ACEEOS. 77 



rent in some eggs of the latter. In shape the five eggs as yet 

 taken are all alike, long ovals. They measure respectively 1'75 X 

 1-33, 1-75 X 1-30, 1-88 x 1-40, 1-82 x 1-35, and 1-83 x 1-38." 



He continues : — " It is strange how tame this Hornbill is during 

 the breeding-season ; ordinarily (and I have come across flocks of 

 it on. the high hills, betvs'een the Zammee choung and the Houndravi' 

 river, on the ranges near the Salween, and in various places on the 

 Dawna and its spurs, from the head-waters of the Thoungyeen to 

 its mouth, i. e. from Mooleyit to the Salween) it is the wariest of 

 the wary, keeping well to the tops of the highest trees. I 

 described in a former article a nest and eggs ; subsequent to that 

 I managed to procure three nests more on the 5th March ; out of 

 these one contained four eggs, one three, and one two respec- 

 tively. 



" I found another nest on the 23rd February, on the Meknay 

 choung. It contained three fresh eggs, two of which, however, 

 were unfortunately broken in getting them down ; the remaining 

 one measures 1-71 X 1-28." 



The eggs are hardly to be separated from those of A. alhirostris ; 

 they vary a good deal in size and in shape, precisely as hens' eggs 

 do. When first laid they appear to be pure white, and have a 

 slight gloss ; but as incubation proceeds they entirely lose this, and 

 become creamy brownish, creamy dingy reddish brown, and finally 

 mud colour. The shell is compact, the pores perhaps a shade 

 more perceptible than in A. alhirostris, from the eggs of which it 

 would often be difficult to separate them. 



Fifteen eggs measure from 1'69 to 1'9 in length, and from 1"28 

 to 1-4 in breadth, and average 1-82 by 1-34. 



Aceros nepalensis (Hodgs.). The Rufous-neched Hornbill. 



Aceros nipalensis, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 250 ; Hume, Cat. 

 no. 146. 



Mr. J. Gammie, writing from Sikhim, says : — " On the 20th of 

 May, Mr. Munro, of Poomong, sent word that he had discovered 

 a breeding-hole of Aceros nipalensis, so next morning Dr. King 

 and I went to see what could be done in the way of robbing the 

 nest. 



" Mr. Munro met us on the road, and conducted us to the tree, 

 in a hollow of which the female was sitting. 



" The tree was a species of Dysoxylon, 80 or 90 feet in height, 

 uubranehed for 50 feet up, and situated close to a stream at an 

 elevation of about 2000 feet above the sea. A few feet under the 

 lowest branch, and just above a bulge in the stem, there was a 

 vertical slit which proved to he the entrance to the Hornbill's 

 house. Long bamboos were cut and formed into a very primitive 

 sort of ladder, and a Nepalee ^iscended. 



" We stationed ourselves some distance up a steep bank, about 



