10 ALCEDIXID^. 



after they are fledged, since late in the season I have noticed six 

 or seven of them coming out of a single hole. 



" I have noticed a curious fact about this bird ; it is a gregarious 

 breeder. I have taken three sets of eggs from the same hole ; the 

 hole led to a large open sort of cavern about 3 feet across, which 

 was plentifully strewn with grass and rubbish, and the eggs were 

 in different corners of it." 



Major Bingham remarks : Breeds in March both at Allahabad 

 and at Delhi.'' . 



Messrs. Davidson and AYenden, writing from the Deccan, say : 

 " Common. Apparently breeds at all seasons, except the very 

 hot months." 



Mr. Benjamin Aitken sends me the following note: "At Akola, 

 Berar, in either the end of January or the beginning of February, 

 1870, my brother took two out of six eggs from a Pied Kingfisher's 

 nest in a river-bank, about two feet above the surface of the water. 

 Although the hole was much dug away, the birds continued to sit 

 upon the remaining four eggs, which were duly hatched, and soon 

 after the young were fledged the parent birds took possession of 

 another hole near the first. That bank seemed to be their regular 

 breeding-place and was full of holes. Six eggs were again laid, 

 and six young birds, looking exceedingly fresh and pretty, 

 appeared in due time perched all in a row upon the top of the 

 bank. Nearly a mile down the river there was a l>imd, and here 

 of course it was easier to catch fish than at the nest where the 

 water was running. So from early morning till late at night the 

 parent birds continued making trips to get food for their young. 

 Each little fish that was brought cost a flight to the bund and 

 back of not much less than two miles, and the voracious fledg- 

 lings seemed never to be satisfied. As soon, therefore, as the 

 latter were able to go the distance, th^y were conducted to the 

 bund, where they could be fed with less trouble to the old birds and, 

 I don't doubt, more satisfaction to themselves. This arrangement 

 was continued for several weeks, the whole family repairing to the 

 bund every morning, and flying back to the nest in the evening. I 

 regret 1 never took the trouble to watch whether they got into the 

 hole to sleep, or took up their positions for the night on the rocks 

 and bushes on the river's bank." 



Colonel Legge found this species breeding in Ceylon in March. 

 Its nest-hole was excavated in the earthy banks of the Grindurah. 



Mr. Cripps writes from Furreedpore in Bengal : " Excessively 

 common. A very cheery bird, always on the move. Xests in 

 holes excavated by themselves in river-banks. Length of gallery 

 from Ij to 4 feet: no lining to egg-chamber. I have taken a 

 clutch of 5 eggs (fresh) on the 26th October, 1877, and found a 

 solitary half-grown young one in another nest, on the same date ; 

 the last nest of the season was secured on the 1st March, 1878, 

 with two hard-set eggs and two callow young. These birds stick 

 more to the larp^e rivers, although there may be beels and tanks 

 near." 



