46 A BIRD CALENDAR 



feet in length and three inches in diameter, 

 leading to a larger chamber in which from 

 four to seven eggs are laid. 



A pair of white-breasted kingfishers at work 

 during the early stages of nest construction 

 affords an interesting spectacle. Not being 

 able to obtain a foothold on the almost per- 

 pendicular surface of the bank, the birds 

 literally charge this in turn with fixed beak. 

 By a succession of such attacks at one spot 

 a hole of an appreciable size is soon formed in 

 the soft sand. Then the birds are able to 

 obtain a foothold and to excavate with the 

 bill, while clinging to the edge of the hole. 

 Every now and then they indulge in a short 

 respite from their labours. While thus rest- 

 ing one of the pair will sometimes spread its 

 wings for an instant and display the white 

 patch ; then it will close them and make a 

 neat bow, as if to say " Is not that nice ? " 

 Its companion may remain motionless and 

 unresponsive, or may return the compli- 

 ment. 



In the first days of March the bulbuls begin 

 to breed. In 1912 the writer saw a pair of 

 bulbuls (Otocompsa emerid) building a nest on 

 the 3rd March. By the loth the structure was 



