al or oval with an
entrance tube from two to six inches long. The nests are invariably
attached to a cliff or building, and, although isolated ones are built
sometimes, they usually occur in clusters, as many as two hundred have
been counted in one cluster. In such a case a section cut parallel to
the surface to which the nests are attached looks like that of a huge
honeycomb composed of cells four inches in diameter--cells of a kind
that one could expect to be built by bees that had partaken of Mr. H.
G. Wells' "food of the gods."

The beautiful white-breasted kingfisher, (_Halcyon smyrnensis_) is now
busy at its nest.

This species spends most of its life in shady gardens; it feeds on
insects in preference to fish. It does not invariably select a river
bank in which to nest, it is quite content with a sand quarry, a bank,
or the shaft of a _kachcha_ well. The nest consists of a passage, some
two feet in length and three inches in diameter, leading to a larger
chamber in which from four to seven eggs are laid.

A pair of white-breasted kingfishers at work during the early stages
of nest construction affords an interesting spectacle. Not being able
to obtain a foothold on the almost perpendicular surface of the bank,
the birds literally charge this in turn with fixed beak. By a
succession of such attacks at one spot a hole of an appreciable size
is soon formed in the soft sand. Then the birds are able to obtain a
foothold and to excavate with the bill, while clinging to the edge of
the hole. Every now and then they indulge in a short respite from
their labours. While thus resting one of the pair will sometimes
spread its wings for an instant and display the white patch; then it
will close them and make a neat bow, as if to say "Is not that nice?"
Its companion may remain motionless and unresponsive, or may return
the compliment.

In the first days of March the bulbuls begin to breed. In 1912 the
writer saw a pair of bulbuls (_Otocompsa emeria_) building a nest on
the 3rd March. By the 10th the structure was complete and held the
full clutch of three eggs. On that date a second nest was found
containing three eggs.

In 1913 the writer first saw a bulbul's nest on the 5th March. This
belonged to _Molpastes bengalensis_ and contained two eggs. On the
following day the full clutch of three was in the nest.

The nesting season for these birds terminates in the rains.

The common bulbuls of the plains belong to two g