6 



boundary of Etawah and Cawnpore. I shot two of tlie birds and got some eggs. I 

 revisited the spot on the 12th of March, and again shot a pair of the birds and obtained 

 more eggs. 



" They build in communities in sandy banks overhanging rivers. They bore a small 

 hole, about 3 inches in diameter, from 1^ to 3 feet deep, into the bank, usually sloping 

 a little upwards, at the end of which they scoop out a sort of chamber, say 6 inches in 

 diameter ; there they make a nest of very fine twigs and grass lined with a few soft 

 feathers of the Wild Goose, Brahminy, and such like water-fowl; they lay from two to 

 three eors's. 



" The nesting-time is from November to February in some parts of the country, and 

 during Api'il and May in others, and again at both periods in others. 



" Mr. BIytli remarks (J. A. S. xvi. p. 119) : — ' I have found both newly-laid eggs 

 and young ready to fly in the beginning of December (at Calcutta), and also at the end 

 of February. The nest-holes vary in depth from 1-| feet to considerably more, according 

 as the banks are more or less hard, and the nest itself is composed of dry grass, with 

 occasionally a few feathers in the lining ; the eggs are pure white, like those of C 

 riparla.' 



" Colonel G. P. L. Marshall, writing from Saharanpur, says that this species ' builds 

 in the first half of April, in a hole about 4 feet into a bank, lining the end of the hole 

 with grass and a few feathers, and lays four pure white eggs.' I myself have taken the 

 eggs in May on the Jhelum, and on the Ju.mna, in the Etawah district, in February and 

 April, but I have never found more than four eggs." 



" From the Sambhur Lake, Mr. B. M. Adam tells us : — ' The little Bank-Martin is 

 very common about this. I obtained a nest on the 15th of Ajoril with two very hard- 

 set eggs. The nest was found in a hole in a bank, and was a compactly built cup- 

 shaped structure, outer diameter 4 inches ; egg-receptacle a little over two inches. The 

 nest was made of grass and fibres well rounded together ; the outer portion of the nest 

 was of a coarser quality than the lining, but made of the same material ; depth of egg- 

 cavity f inch.' In Oudli I took a nest of this bird on the 23rdv April. The nest was 

 composed of coarse grass loosely put together, and having a lining of biggish feathers. 

 Its diameter measured 3^ inches. 



" The eggs are white and glossless, closely resembling those of C. riparla, from 

 which it would be difficult to separate them. Nominally they are a pointed oval, but 

 somewhat cylindrical varieties occur. They vary a good deal in size, as do those of all 

 the allied species. The eggs I took varied from 0'63 to 075 inch in length, and from 

 0-48 to C 65 inch in breadth, and they averaged 0-68 by 0-5 inch." 



Near Lucknow, writes Mr. Ileid, " it breeds from February to May, making its nest 

 invariably in holes in river-banks, &c., while its daily vocation appears to consist of an 

 incessant whirling to and fro, relieved by frequent visits to its subterranean quarters. 

 During May last I took many eggs from nests in the banks of the Goomti, of which 070 

 bv 0"48 inch is the average measurement of ten." 



