
information he obtained respecting the habits of this Bee-eater is considerably at variance with
what I have gathered from later collectors.
" The following is a note I sent about its breeding to ' Stray Feathers ' :—
" ' I cannot positively Touch for t h e four eggs said to belong to this species which I have
procured. The case stands thus:—On the 23rd April a Karen named Myat-jo, in my employ,
brought me four roundish, white, very glossy eggs, and t h e dead body of a bird of this species,
which on dissection proved to be a female evidently breeding. His story was t h a t he h ad
watched the bird go into a hole in t h e sandy bank of t h e Meplay stream, and dug it out, catching
it alive seated on t h e four eggs he had brought me. As t h e place was not more than a mile or so
from t h e place where I had pitched rny camp, I went off a t once with him to inspect the spot.
Examination of t h e ruined nest and further questioning of Myat-jo elicited the following:—
A tunnel bad been dug by t h e birds into t h e soft bank to a depth of seven or eight feet, ending
in a rounded chamber. The eggs reposed on t h e bare ground, there being no attempt at a nest.
The bird pecked vigorously at Myat-jo's hand, when from time to time he p u t i t in to ascertain
how much further be had to dig. The eggs were very hard-set, and I had much difficulty in
cleaning t h em out; they measure—1-13X1 "05, l'16xl'02, 1*12x1*04, and l*17xl*02.
" ' Myat-jo being an aboriginal Karen, and belonging to a village to which missionaries have not
yet penetrated, I myself have little doubt that t h e eggs are authentic. I have, moreover, never
yet found him trying to impose on m e . ' "
To this Mr. Hume appends t h e following remarks (Stray Featb. ix. p . 472):—" On the whole
I am inclined to accept the eggs. There is no doubt t h a t they are undistinguishable from the
eggs of Halcyon smymensts; but nevertheless there are several reasons for believing that they
may belong to JV. athertoni. In t h e first place, I have never known Halcyon smymensis bore
anything like so deep a tunnel. In t h e second place, the female specimen of -N. athertoni said to
have been caught on t h e eggs proves to be a female that had been recently laying. It had been
caught and not s h o t ; and if he did not catch, it in t h e hole, i t is difficult to understand how the
Karen could have got hold of it. In t h e third place, t h e eggs are precisely what the bird might
have been expected to lay.
" At t h e same time it must be admitted that we have hitherto had reason to suppose that this
bird bred in holes in trees, and Captain Bingham himself once shot a breeding bird issuing from
such a hole, and very few species of birds lay both in holes of trees and in holes in sandy banks."
The specimen figured is in m y own collection.
I n the preparation of t h e above article I have examined the following specimens :—
E litis. H. E. Dresser.
a, (J ad. Kaukarit, Tenasserim, 10th June, 1879 (C. T. Bingham), ti, <J. Thoungyeen valley, Tenasserim, 23rd
August, 1879 ( C T. Bingham). c, ? . Thoungyeen Forests, Tenasserim, 20th October, 1879 (C. T.
Bingham), d. Himalayas (Gerrard).
E Mm. Tweeddale.
a. Deyra Uoon. b. Nynee-Tal (Pinwill). c. Burmah. d. Tonghoo. e, £. Tonghoo, 3rd November, 1874 (Wardlaw
Ramsay). / J . Tonghoo, 10th November, 1875 (W. R.). g, ? . Tonghoo, 22nd October, 1874 (W.R.).
n , hj, k, I- Karin hills, September and October, 1874 (W. R.'). m, $ . Moulmcin, October 1865. n. Assam.
o, <Jjp, $ . Kbasia hills, January 1876 (Chennell).
EMus. Brit.
a, b, c, d. Nepal (Hodgson), e. Behar (Hodgson), ƒ. Darjecling (Hodgson), g. Nynec-Tal (Pinwill).
h. Travancore, i. Burmah (Gould coll.). k. Bhamo, Burmah, February 1868 (Dr. Anderson). I, $ ad.
Kaukarit, Tenasserim (Bingham), m, $ . Arrakan bills, January 1872 (E. W. Oates). n. Siam, August
1868 (E. Pierre), o. Cambodia (Mouhot).
E Mm. Acad. Cantabr.
a. (Coll. Selby ex Atherton) Typus.