294 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HLSTORY SOCIETY, Vol X. 



iio-ht one-hand axe and hammer and chisel. The cutting into the 

 nest took a long time, as he was unable to use the hammer and chisel 

 havino' to hang on with one hand while he wo rked with the axe- 

 head. At last he got his hand in and reported three eggs. The hen 

 moved further down the caviiy and disappeared. The eggs were 

 long ovals of a dull white, much discoloured with brown and green- 

 ish stains. They were very hard set. Both birds were absolutely 

 mute during the robbing of their nest. I since obtained two fresh eggs 

 on May 22nd, and a single one on June 6th, this last an extra- 

 ordinarily lop-sided egg, nowhere near round. It was also unusually 

 small, measuring only lf(j"xli" • I sent the others home without 

 noting the dimensionsj but they were all much larger.* 



40. Ceryle rudis^ Linn., the Pied Kingfisher. — A female was shot 

 and skinned for me by a Cingalese schoolmaster at Bibile, about ten 

 miles from here, in October this year. I should think its occurrence 

 so near the hills is very uncommon. 



41. Alcedo hengalensis, Gmel., the Little Indian Kingfisher.-^ — Com- 

 mon. Found a nest in May, but unfortunately cut into it too soon. 



42. Alcedo heavani^ Wald., Beavan's Kingfisher. — Not very 

 uncommon, although it has been overlooked in Ceylon until quite 

 recently. I procured two fine specimens here, both males, on a jungle 

 stream at an elevation of 1,800 feet. They were killed on November 

 2nd, 1894, and April 12th, 1895 ; I have since seen one or two others. 



The birds were kindly identified for me by Mr. J. H. Gurney 

 of Norwich, and were exhibited by him at a meeting of the 

 Zoolooical Society as the first specimens of this species obtained 

 in Ceylon. This, however, was not the case, as I subsequently 

 learned that it was first procured in Ceylon in 1892 in the neighbour- 

 hood of Dambool by Mr. A. P. Green of Colombo, to whom the 

 credit of adding it to the Ceylon list is due. He informs me that 

 he has since obtained several specimens of both sexes from various 

 parts of the island, but all at an elevation of less than 2,000 feet. 



In Ceylon Beavan's kingfisher frequents lonely forest streams 

 and tanks, and seems shy of the vicinity of paddy-fields with their 

 noisy cultivators and lumbering buffaloes. It is most extraordinary 

 that this bird has been overlooked entirely in Ceylon by previous 



* I have since received the measurements of three of these eggs — 1|" X li"j 



ir X u", 11" X li". 



