MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 521 



nesting sites. This appears to be the general view of the habits of the bird. 

 Thus Dr. Blanford says of it: — " A resident in general, but locally migratory in 

 some places : thus it is said to leave the island of Bombay from April to 

 September." Mr. E. H. Aitken writes in the same strain : " In Bombay it 

 is to be seen everywhere from the end of the rains till the beginning of the hot 

 season, but disappears in the interval. Yet it is not ranked as a migratory bird 

 and is not so in the usual sense. It only leaves us during the breeding season, 

 because it cannot find comfortable family quarters in our island." I am now 

 inclined to believe that this bird is a regular migrant. I arrived in Lahore on 

 October 19th, 1905, and from that day until March 8th, 190G, I did not set eyes 

 upon a bee-eater. Since March 8th I have not seen less than fifty a day : 

 during the summer months bee-eaters are nearly as common as mynas. Resi- 

 dents of Lahore tell me that the bee-eaters always leave the place during the 

 cold weather. The bee-eater comes to Lahore to breed. 



According to Colonel Cunningham bee-eaters are only temporary residents in 

 Calcutta. They winter there, leaving with wonderful regularity at the begin- 

 ning of every hot weather. "With regard to their arrival in Calcutta he writes : 

 " From a record of the dates of its occurrence during a period of eight years, 

 it appears that it took place five times in the second week, once on the fourth 

 day, once on the seventh day, and once in the third week of October, and from 

 a much more extended series of observations the thirteenth of the month comes 

 out as the normal date. These dates are to be taken as referring to the arrival 

 of the birds who propose to spend the winter in the place ; for in almost any 

 year small parties may be seen and heard passing high overhead for some days 

 before any come to settle down." It would thus appear that the migration 

 from Calcutta is a regular one and not merely a going outside the city to breed. 

 The observations of Mr. Benjamin Aitken point to the fact that the Bombay 

 birds similarly migrate. " With regard to the island of Bombay I hare no 

 doubt whatever that the common bee-eater migrates as verily as the common 

 swallow or the grey wagtail. . . In my notes I have the 6th October 1865 

 and the 9th October 1866 recorded as the days of first appearance of the bee- 

 eater in Bombay in those years. The date of their disappearance in 1867 was 

 the 14th March." 



In many parts of India the common bee-eater is to be found all the year 

 round. From this, however, it does not follow that there is no migration in 

 those places. For example, the bee-eaters of Benares may leave that place in 

 March to go towards Lahore but their place may be taken by the birds which 

 have come from Calcutta. This point could be settled only by marking certain 

 birds. But hitherto very few observations upon the subject appear to have 

 been made. Do the bee-eaters, found in localities east of Calcutta, leave them 

 during the hot weather ? 



What is the most westerly part of India, or the most northerly part, in which 

 there is an exodus of bee-eaters during the winter months ? Are there any 

 parts of the plains of India where these birds are never observed ? If any of 



