Pelargopsis gurial (Pears.).
The Indian Stork-billed Kingfisher.
Halcyon leucocephalus (Gmel.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 222. Peiargopsis gurial (Fears.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 127.
Mr. R. Thompson says that this species, the Indian Stork-billed Kingfisher, breeds from April to June, laying in a deep hole excavated by the birds in banks of streams and rivers. He adds :- " I found in May 1867 a nest containing five young ones. Near the inhabited nest were seven others, all deserted, and from the debris and marks left each evidently had served its turn as a breeding-place and had been discarded for a fresh one the following year. Found on all minor clear running streams of the Lower Himalayas."
Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on the breeding of this bird in Monghyr:- " Lays in the fourth week of June. Eggs four in number, round, with, some minor combinations; size 1.09 by 1.02 inch ; colour pure white; gallery, 1 foot in depth, in a steep bank, in jungle."
Mr. J. R. Cripps writes from Assam; - " April 27th, 1880. Borbam Tea-garden, Dibrughur. Found four fresh eggs. On the borders of the tea-cultivation and alongside of heavy forest, a Large dead tree had been blown down amongst the tea-bushes ; there was a deal of earth clinging to the roots of this tree, and in this earth a hole had been excavated by the birds. The tunnel was 18 inches in length by 3 inches in height, and 3 1/2 in breadth. The egg-chamber was slightly larger than the passage leading to it. Under the eggs were pieces of fish-bones, crab-shells, and the wings and heads of some kinds of hard-shelled insects. No river or tank was within half a mile of the place. On the 22nd August last, I saw another of these birds fly, with a fish in its mouth, into a hole in a dead and rotten chumpa tree, about 15 feet off the ground. This tree was about 100 yards from the one above mentioned and was in the garden. I had it cut down, but the wood was so decayed that the trunk went to shivers, destroying the young and all chance of measuring &c. the hole." These four eggs measure 1.18 by 1.00, 1.10 by 0.99, 1.21 by 1.08, and 1.2 by 1.08.
Herr Otto Moller, writing from Sikhim, says ; - " I have only succeeded in getting two nests of this bird, which, however, is very common in the Terai ; the first, containing 3 fresh eggs, was found by my brother, Mr. F. A. Moller, in 1875 (no date). On the 5th May, 1878, one of my coolies brought me 3 fresh eggs together with the female bird, which he had dug out of the sandy bank of a stream. As I had no time to skin the bird the same night, I put her in a cage, where she during the night laid one egg more, which unfortunately got broken by her flapping, I send you these three eggs; the first three found measure 1.53 by 1.31, 1.50 by 1.26, and 1.52 by 1.28."
Colonel Legge informs us that in Ceylon this species " breeds in secluded spots, excavating a deep hole in the side of a river-bank or in the bund of a tank beneath shady trees. The nesting-time in Ceylon is during the first three or four months in the year."
The eggs of this species sent by Herr Otto Moller are large and very broad ovals, almost spherical but that towards one end they are somewhat pinched out and have a tendency to form an obtuse point there. The shell is pure white and has a considerable amount of gloss, but seems from the specimens sent to have a tendency to exhibit numerous small pimples or rugosities chiefly towards the blunter or more obtuse end.
The eggs of this species, like that of P. burmanica, appear to be extremely small for the size of the bird, being in fact no larger than those of Halcyon smyrnensis; indeed, had I not received them on good authority I should have hesitated to have accepted them as belonging to this large species. Like the eggs of the rest of the family, they are very round, pure white, and have a fine gloss.
The Indian Stork-billed Kingfisher.
Halcyon leucocephalus (Gmel.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 222. Peiargopsis gurial (Fears.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 127.
Mr. R. Thompson says that this species, the Indian Stork-billed Kingfisher, breeds from April to June, laying in a deep hole excavated by the birds in banks of streams and rivers. He adds :- " I found in May 1867 a nest containing five young ones. Near the inhabited nest were seven others, all deserted, and from the debris and marks left each evidently had served its turn as a breeding-place and had been discarded for a fresh one the following year. Found on all minor clear running streams of the Lower Himalayas."
Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on the breeding of this bird in Monghyr:- " Lays in the fourth week of June. Eggs four in number, round, with, some minor combinations; size 1.09 by 1.02 inch ; colour pure white; gallery, 1 foot in depth, in a steep bank, in jungle."
Mr. J. R. Cripps writes from Assam; - " April 27th, 1880. Borbam Tea-garden, Dibrughur. Found four fresh eggs. On the borders of the tea-cultivation and alongside of heavy forest, a Large dead tree had been blown down amongst the tea-bushes ; there was a deal of earth clinging to the roots of this tree, and in this earth a hole had been excavated by the birds. The tunnel was 18 inches in length by 3 inches in height, and 3 1/2 in breadth. The egg-chamber was slightly larger than the passage leading to it. Under the eggs were pieces of fish-bones, crab-shells, and the wings and heads of some kinds of hard-shelled insects. No river or tank was within half a mile of the place. On the 22nd August last, I saw another of these birds fly, with a fish in its mouth, into a hole in a dead and rotten chumpa tree, about 15 feet off the ground. This tree was about 100 yards from the one above mentioned and was in the garden. I had it cut down, but the wood was so decayed that the trunk went to shivers, destroying the young and all chance of measuring &c. the hole." These four eggs measure 1.18 by 1.00, 1.10 by 0.99, 1.21 by 1.08, and 1.2 by 1.08.
Herr Otto Moller, writing from Sikhim, says ; - " I have only succeeded in getting two nests of this bird, which, however, is very common in the Terai ; the first, containing 3 fresh eggs, was found by my brother, Mr. F. A. Moller, in 1875 (no date). On the 5th May, 1878, one of my coolies brought me 3 fresh eggs together with the female bird, which he had dug out of the sandy bank of a stream. As I had no time to skin the bird the same night, I put her in a cage, where she during the night laid one egg more, which unfortunately got broken by her flapping, I send you these three eggs; the first three found measure 1.53 by 1.31, 1.50 by 1.26, and 1.52 by 1.28."
Colonel Legge informs us that in Ceylon this species " breeds in secluded spots, excavating a deep hole in the side of a river-bank or in the bund of a tank beneath shady trees. The nesting-time in Ceylon is during the first three or four months in the year."
The eggs of this species sent by Herr Otto Moller are large and very broad ovals, almost spherical but that towards one end they are somewhat pinched out and have a tendency to form an obtuse point there. The shell is pure white and has a considerable amount of gloss, but seems from the specimens sent to have a tendency to exhibit numerous small pimples or rugosities chiefly towards the blunter or more obtuse end.
The eggs of this species, like that of P. burmanica, appear to be extremely small for the size of the bird, being in fact no larger than those of Halcyon smyrnensis; indeed, had I not received them on good authority I should have hesitated to have accepted them as belonging to this large species. Like the eggs of the rest of the family, they are very round, pure white, and have a fine gloss.
