CEEYLE KUDIS. 291 



successive times without flying back to their perch ; but they usually settle down again after making a plunge, 

 from which they do not often return empty-mouthed. 



Nidification. — Throughout the northern countries included in its geographical range this Kingfisher 

 breeds in March, April, and May. In the former month I found it nesting in Ceylon in the earthy or alluvial 

 banks of the Gindurah : the nest was situated about 3 feet from the entrance of the hole, which was about 

 4 inches in diameter ; the eggs were deposited in a cavity of some 7 or 8 inches in diameter. As a rule grass 

 is found on the floor of the chamber ; and Canon Tristram speaks of finding an " abundantly heaped nest of 

 grass and weeds " in all that he dug out in Palestine ; bones, however, do not seem to be used, although by the 

 time the young leave the nest it is a mass of such, the refuse of the large supply of food brought for their 

 sustenance. Captain Marshall, as quoted by Mr. Hume (loc. cit.), notices a singular feature in this bird's 

 economy, viz. that it is sometimes a gregarious breeder ; he speaks of finding a hole leading to a sort of 

 cavern about 3 feet across which was plentifully strewn with grass and rubbish and contained eggs in different 

 corners. The number of eggs is usually four, but sometimes six ; they are, of course, white and glossy, some- 

 times nearly spheroid and at others pointed at one end; they average, says Mr. Hume, 1"15 by 092 inch. 



Mr. Blewitt witnessed these birds constructing the hole leading to their nest, and writes as follows : — 

 " They alternately relieved each other at the work, and when tired sat together some short distance off for a 

 few minutes." When the young first leave the nest they sit together on the bank near at hand, while the 

 old birds bring them food ; this I have observed in the meadows bordering the Gindurah river. 



In South Africa, where the seasons are opposite to ours, it breeds at the end of the year. Layard found 

 its nest in November, and says that it was composed entirely of fish-bones and scales. 



Genus ALCEDO. 

 Bill not so straight as in the last, the culmen perceptibly curved from the base, not flattened 

 above, compressed throughout; the groove slightly developed. Nostrils oblique and nearer 

 the commissure than in Ceryle. Wings moderately rounded ; the 2nd and 3rd quills subequal 

 and longest ; the 4th shorter and slightly exceeding the 1st. Tail very short and rounded at the 

 tip. Legs and feet as in Ceryle, the hind toe longer in proportion to the inner. 



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