CERYLE. 



young ones. The old birds may often be seen carrying fishes from 

 6 to 7 inches in length to feed the young ones with. The fish are 

 always swallowed whole.'' 



Mr. J. Inglis writes from Cachar : " This large Pied Kingfisher 

 is only to be found in the mountain rivers or streams. I have 

 not observed a single bird near stagnant or slow-running water ; 

 it is seen nearly always in pairs. Breeds in March." 



A correspondent of the ' Asian,' apparently writing from Cachar, 

 and signing himself " Rekab," says : 



"As I have only taken one nest of this bird, I describe that in 

 detail, others are sure to resemble it very closely. It was placed at 

 the end of a hole excavated in a high bank, and placed at about 

 three feet from the top and fully twenty feet above the level of the 

 water. The tunnel, independent of the chamber at the end, was only 

 about two feet deep : and as the soil was of a very loose, sandy 

 nature, and quite without stones or pebbles of any kind, this 

 would seem to show that this bird is not in the habit of burrowing 

 to any great depth. A. fcngdfattu or Geyx tndactyla would have 

 made a tunnel fully six feet deep in such a place. The chamber, 

 which was a very large one, was raised high above the entrance, 

 the latter being fully eight inches below it. The nest was a mass 

 of maladorous fish-bones, some of which were of considerable size, 

 and had probably belonged to fish nearly six inches long. It was 

 hollow in the middle, the material of the nest being raised some 

 way up the wall of the chamber on three sides. The eggs were 

 four in number, white and round and of great size. 



** The Cacharis tell me that, as a rule, it only lays two or three 

 eggs, commencing to breed in May, but that this depends a good 

 deal on the rains being early or late as they may happen to break. 

 The nest taken by me was found late iu July, and the eggs were 

 very hard-set. The river, in the bank of which the nest was, was 

 large enough to admit of small boats navigating it all the year 

 round. 



11 This bird is exceedingly common on all large hill-streams up 

 to a height of about 2000 feet ; above that it is not often met 

 with, though on one or two occasions I have seen it flying about 

 small streams at a height of nearly 4000 feet. I think that it 

 ascends during the breeding-season higher than at other times, 

 for in the cold weather it is fairly common in the plains of Cachar : 

 but during the three rainy seasons I have been on a visit to that 

 district I have only seen one bird. 



" They appear to be entirely fish-eaters, and are never seen away 

 from water. 



" Whilst waiting for fish they perch very low down amongst 

 the scrubby bushing overhanging the edge of the water, and 

 instead of selecting a twig or bough on the outside of the bush, 

 they get as far inside as possible ; their love of shade and dark- 

 ness of course leads them in like manner to always keep the shady 

 side of the stream. They are generally found in pairs and keep 

 within hail of one another. When frightened they fly but a short 



