n in the
hilly district. It breeds in the holes of trees during April, May, and
June."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:--"I saw several nest-holes
of this bird, which was very common in the Reserve, but none of them
were accessible; and it wasn't till the 18th April that I chanced on
one in a low tree, the nest being in the hollow of a stump of a broken
branch. It was composed and loosely put together of grass, leaves, and
twigs, and contained three half-fledged young and one addled egg of
a light blue colour, spotted, chiefly at the large end with purplish
brown."

The eggs very similar to those of _E. religiosa_, but, what is very
surprising, it is very considerably _smaller_.

Of _E. religiosa_ the eggs vary from 1.2 to 1.37 in length, and from
0.86 to 0.9 in breadth, and the average of eight is 1.31 by 0.88.

This present egg only measures 1.12 by 0.8, and it must, I should
fancy, be abnormally small.

In shape it is an extremely regular oval. The ground is a pale
greenish blue, and it is spotted and blotched pretty thickly at the
large end (where all the larger markings are) and very thinly at the
smaller end with purple and two shades (a darker and lighter one) of
chocolate-brown, the latter colour much predominating. The shell is
very fine and close, but has but little gloss.

And later on Major Bingham again wrote:--"One of the commonest and
most widely spread birds in the province. The following is an account
of its nidification:--

"This bird lays two distinct sizes of eggs, all, however, of the same
type and coloration. Out of holes in neighbouring trees, on the
bank of the Meplay, on the 13th March, 1880, I took two nests, one
containing three, and the other two eggs. The first lot of eggs
measured respectively 1.15 x 0.77, 1.15 x 0.80, and 1.16 x 0.79 inch;
while those in the second nest 1.30 x 0.95, and 1.27 x 0.93 inch
respectively. All the eggs, however, are a pale blue, spotted chiefly
at the larger end with light chocolate. The nests were in natural
hollows in the trees, and lined with grass and leaves loosely put
together."

The eggs apparently vary extraordinarily in size; they are generally
more or less elongated ovals, some slightly pyriform and slightly
obtuse at both ends, some rather pointed towards the small end. The
shell in all is very fine and compact and smooth, but some have
scarcely any appreciable gloss, while others have a really fine gloss.
The ground-colour is p