514 Mr. G. L. Bates on the 



Avhi(,'li was shot ''just after it had left its nesting-hole." The 

 hole was not in a tree-stem, but in a large hanging njak, 

 which was brought with the eggs in it. Tliis 7ijak seems to 

 have been of the kind made by termites, though at the time 

 I thought it to be an ants' nest (see notes on Dendromus 

 riivosus above, p. 509). It was nearly spherical, measuring 

 y by 7 inches in greatest and least diameters, and was 

 solid and heavy. None of the insects Avere in it when it 

 was brought^ and I think the hole may have been originally 

 made by Woodpeckers. I have never seen anything to 

 indicate that Halcyon badius eats ants or termites. All the 

 stomachs exainined have contained remains of Orthoptera 

 und Coleoptera. 



JMyioceyx lecontei. 



hpidina lecontei Cassin, Proc. Ac. Sc. Philad. 1856, p. 158. 



Myioceyx rujiceps Sharpe, Ibis, 1901, p. G07; 1907, p. 429. 



A series of these little Kingfishers of different ages 

 shews conclusively, what Reichenow already suspected, that 

 M. riificeps is merely the adult of the species already described 

 by Cassin from a young specimen. No. 3328 in my series of 

 specimens agi'ces exactly in every particular witii Cassin's 

 description. Other sp;cimens are very similar to it, and 

 others shew the gradual ciumge to the adult plumage, the 

 black of the crown oeing replacetl by rufous, and likewise a 

 gradual change in the colour of the bill. I have also 

 specimens of a still younger stage than that seen in 

 No. 3328. In this the bill is much shorter, and the feathers 

 of the breast have narrow dark edges ; but the most 

 interesting point about these very young birds is that the 

 bill is not so flat, and is pointed, instead of truncated, at the 

 tip, as in older birds. The bill in the young bird does not 

 shew the peculiarity which has caused this species to be 

 made into a separate genus. 



It is worth recording that one specimen, No. 3328, had 

 fourteen rectrices, all alike in respect to newness or wear ; 

 and that another examjdc, which was not preserved, had 

 tliirtceii rectices, while all others examined had the normal 

 number of twelve. 



