350 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII, 
open and laid out on bare rocks or sand—a fair bait for the Papzleonde 
and Lycenide, among butterflies and for all the solitary fossorial 
wasps, and the Apide among the Hymenoptera, But then to bait 
of this kind insects may be attracted as much by sight as by scent, 
while there is not the ghost of a doubt that for all Lepzdoptera, 
Hymenoptera, Diptera, &c., there is nothing to beat liquid ammonia* 
spilt over patches of sand where the sun is shining hot ; and to this 
there can be no question that the insects are attracted purely by 
scent. For certain foul feeders, the genus Charazes among butter- 
flies pre-eminently, a sure find is the droppings, so common on jungle 
roads, of tiger, wild cat or dog. Again Huthalia and skippers and 
many large fossorial Hymenoptera, Pompilide, Sphegide, &e., are often 
found in numbers sucking the juice of jungle fruits shed and lying on 
the ground in rotting masses. On the sand for some time our nets went 
swooping out busily, and then H. suddenly said, “ By Jove, what's 
that,” and looking up, saw three green birds flying on to a high tree 
on the other side of the stream. For a moment I thought they were 
parrots, but a second good look showed the beautiful cherry-pink putfed- 
out feathers of the throat, and I recognized them as Nyctiornis amicta, 
the “ red-bearded bee-eater” to use Oates’ name. This is a much 
rarer species than the “ blue-bearded bee-eater” (Nyctiornis athertonz) 
and found only in the heaviest forests ; whereas the latter species is not 
unfrequently seen near clearings, and I have even shot one on a soli- 
tary tree in the middle of a paddy field. The call of Nyctiornis 
amicta is quite different from that of its congener, much coarser and 
rougher. The bird breeds on these hills, and on two occasions I found 
nest holes on this very road. Unfortunately the first time I was too 
early ; the birds had just begun digging, and on the second occasion 
I found the young already hatched out and feathered. They flew out 
as I dug down into the nest. Both NV. atherton: and N. amucta, 
notwithstanding their popular name of bee-eaters, live quite as much on 
beetles as on bees. From the nest mentioned above I took out quite 
a hatful of the legs, heads, and wing-cases of beetles. The nest, like 
that of all bee-eaters, is simply a large bulbous chamber at the end of | 
* Wor the precise manner in which this ammonia is poured on the ground see | 
Hogarth’s plate of the “ Enraged Musician,” 
