THE BIRDS OF NORTH CACHAR. 561 



varying in length according to the soil in which it is dug. Ihus, in 

 sandy soil, the hird will burrow deeper than any of the kingfishers, 

 and I have seen tunnels over ten feet in length, though, as a rule, they 

 do not much exceed five or six. In earth or clay they seldom go to a 

 greater depth than two or three feet, and one I found, which had been 

 dug in stiff clay, was barely 10 inches deep, — that is to say the 

 tunnel itself was not more than a couple of inches, and then came 

 the egg-chamber. The tunnel varies in breadth (I have not measured 

 many) between 1*9" and 2'o", the greater number being just about half- 

 way between these two extremes. Tbe place which is excavated for 

 the reception of the eggs is generally about 8" long by 6" broad and 

 rather less in height ; there is no lining of any sort placed in it, nor is 

 there the mass of beetles' and flies' wings, &c., which is so invariably 

 found in the nests of Nyctiornis athertoni. 



The majority of birds here breed in the banks of the Diyung River, 

 and during April and the first few days of May as many as twenty 

 nests may be taken in a day, although I have never found them 

 breeding in company as they do in many other localities. Once or 

 twice I have found two birds breeding close together, but never, to 

 my recollection, have I seen three in the same place. 



Queer places are sometimes selected by this bird in which to make 

 its burrow. I was once (in April, 1889) walking along a sandy chur, 

 which was almost a dead level over its greater extent, when the sand 

 gave way beneath my foot, and, on raising it, a bee-eater flew out of 

 the break I had made. Examining the ground, I found that the 

 birds had dug down into it for about a foot and had then made a lono- 

 tunnel just under the surface of tbe sand, and it was this which had 

 caused it to give w^ay under my feet. The chamber contained six 

 fresh eggs which I left untouched, as I had already as many as I could 

 carry, and before leaving I had the pleasure of seeing both birds 

 return to the nest. The same day that this happened I found two 

 burrows made in a sloping shelf of sand, which both ran downwards 

 so directly that they almost reached the level of the water, and a rise 

 of a few inches in the river or a heavy shower would have drowned 

 out the owners. I believe the full complement of eggs is six, and 

 I have seldom taken smaller clutches of incubated eggs and never 

 less than four. They are typical bee-eater's eggs, almost spherical. 



