129 



but all of them close to the water's edge, about four inches above it. Here on the 28th of 

 April, Mr. Bartlett took two nests of six and four eggs respectively. I revisited the locality on 

 the 21st and 22nd of May, and found great numbers of young birds fledged and able to fish for 

 themselves, while some nests contained from four to six young ; but I still secured five nests with 

 fresh eggs in each. The only way of securing them was to strip and swim to the bank, while 

 an Arab threw down a rope from above, which I fastened round my waist while he held the 

 other end ; and thus suspended in the splendid tepid bath, I dug away with the mattock let 

 down to me till the eggs were reached. The passages were about three feet and a quarter in 

 length ; and the chamber at the end was simply scooped at one end of the passage, not turned at 

 a sharp angle, nor double, like that of the Bee-eater. In one instance I had dug long and 

 laboriously, when out dashed a great rat instead of a Kingfisher, leaving her six naked young to 

 their fate. In no instance were there any bones with the eggs, though, when there were young, 

 there was a festering heap of bones and filth. But there was always an abundantly heaped nest 

 of grass and weeds. In one nest, which had been visited and robbed by Mr. Bartlett, there was 

 a family of three unfledged young ; so that the bird must have laid again almost immediately in 

 the same digging. The whole colony sat about on the oleanders, or passed and repassed inces- 

 santly during my operations, screaming and shrieking at the intruder most vociferously. The 

 eggs of this species vary in shape more than those of any other Kingfisher with which I am 

 acquainted. Though generally almost spherical, those of two nests we captured were decidedly 

 elongated, in one case much more so than in the other ; and the peculiarity was common to the 

 whole sitting in each case." 



I possess some of the eggs collected by Canon Tristram, which are roundish in shape, a good 

 deal larger than those of the common Kingfisher and have the surface not so polished. Like 

 these they are pure white in colour when blown ; but when the yelk is in them they are pinkish 

 in tinge. In size they average 1^% inch by 1 inch. 



The specimens figured are the adult male and female described, both being in my collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens : — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser. 



a,b,2- Syria (Verreausc). c, tf. Gennesaret, Palestine, May 23rd, 1861 (H. B. Tristram), djuv. Egypt. 

 e,f, g, 2 ■ Port Elizabeth, S. Africa (Cutter). 



E Mus. Lord Walden. 

 a,b. West Africa, c. Gambia, d. Gaboon, e. Zambesi. /. White Nile (Petherick). g, h, ij, k, I, m. India. 

 n,juv. Tonghoo, Burmah. 



E Mus. C. G. Banford. 

 a, <3jb,c,d,6. Adalia, December 1874 (C. G. D.). 



E Mus. H. B. Tristram. 

 a, 6. Plains of Gennesaret, March 1st, 186 A. bjuv. Gennesaret, May 20th, 1864. c, ?. Galilee, March 

 31st, 1864 (H.B. T.). 



