514 
Mr. G. L. Bates on the 
which was shot “ just after it had left its nesting-hole.” The 
hole was not in a tree-stem, but in a large hanging njak , 
which was brought with the eggs in it. This njak seems to 
have been of the kind made by termites, though at the time 
I thought it to be an ants’ nest (see notes on Dendromus 
nivosus above, p. 509). It was nearly spherical, measuring 
9 by 7 inches in greatest and least diameters, and was 
solid and heavy. None of the insects were in it when it 
was brought, and I think the hole may have been originally 
made by Woodpeckers. I have never seen anything to 
indicate that Halcyon badius eats ants or termites. All the 
stomachs examined have contained remains of Ortlioptera 
and Coleoptera. 
Myioceyx lecontei. 
Ispidina lecontei Cassin, Proc. Ac. Sc. Philad. 1856, p. 158. 
Myioceyx ruficeps Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 607; 1907, p. 429. 
A series of these little Kingfishers of different ages 
shews conclusively, what Ileichenow already suspected, that 
M. ruficeps is merely the adult of the species already described 
by Cassin from a young specimen. No. 3328 in my series of 
specimens agrees exactly in every particular with Cassin’s 
description. Other specimens are very similar to it, and 
others shew the gradual change to the adult plumage, the 
black of the crown being replaced by rufous, and likewise a 
gradual change in the colour of the bill. I have also 
specimens of a still younger stage than that seen in 
No. 3328. In this the bill is much shorter, and the feathers 
of the breast have narrow dark edges ; but the most 
interesting point about these very young birds is that the 
bill is not so flat, and is pointed, instead of truncated, at the 
tip, as in older birds. The bill in the young bird does not 
shew the peculiarity which has caused this species to be 
made into a separate genus. 
It is worth recording that one specimen, No. 3328* had 
fourteen rectrices, all alike in respect to newness or wear ; 
and that another example, which was not preserved, had 
thirteen reetices, while all others examined had the normal 
number of twelve. 
