 branch had been broken off, and the wood was decayed for about 

 a foot into the heart of the tree. On revisiting the tree on the 

 23rd March I found another nest-hole, containing three fresh eggs, 

 bored about 6 feet below the first one in the trunk of the tree 

 where another bough had been broken off, offering a situation 

 exactly similar to that of the first nest. 



l * In addition to the nests above mentioned, I took nests on the 

 following dates at Belgaum : 



" April 21st, 1879. 3 eggs, slightly incubated. 



March 7th, 1880. 3 eggs, fresh. 



7th, 3 half -fledged young ones. 



18th, 2 fresh eggs. 



20th, 4 



22nd, 2 slightly incubated eggs. 



May 24th, 3 fresh eggs. 



" These birds are not at all shy when breeding ; but as it is diffi- 

 cult to know when to cut into the nest, as it takes them a long 

 time to excavate the egg-chamber, I have usually adopted the 

 following plan, namely, to watch the birds from time to time 

 whilst they are boring, when, as a rule, as you approach they come 

 to the mouth of the hole and fly out. As soon, however, as the 

 eggs are deposited, instead of flying out the hen bird usually peeps 

 cautiously out of the hole, and remains motionless with her head 

 projecting from the entrance, remaining there until you move 

 away, when, if you have not frightened her, she will gradually 

 withdraw her head and sink down into the hole again. In the 

 heat of the day, and even at other times, they constantly sit with 

 their heads peering out of the hole, but seldom leave it when there 

 are eggs. Having satisfied myself that there are eggs by the 

 action of the old bird, which I have described, I next proceed to 

 cut a wedge out with a saw as neatly as possible on the upper side 

 of the bough opposite the egg-chamber (or a little above it), which 

 is usually about 9 inches from the entrance, and if there are eggs 

 remove them, carefully replacing the wedge and gumming it firmly 

 into its place again ; the birds will probably then lay again in a few 

 days in the same hole, and in some instances will go on laying clutch 

 after clutch till quite the end of the season. As a rule, the holes 

 are bored in dead branches on the underside, though in some 

 instances they are bored in green wood. The eggs, three in num- 

 ber generally, and never more than four as far as my experience 



