AND SPECIALLY THOSE OF THE THOUNGYEEN VALLEY. 163 



Bill light plumbeous ; irides dark grey ; legs and feet dark 

 plumbeous ; claws horny. The chin and throat are white, and 

 it completely wants the crimson moustachial stripe, otherwise the 

 plumage is as in the adult male. 



171 5ts.— Gecinus vittatus, Vieill. 



This is one of our commonest Woodpeckers, in the Thoung- 

 yeen valley as elsewhere. 



A male measured in the flesh : — Length, 129 ; expanse, 18*3 ; 

 wing, 5*21; tail, 4*8; tarsus, 1*0; bill from gape, 1*67. 



Bill horuy, basal two-thirds of lower mandible yellow ; irides 

 reddish brown ; legs and feet dirty greenish ; claws horny. 



A female. — Length, 12*2; expanse, 17*3 ; wing, 5 - 14; tail, 

 4*8 ; tarsus, 1*0 ; bill from gape, 1*55. Colors of the soft parts 

 as in the male. 



171 ter.— Gecinus nigrigenis, Hume. 



The handsomest Woodpecker in the jungles I think. All 

 through the Thoungyeen valley it is fairly common, but local. 



In the great laterite belt covered with Eng ( Dipterocarpus) 

 forest, that runs parallel to the Thoungyeen river, north of 

 Meeawuddy, I found it plentiful ; its peculiar cry, and the rich 

 contrast of the jet black cheeks, with the yellow of the chin 

 and throat once heard and seen, are not easily forgotten. 



A very fine pair measured in the flesh : — 



Male. — Length, 12'8 ; expanse, 19*2; wing, 6*2 ; tail from 

 vent, 4'7 ; tarsus, 1*1 ; bill from gape, 1*55. 



Bill dark horny ; irides sulphur yellow ; legs and feet dark 

 green ; claws horny. 



Female. — Length, 12*8 ; expanse, 19*2; wing, 5'8; tail, 4*7; 

 tarsus, 1*1 ; bill from gape, 1*53. Color of the soft parts as 

 in the male, with the exception of the irides, which were 

 greenish yellow. 



On the 1 8th March, I found a nest of this Woodpecker in a 

 hole in a Pynkado tree {Xylia dolabriformis) , on the bank of the 

 Meplay choung. Cutting it out with chisel and hammer, I found 

 the passage (about 10 inches in length by 1| inch in diame- 

 ter) go obliquely down, and end in a slightly enlarged chamber 

 in which I found two white, rather long and glossy, eggs lying 

 on chips of wood. They measure 1*18 by 085 and 1*19 by 083. 

 I may add that I shot both male and female before cutting out 

 the nest. 



The note of this species is quite unlike that of any other 

 Gecinus with which I am acquainted. It consists of from 12 to 

 15 whistled notes, uttered in the most rapid succession, the first 

 very high and shrill, and each succeeding one lower, till the last 



