HARPACTES. 343 



above the ground, and 1 almost tumbled off in my delight on find- 

 ing a cup -shaped hollow on the upperside, some 3 inches deep by 

 3 1 in diameter, containing two roundish creamy-white eggs, quite 

 fresh, laid on the bare wood. 



" I looked round now for the bird, and saw her, joined by her 

 mate, seated on a bamboo not ten yards off. Slipping down the 

 tree quietly I took my gun and fired, hoping to bring both down 

 as they were seated close together, but succeeded only in securing 

 the male. 



" It rather surprised me to find a nest, or even to see Trogons 

 in such open dry forest as I was going through ; and the nest, too, 

 in a tree on the very border of the highroad (though it is a mere 

 pathway after all) from Maulmain to the Shan country. 



" I cannot say whether the hollow in the dead branch was made 

 by the Trogons themselves or not ; the wood was rotten enough 

 to be easily pecked out by the bird, but I rather suspect the cavity 

 must have'been hollowed out first by a Woodpecker, and that then 

 a portion was afterwards broken off or more probably fell off." 



Subsequently he added the following note : " This handsome 

 Trogon was very common in the Sinzaway Forest. I found on the 

 1 1th March two nests one containing two young just hatched, 

 and the other one broken egg and one addled one. On the 14th 

 March 1 found a third nest, and on the loth three more, all con- 

 taining young ones. Again, on the 19th I found a nest with two 

 fresh eggs. In all cases the nests were mere hollows scraped or 

 worn away in decayed branches or stumps of trees. The one 

 addled egg differs in being a longer oval than others I have 

 found.'' 



A very large series of these eggs sent me by Major Bingham and 

 obtained by my collectors show that this egg varies very little in 

 colour, and is always a very uniform delicate cafe-au-lait. The 

 shell has always a fine gloss, but in shape and size the eggs vary a 

 great deal, from a moderately long oval to a very broad and round 

 one, often exhibiting a pyriform tendency, and though almost in- 

 variably very obtuse at both ends occasionally slightly pointed 

 towards the small end. 



Numerous eggs measure from 0*92 to 1-18 in length by O79 to 

 0-87 in breadth. 



