198 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 



lay in the sun ; in iialf an hour every ant in it was dead. In the more 

 Eastern Dekhan C. rogenhqferi ceases to build nests and lives in holes 

 in trees like C. rabula ; but I have never found it nesting in the ground. 

 Mr. Aitken has sent me the following interesting note on a wood- 

 pecker which habitually rears its young in the nest of this species : — 

 " I had on several occasions seen M. gularis excavating the nes'ts of 

 " Cremastog aster, but it was not until the 27th of last March that 

 «' I found a nest actually occupied by the birds. It was a very large 

 " and solid nest, fixed on and embracing the stem of a teak sapling. 

 *' I tried to climb the tree, but was routed by the ants, which not 

 " only swarmed down the trunk to attack me, but dropped on me 

 " like rain from the branches above. Afterwards I got a ladder and 

 " reached the nest without alarming the ants overmuch. The wood- 

 «^ peckers had made two holes on opposite sides of the nest, one 

 " above and one below. The upper one led into a rt)und and suffi- 

 " ciently roomy chamber, in which I found three eggs. There was 

 " no lining, but the sides of the chamber were very smooth. The 

 '' lower hole contained nothing. I do not thiak that it was made for 

 " any special purpose. My idea is that these woodpeckers excavate 

 " many nests before they are able to find one that affords room for 

 "them to turn in, and that they have to try the same nest at 

 " different points. The branch on which the nest is built does not 

 " o-enerally run through the middle of it, but lies like the bone in 

 " a leg of mutton, and the birds, like a young carver, sometimes 

 "beo-in at the wrong side. I have seen a pair of woodpeckers. 

 " excavatino- the same nest at opposite sides. I cannot explain or 

 " imagine how the birds ' square ' the ants. In the nest I have 

 " mentioned they appeared to have abandoned the upper part, where 

 *' the birds were in possession, but the lower part was swarming 

 " with them. In the May following I found another nest with 

 " young ones in it. It was also swarming with ants, Jerdon men- 

 " tions a resinous substance found upon the feathers of these wood- 

 " peckers. It is just possible that this is some auti-ant preparation." 



199. C)\ rothneyi (Mayr). 



Poena Districts. 



Calcutta G. A. J. Eothney (type). 



This is a very common and exclusively terrestrial species. 



