442 Rev. F. C. R. Jourtlain on the 



\\'\\\ stand until tliey can almost be pushed down by baud. 

 As may be imagined^ it is by no means pleasant woik cutiiug 

 out a nest at a height of fifty or sixty feet from the ground 

 in a tice whieh roeks ominously from side to side all the 

 time and may come down at any moment^ and I have never 

 been able to obtain any assistance in this task from the 

 natives. Occasionally I have been lucky enough to discover 

 a nest at a moderate height. The lowest I have seen was 

 close to the top of a stump 17 ft. high, which was so rotten 

 that we were obliged to support it by means of three stout 

 jioics laid against it and roped together at the top, before it 

 would bear a man's weight, and after all the hole proved to 

 (ontain young about a week old ! It is pleasant to be able 

 to confirm the accuracy of Whitehead's notes on his species 

 in ' The Ibis/ 1885, pp. 28-31, but in one or two cases I am 

 able to supplement them. Thus in several cases old nesting- 

 holes of Dendrocopus major were certainly used, and the 

 external opening in these cases was quite neatly rounded. 

 The hissing sound, which closely resembles the word 

 " sch-wer, sch-wer," forms no j)art of the call-notes or song 

 of this species, but is the alarm-note. The song is a rapidly 

 uttered whistle, '' Pe-pe-pe-pe-pe-pe-pe," not unlike that 

 of Pants major corsus. Few^ birds are more confiding : 

 while engaged in cutting out a nest I have frequently had 

 both the bird swithin arm's length, apparently displaying 

 much interest in the proceediugs, and while cutting away the 

 wood at the back of a nest I have seen the hen make 

 several attempts to enter at the other side. In most cases 

 the full clutch consisted of six eggs, sometimes of only five. 

 The breeding-season is rather variable. In one case the first 

 egg must have been laid about May 1, while two other nests 

 contained full clutches on May 12 and 18, but the best 

 average date is about May 25 or 26. When the young are 

 first hatched they are sat upon by the hen. The cock bird 

 brings food to the nest at short intervals, calls the hen ofi', 

 and remains some little time inside feeding the young. On 

 his leaving, the hen re-enters the nest and covers the young 

 till he returns. I have seen this repeated half a dozen tim(\s- 



