JTTCTIOENIS. 59 



open the hollow I found only a few chips and a feather or two. 

 The bird had its tail in a very abraded state, and proved on 

 dissection to be a male. Several others were shot on neighbouring 

 trees, and as by the state of the organs of the one shot the birds 

 were evidently breeding, it is probable I might have succeeded in 

 finding more nests and getting their eggs had I been able to stop 

 there a week or so." 



He subsequently sent me the following note : " I cannot 

 positively vouch for the four eggs said to belong to this species 

 which I have procured. The case stands thus : On the 23rd 

 April a Karen, named Myat-jo, in my employ, brought me four 

 roundish, white, very glossy eggs, and the dead body of a bird of 

 this species, which on dissection proved to be a female, evidently 

 breeding. His story was that he watched the bird go into a hole 

 in the sandy bank of the Meplay stream, and dug it out, catching 

 it alive seated on the four eggs he had brought me. As the place 

 was not more than a mile or so from where I had pitched my 

 camp, I went off at once with him to inspect the spot. Examina- 

 tion of the ruined nest and further questioning of Myat-jo 

 elicited the following : A tunnel had been dug by the birds into 

 the soft bank to the depth of seven or eight feet, ending in a 

 rounded chamber. The eggs reposed on the bare ground, there 

 being no attempt at a nest. The bird pecked vigorously at 

 Myat-jo's hand, when from time to time he put it in to ascertain how 

 much further he had to dig. The eggs were very hard-set, and I 

 had much difficulty in cleaning them out. They measure 1*13 bv 

 1-05, 1-16 by 1-02, 1-12 by 1-04, and 1-17 by 1-02." 



On the whole I also am inclined to accept the eggs. There is 

 no doubt that they are undistinguishable from the eggs of Halcyon 

 sini/rnensis, but there are nevertheless several reasons for believing 

 that they may really belong to N. atliertoni. In the first place, I 

 have never known Halcyon smyrnensis bore anything like so deep 

 a tunnel. In the second place, the female specimen of N. athertoni, 

 said to have been caught on the eggs, proved to be a female that 

 had been recently laying. It had been caught and not shot, and 

 if he did not catch it in the hole, it is difficult to understand how 

 the Karen could have got hold of it. In the third place, the eggs 

 are precisely what the bird might have been expected to lay. 



At the same time it must be admitted that we have hitherto had 

 reason to suppose that this bird bred in holes of trees, and Captain 

 Bidgham himself shot a breeding bird issuing from such a hole, 

 and very few species of birds lay both in holes of trees and in 

 holes in sandy banks. 



The eggs of this species sent by Major Bingham are nearly 

 round, pure white, a good deal soiled by incubation, and highly 

 glossy. They appear to be undistinguishable from eggs of 

 Halcyon smyrnensis. 



