56 JOimNAL, NATURAL HI8T. SOCIETY OF SIAM Vol. L 



feathers were little more tha,u stumps. It is true this was an excep- 

 tionally late season iu starting, and may have had something to do 

 Avith the particular stage of moult in which the birds arrived, but that 

 rather adds to the interest of the subject than otherwise. 



The moult of the primaries appeared to start from about the 

 centre of the wing, usually about the 7th and 8th, followed by the 

 Tipxt outer pair and then an inner pair, so bj^ the time the outer pair 

 of primaries were dropped the new ceutre feathers had put on a fair 

 amount of growth. This was about the weakest stage of the moult, 

 when only the outer pair of old primaries remain. 



Another noticeable feature of the moult was the dropping of 

 the '' pin " feathers from the tail, which occurred about a month later. 



E. G. HERBERT. 



November, 1913. 



4- Ko. VKI.— DISTEIBUTION OF THE INDIA:?^ PIED KINGFISHER 

 (CERYLE VARIA) AND SPOTTED OWLET 

 (ATHENE BRAMA) IN SLAM. 



I have been endeavouring to trace recently the southern limit 

 of the Indian Pied Kingfisher {Ceri/le varia. F 1033) and should be 

 glad if your readers would help me. This bird abounds on the Me 

 Ping and Me Yome, and rivers further North, and is very plentiful 

 on the Menam above and below Bangkok, but is unknown in the 

 Malay States. It is connnon in India, Ceylon, and Burma in the 

 ])lains, except south of Amherst, and it extends east into China, but 

 apparently does not g - much south of Bangkok. It should not be 

 diiiicult to trace, as it is a noisy bird and can be readily I'ecognised by 

 its peculiar fishing habits. Unlike other Kingfishers it never plunges 

 from a fixed perch, but flies ov*^,- the watv-i t"id hovers with its beak 

 pointed downwards, at a height of frecjuently 15 or 20 feeb above the 

 surface, when it suspects the presence ut' .!, lioli. Ir dives for its prey 

 after hovering, hence the Siamese name " Nok kra ten jiaJc lah,'^ 

 which likens the long straight plunge to the driving of a stake. 



Another species which occurs in Siani, though as far as I am 



aware it has not previously been recorded, is the Spotted Owlet 



4- ( Athene hrama. F. IISO ). It is quite common some 40 miles north 



of "Jiangkok, but I believe it does not occur in Bangkok or further 



sourh in Siam — the exact distribution of it is therefore of interest. 



Blanford gives it as occurring throughout India, but not in 

 Ceylon, and as common in the Irrawaddy valley from Prome upwards, 

 the latitude of Prome being about 18'. The latitude at which it is 

 found in Siam is known to be as far south as 14'. 



The Spotted Owlet is a noisy little bird (8" long) which comes 

 out before sunset and pours forth a volley of chuckles and squeaks, 

 U^sually two of these individuals sit shouting together, as if trying 

 which can finish its chatter first. The entire upper plumage is an 

 ashy brown copiously spotted with white, and the tail is Ijarred with 



