460 NOTES ON THE NIDIFIOATION OF SOME BOENBILLS. 



And sure enough on the 5th February this year I arrived 

 at his village, and encamped there for the night. Having a 

 couple of hours to spare after my arrival, I accompanied him 

 to view two nests of D. cavatus he had found. We had a 

 longish tramp through dense evergreen to the first nest, which 

 was in the hollow of a large Pyma tree {Lagerstrcemia fios 

 reginoe), and I was able to ascend myself by help of the bamboo 

 pegs he had stuck in. I found the female well plastered in all 

 right, but on making her move by stirring her up with a stick, 

 I saw to my disappointment I was too early — she had not 

 laid yet. 



, The second nest we found was not even entered into, the 

 plastering had just begun, and both birds sat on a neighbour- 

 ing tree and looked on at us. 



I was afraid they would desert their nests, but Myat-jo 

 seemed confident of securing their eggs ten or. fifteen days 

 later if I could manage to come back ; so with a light heart 

 I made tracks for camp. 



On the way back, as we were crossing a small, almost dry, 

 choung, a bird got up, and flying a little way alighted on the 

 branch of a middling-sized Pynkado tree {Xylia dolabriformis.) 

 Looking at it I was astonished to see it was Ocyceros tickelli, 

 a bird usually so wary and hard to get at. I raised my gun and 

 was on the point of firing, when I noticed that its beak seemed 

 covered with mud, and instantly afterwards with a great 

 thump in my heart, I saw a small hole in the very tree it was 

 seated on, the sides of which also appeared to have mud on 

 them. Of course all idea of shooting the bird was abandoned, 

 and in five minutes Myat-jo had a small tree cut down and 

 placed slantingly as a ladder, and ascended to interview the 

 '' missis." — -Lord ! how she did hiss and cackle, while her mate 

 outside, with loud harsh quacks, flew from tree to tree around. 



After peering and stirring the female about with a stick for 

 what appeared to my impatience an unconscionable time, Myat- 

 jo announced the disappointing fact of " no eggs as yet." 



Of course there was no help for it^ and I had to content 

 myself with his assurance that we would get the eggs later on, 

 and as we approached camp he further cheered me with the 

 news that some one or other of his fellow villagers knew of the 

 nests of R. suhruficollis and H. albirostris, besides one of the 

 '' leh," whatever that might be, which his son had found, and 

 which lying not far off my road next morning I could go and 

 visit. 



I did so, and found an immense nest of sticks, some 70 feet 

 up a Kanyiu tree {Diptereocarpiis alatus) with a pair oi Spilornis 



