THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 173 



chamber about 7 inches in diameter; the bottom of the chamber 

 contains a quantity of pulverised earth. I saw the bird fly out 

 of two nests, and shot the female above referred to as she was 

 entering the third." 



The egg- in question is of the purest white, quite devoid of 

 gloss (which it would probably have had, if laid in the normal 

 fashion instead of being obtained by a cesarean operation) ; it is 

 a broad oval, somewhat pointed towards the smaller end, and 

 measures 1*16 by 0*98. 



He further adds :— " This Kingfisher is exceedingly abun- 

 dant on all the islands of the Nicobars, where it replaces H. 

 chloris of the Andamans, and like it prefers gardens, and is even 

 more partial to forest, being not unfrequently found quite in its 

 depths. It is a very noisy bird. I have seen several alight on 

 a branch or stump of a tree, partially open and droop their 

 wings and spread their tails and commence a discordant screech- 

 ing concert, which they would keep up for about a minute; 

 then one would start off to another branch followed by the 

 others, and the same sort of thing would be again gone through. 

 I observed this same habit in the Acheen chloris, but not in the 

 Andaman birds." 



I don't think that any of us ever landed anywhere on the 

 Nicobars without seeing several birds of this species. They 

 feed principally on lizards and shell fish. 



133.— Ceyx tridactyla, Lin. (O.) 



We never saw this species during our trip. Davison says : — 

 " On the 20th April I saw a specimen of this bird in the pos- 

 session of the Color Sergeant attached to the detachment of the 

 67th Regiment stationed at Eoss Island. It had flown into the 

 European barracks the day before, apparently in a very 

 exhausted state, as it allowed itself to be captured by hand. 

 It died in a couple of days, and then passed into the possession 

 of Lieutenant Wardlaw Ramsay." 



134.— Alcedo bengalensis, Gmel. (7.) 



The specimens obtained of this species in the Andamans and 

 Nicobars are characterized by somewhat shorter bills than those 

 of continental birds. In no male or female does the bill exceed 

 1-4. The plumage is also, I think, duller than those of any set 

 of birds that I have seen from elsewhere. It is curious how 

 many of the Kingfishers of these islands are more or less 

 specialized forms. 



