35 
it makes its forage amongst the insect tribes that are brought out by the morning beams. This 
Bee-eater breeds during the months of April and May, laying its eggs in holes in banks. On the 
13th May, 1850, 1 found a pair of these birds breeding in a hole in a bank ; the hole was more than 
an arm’s length in depth. At the bottom of it I found three young birds, one very small, with 
scarcely any feathers on it, another somewhat larger, and the third of considerable size and 
pretty well fledged. There was no nest.” 
Mr. Scully shot a specimen in the valley of Nepal in March, and adds ( I . c.) that it was 
common about Hetoura, in the Dun, and in the plains of Nepal near the Tarai in winter. 
Dr. Eairbank found it abundant at the base of the Palani hills and in the adjacent plains. Yidal 
records it as abundant at Kelshi and Batnagiri in South Koukan. Stoliczka obtained it in 
Southern Kulu in summer; and Mr. Inglis found it very common in North-eastern Cachar, between 
August and April. 
Mr. Cripps says (Str. Death, vii. p. 258) that it is a “ very common and permanent resident 
(in Eastern Bengal). I have found several of their nest-holes during March and April with 
from four to five eggs in each. On one occasion I pressed out an egg (without a shell) from 
the oviduct of a female in the way described by Mr. Adam in ‘Nest and Eggs,’ p. 101. All 
the holes I found were on dead level plains, although in one or two instances the high river-banks 
were close alongside the holes.” Mr. Ball (l. <?.), in his notes on the birds observed between the 
Ganges and Godaveri, records it as occurring in the Bajmehal hills, Bardwan, Maunbhum, 
Lohardugga, Singbhum, Sirguja, Sambulpur, north of Mahanadi, Orissa, Nowagarh, and 
Karial. It ranges down to the extreme south of India and to Ceylon. Mr. Holdsworth (l. c .) 
found it “ exceedingly abundant in the northern part of Ceylon, where it is a resident. 
It is also found sometimes at Colombo and on other parts of the coast. Whilst living at 
Aripo, I had constant opportunities of observing these birds closely, as the railings of my 
veranda were a favourite perching-place for them, and they would allow me to approach within 
a few feet without showing any alarm. Eorty or fifty of these beautiful birds generally roosted 
in a small bushy tree only a few yards from the house. This species seems to prefer a low 
station when looking out for its prey, frequently perching on a small stick only a few 
inches from the ground.” Colonel Legge writes (‘Birds of Ceylon,’ p. 310): — “The Green 
Bee-eater is a resident species and very numerous in all the dry parts of the low country. It is 
most abundant about open scrubby land near the sea-coast round the north of the island and 
along the south-east and eastern sea-boards. Its habitat seems to be restricted to a nicety 
by the influence of climate. It is common in the interior of the northern half of the island, 
as well as in the maritime regions, and can be traced along the foot of the western slopes 
of the Matale ranges from Dambulla to Kurunegala, and thence across the dry country on the 
north of the Polgahawella and Ambepussa hills to Chilaw and Madampe, near which it stops, 
not being found south of Nattande. So much does it avoid a moist atmosphere that it extends 
for a few miles south of Kurunegala, on the highroad to Polgahawella, and suddenly vanishes on 
the road entering the hills. South of these limits it is unknown throughout the Western 
Province and the south-west hill-region, reappearing again just to the eastward of Tangalla, 
where the climate again becomes dry ; beyond this all round the coast it is common, being 
particularly numerous in the Hambantota and Yala districts. I have traced it through the 
interior to the foot of the Haputale hills, but it is much scarcer there than at the sea-coast. In 
the Eastern Province it inhabits the high cheenas in the neighbourhood of Bibile, which attain 
an altitude of 1000 feet, and which is the highest point I have found it to attain in Ceylon. 
f 2 
