HALCYON. 19 



flight. It also captures prawns, small crabs, and water insects 

 from stagnant pools, and I have, once or twice seen it take cicadas 

 from the trunk of a tree." 



Mr. Gates records the following note from Fegu: — ^^ April 15th. 

 Nest with fi\o eggs. 



" June '.ird. Nest with three young birds and oue addled egg. 

 Breeds in thickly wooded ravines." 



And, lastly, from Tenasserim I have the following note from 

 Mr. J. Darling, Junior : — " March 31«i. I'ound a nest of Halcyon 

 smyrnensis with 5 eggs, slightly set, some 20 miles E. of Tavoy." 



Typically, the eggs of this species, like those of its congeners, are 

 very spherical, and one or t«o specimens that I possess are almost 

 absolutely perfect spheres, but here and there a very broad oval 

 takes the place of the sphere. The eggs of course are pure white, 

 often more or less discoloured as incubation proceeds, and adorned, 

 when fresh, with a beautiful gloss similar to that observable on the 

 eggs of EoUers and Bee-eaters. Unlike the eggs of these species, 

 however, the Kingfishers rapidly lose their gloss, and, as a rule, 

 long before the eggs are ready to hatch off they have entirely lost 

 that brilliantly polished appearance which distinguishes them when 

 freshly laid. In size the eggs vary greatly ; the smallest specimen 

 in my collection is exactly the same size as Hewitsou's figure of the 

 European Bee-eater's, while the largest is but little smaller than 

 the figure immediately below this latter of the European Boiler's 

 egg. Of course, as a rule, these eggs are smaller and rounder 

 than those of the Indian EoUer ; but I have one egg taken by 

 Colonel Marshall, E.E., with his own hands, as big as, if not bigger 

 than, any Boiler's egg, — a surprising fact, considering the relative 

 sizes of the two birds. 



In length they vary from 1.05 to 1-27 inch, and in breadth from 

 0-97 to 1-12 inch; but the average of forty-eight is 1-13 by 1-03 

 inch. 



Halcyon occipitalis (Blyth). The Nicobar Kingfisher. 

 Halcyon occipitalis {BL), Hume,Ruugh Draft X. S,- E. no. 132 bis. 



Mr. Davison says: — " 1 found the Nicobar Kingfisher (in the 

 Nicobars of course, to which it is restricted) commencing to breed 

 about the latter end of February ; but the only egg I obtained was 

 taken from the oviduct of a female which I shot on the 24th of 

 February just as it was entering its nest ; the egg was perfect, 

 and would no doubt have been laid in a few minutes. I found 

 three nests on the island of Camorta, and all of them were exca- 

 vated in deserted ants' nests. These ants' nests are generally 

 placed against the trunks of very large trees, but occasionally 

 against those of cocoanut-palms, at heights of from 4 to 20 feet 

 from the ground, and vary from 12 to 30 inches in diameter; 

 being composed, as I believe, of some sort of clay, they are 

 extremely hard and difficult to brealt. I had to dig out the nests 



2* 



