bis 1 crawls : 2 Biscay ahs ese ds
Bian Ey SOU E Se Cerra ee TCE CrP rE ER '
SABES SS See ie eS OS AS < POU RYE AE ST ASN AT BAe BAT PAL UM SRE NH ET ENCE NENT ES ROSEN ER VAIS LEH IRTNES SAY RUN ZU AUN ULERY ERNIE FIG TERN RETO AE pe HERE
SSIS S SELENE GS BS RENE GS: 5 SO OG IE EEG I GE LIEGE LIES EN
Sanat Stade. ROR Oe As nak 3 g wil : LO ee ee

2 TNC ME ATCT NL RY SL WRT PR CIN

SMR Ew

‘J

— —— ae aes gee . So SSSR: eR Geach See SL IGE pte ENS ROT RTPON Gy AALS TE ORG d
LG el : NS Sis ha GUS. SV nz Slime. ; Se Si : HVS » SiS 6S She Bhs CRS Chericne
MSREA ET PCE NGS GEGEN : tee

SUES setone
= a AEP LES ST Se eA Pom re zd ; EES LRT EES,
ie Sith Martie rast AN Dag Oed ts sheen Aesth. Gada Mesea shee Sralutst = = ; x pati oditeth

: Beiceae :
eS Sse ne) SR ETP ES - 5 AEE LES RAY | ST ee ae

ti U

a,

Mpa
Gee

sah : : ctrctnainestine AA fest a =a ata

peedeosuensadeotess:

BS STS SENG HG GUC ENG oNGHA TASS ENG RNG EAO EROS AG EAS ANS AS NS TNS NSE TAG ENG AAG SENS TAG SEATNGANS TRG GAG Has

cbekaiekercect)
=~ Sy
wecbeiea at cee

. anti etd:
Peet ¥ 8 1G, & DEBI SOC BSC SE ICHNC & ISAC Z IAAL & athe << FR te
. < Ag” if my, by ; \f \\ \ N, f Ly. Sa £ % . N A .*

x

SET a
rd P

irk Sirs, = ai ; mas Souadl eras a al se SriRe *

~

Bona tgs
a

DS We SSS nS BUSBUE
Jabeavseseaasasaas a0 R25 ana99992090099990

ane

Et

d

retary

RIDGE WELLS 4

gj0F BROOMHILL.TUNB

é
Z
Sig
(e
4

-STERN-

3
8
4
5

(1

A

4
\

GOLDSMID

Sn anne tad an

pom cere ene =)

Pay

7a Ta

Sn a
m\iiaa

———— {if

~

A

to)

2296 GOULD (John) Tur Birps or Asia. The Author, Lon- 60 © oO
don. 1850-1883.
Green half morocco, uncut. Folio. 7 vols.

500 coloured plates.
(28.A.2.)

THE :

BIRDS OF ASTA.

BY

JOHN GOULD, FE-.RS.,

|
|
:
F.LS., V.P. AND F.Z.S., M.ES., F.R.GEOGRS., MRAY S., CORR. MEMB, OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN; OF THE SOC. OF THE MUSEUM
OF NAT, HIST. OF STRASBURG ; FOR. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF NURNBERG, AND OF THE IMP. NAT. HIST. SOC. OF MOSCOW ; |
HON. MEMB. OF THE NAT, HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT ; OF THE NAT. HIST. AND THE NAT. HIST. AND MED. SOCS. OF
DRESDEN ; OF THE ROY. SOC. OF TASMANIA ; OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOC. OF IRELAND ; OF THE PENZANCE |
NAT. HIST. SOC.; OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC.; OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, |
DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC. ; OF THE IPSWICH MUSEUM; OF
THE ORN. SOC. OF GERMANY; OF THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM AND
LIBRARY ; OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION, ETC.

DEDICATED TO THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY. |

IN SEVEN VOLUMES.

VOLUME I.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE.

1850—1883.

|
|
{
|
|

: ae’
é

PREFACE.

Tue late Mr. Gould shortly before his decease told me his wishes with regard to such of his works as should
remain unfinished at the time of his death; and it is in accordance with these instructions that the ‘ Birds of

Asia’ has now been brought to a close.

The work was commenced in 1850, and during the thirty-three years that have elapsed no less than 530 species
have been figured ; but of course a large number of Asiatic species still remain unnoticed. The long connexion
which had existed between Mr. Gould and ornithologists in all parts of the globe enabled him to obtain an early
sight of rare and newly described species ; and consequently many birds are figured in the present work, illustrations
of which are not to be found elsewhere. Had the author lived he would doubtless have endeavoured to complete
the ‘ Birds of Asia’ in its entirety, as the subject was one in which he took the greatest personal interest. As
far as the writer is concerned, he has had but a small duty to perform, as the Plates for the concluding parts of the
work had nearly all been designed by Mr. Gould before his death, and have been faithfully produced on stone
by his old and valued coadjutor Mr. Hart.

I have endeavoured to write the concluding articles as I believe Mr. Gould would have wished them to have
been done, and as far as possible in harmony with the rest of the work. In every case the initials “ R. B.S.” are

appended, so that any errors or omissions can be saddled on the right shoulders.

The work has been arranged according to the classifications adopted by Mr. Gould throughout his lifetime; and
in giving title-pages and indexes to the species, I have added the exact dates of publication, for the benefit of

ornithologists who wish to quote the work.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

August 1888.

PNT RO Dao ale

Iv having been suggested to us by Mr. Sotheran, the proprietor of the late Mr. Gould’s Ornithological
Works, that some few introductory remarks on the completion of the ‘Birds of Asia’ (one of the works
left unfinished at the death of the late Mr. Gould) would be acceptable to the Subscribers, we have
attempted to give a brief outline of the history of Asiatic ornithology during the past thirty years. It is
difficult for us, whose path has been smoothed by the labours of the excellent ornithologists who have
devoted themselves to the study of oriental birds, to carry our minds back to the year 1850, when Mr. Gould
commenced to write the present work on the Birds of Asia, at a time when such names as those of Hume,
Blanford, Davison, David, Prjewalsky, Severtzoff, and Swinhoe were unknown to fame. In 1850 the
golden age of ornithology was but commencing, ‘The Ibis’ was not yet published, and such an idea as the
calling into existence of a journal entirely devoted to Indian ornithology was undreamt of. Only one year
previously had Gray completed his great work on the Genera of Birds, which tabulated and placed in
order all the then known genera and species; and this was closely followed by the ‘Conspectus Avium’ of
Prince Bonaparte and the ‘ Catalogue of the Museum Heineanum’ of Dr. Cabanis. But although the three
last mentioned works will always be celebrated for the order which they introduced into the Class ves,
their work did not affect Asiatic ornithology in particular, and the credit of first setting in order the
ornithology of India rests with two naturalists—Jerdon and Blyth. Before Mr. Gould’s work commenced, the
former had finished his ‘ Catalogue of the Birds of the Peninsula of India,’ while for many years Mr. Biyth
had been engaged in publishing those important notes and synopses of Indian birds, in the ‘ Journal of the Asiatic

Society of Bengal,’ which even at the present day are studied with advantage by the ornithologist. Then,

B

NG ROD UC Wi OUN.

two

in 1849, appeared Mr. Blyth’s ‘ Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Asiatic Society,’ wherein were
incorporated the results of all his previous labours, as well as those of Jerdon. Another writer, Lord
Arthur Hay, in future to be better known to the scientific world after his accession to the titles of Viscount
Walden and Marquis of Tweeddale, had also written one or two small papers on Indian Birds ; and Mr. Gould
had himself published his illustrated folio work entitled “A Century of Birds from the Himalaya
Mountains.” A great change, however, had taken place in our knowledge of Himalayan birds since the day
when it was considered of importance to figure one hundred species from this part of India. This was due
to the exertions of Mr. B. H. Hodgson, the British Resident in Nepal, who as early as the year 1836
commenced to publish papers in which he introduced to the notice of naturalists some animals of the
greatest interest from the hill regions of Nepal. His enormous collections were presented by him to the
British Museum in 1843 and 1845, together with a complete set of native drawings, which are remarkable for
their accuracy and give many details of the anatomy of the species figured. In 1844 Mr. Hodgson

gave a complete catalogue of the Birds of Nepal in Gray’s ‘ Zoological Miscellany,’ founded on the above-

= named drawings and his own ample collections. In 1849 he again presented the British Museum with a
a collection of animals, and gave largely to the museums of other countries also, Blyth’s ‘ Catalogue’
testifying to his munificence as regards Calcutta. On his return to India his subsequent collections were
given to the Indian Museum at Fife House ; but after the closing of that establishment he again presented a
large number of specimens to the British Museum, in 1859. Two lists of Mr. Hodgson’s donations have
| been published by the Trustees of the last-named institution—one in 1846, and another in 1863.

In commencing to write the ‘Birds of Asia,’ Mr. Gould followed the majority of naturalists in
] treating the continent according to its political boundaries. In those days it must be remembered that
Dr. Sclater had not revolutionized the study of ornithology by his division of the earth into natural

z00-geographical regions, nor had Mr. Wallace arisen to point out to us the demarcation between the Indo-

Malayan and Austro-Malayan subregions, while the existence of a Mediterraneo-Persic subregion had not

been forced upon the attention of ornithologists. We have not space here to discuss in detail the zoo-

geographical divisions of the continent of Asia; but the natural divisions into which it is partitioned
may be studied to advantage in two works—Mr. Wallace’s ‘Geographical Distribution of Animals,’ and
Captain Elwes’s paper entitled “On the Geographical Distribution of Asiatic Birds,” published in the

‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1873.

It will therefore be understood that, when the late Mr. Gould commenced his work, the

area which

DSI |

mba

HOeUe

ih

j

INT DR One C2ie is OoNe

he intended to embrace was a very large one; and it is not surprising that thirty-three years should have
been insufficient to complete less than a quarter of the undertaking. Species from Palestine to the westward,
and from the Moluccas to the east, have been figured in the ‘ Birds of Asia;’ and it is equally certain
that a larger number of new species have been discovered by ornithologists in the course of a year
than were figured by Mr. Gould in the single part of the ‘Birds of Asia’ which he issued annually.
It may not be uninteresting, however, to glance rapidly over the countries included in Asia by the
author of the present work, and to estimate the increase of knowledge which has taken place since
he commenced his gigantic task. Of the ornithology of Siberia but little was known up to the year
1850, beyond the writings of the old Russian travellers Pallas and Gmelin. Since the above-mentioned
date, the explorations of Middendorff, of Schrenck, and Radde have greatly increased our knowledge, while
the travels of Dr. Finsch on the river Ob added many interesting particulars respecting that region.
One of the most important expeditions, however, to this portion of northern Asia, was that undertaken
by our countryman Mr. Henry Seebohm, who in 1877 visited the valley of the Yen-e-say, discovered
the breeding-places of many birds (unknown up to that date), and brought back large collections of
animals from that little-known portion of the globe. His experiences and adventures are related in
his work ‘Siberia in Asia,’ one of the most entertaining books of travel which it has ever been our
lot to peruse. Central Asia remained for a long time a ¢erra incognita to the naturalist; but about
the year 1872 Dr. Severtzoff commenced to publish the results of his journeys through Turkestan,
while at the same time the mission to Yarkand despatched by our government, under the leadership
of Sir Douglas Forsyth, was also successful from an ornithological point of view; and the book ‘Lahore
to Yarkand,’ published by Mr. A. O. Hume and Dr. Henderson the naturalist to the expedition, is
full of interest to the ornithologist. South-western Asia, or at least that part of it embraced in
the Mediterraneo-Persic subregion of modern writers, still requires considerable exploration before we
can be considered to have a thorough knowledge of its ornithology. The birds of the Caucasus
have been treated of by Meéneétriés; and more recently Professor Bogdanoff has published a work on
the species inhabiting this region, which, however, from being written in Russian, will, like Dr.
Severtzoff's ‘Fauna of Turkestan,’ be unintelligible to the great majority of readers. Filippi’s
‘Viaggio in Persia’ also contains a useful list of the birds met with by him; bat by far the

most

important work on the zoology of Persia is that of Mr. W. T. Blanford, who has given a very

complete account of the birds obtained by him during his travels from Baluchistan through

Persia to

4 IN TR ODUCT LON.

the Caspian. This work on Eastern Persia also contains an account of the collections made by
Sir Oliver St. John during his residence near Shiraz. When we come to Afghanistan we have the
excellent observations of Captain Hutton on the Birds of Kandahar, published in 1845 and 1846, and
the more scattered notices of the collections made by Dr. Samuel Griffith in the same country, as
recorded by Messrs. Horsfield and Moore in their ‘Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East
India Company.’ Besides these there are some excellent papers by Colonel Swinhoe, Captain Wardlaw
Ramsay, and Serjeant Barnes, giving an account of the birds observed by them during the last
Afghan war.

As regards British India, we have already alluded to the state of its ornithological record up to
the year 1850, when the labours of Blyth and Jerdon had done so much to prepare the way for
the successful issue which has since uninterruptedly followed. Ceylon appears to have been the next
place to be explored by working ornithologists; and Mr. E. L. Layard contributed in 1853
some very interesting notes on the birds of that country, supplementary to the catalogue published
by Dr. Kelaart in his ‘ Prodromus Faune Zeylonice.’ But in the year 1854 a most important work on
Indian ornithology was issued, which we consider to have had a great effect upon the recent studies
of ornithologists. This was the ‘Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East India Company,’
a work which bears on its title-page the names of Dr. Horsfield and Mr. F. Moore, but which
is known to have been prepared entirely by the last-named naturalist. The importance of this
Catalogue consists in the fact that it gathers together into one compass all the scattered literature
of Indian birds which existed up to that period, and is especially valuable as containing a connected list
of references to Mr. Blyth’s papers spread over many volumes of the Asiatic Society’s ‘Journal.’ It must
therefore never be forgotten that in that year ornithologists possessed for the first time a nearly complete
literature of Indian birds, as far as the Accipitres, Passeres, and Picariz are concerned. A lull then
appears to have taken place in Indian ornithology, broken only by occasional papers from Mr. Blyth,
Colonel Tickell, and other field-naturalists, until the year 1862, when Dr. Jerdon brought out the
first volume of his ‘Birds of India.” This book, which was published in three octavo volumes, was
completed in 1864; and, equally by naturalists at home as by field-ornithologists in India, it has been
recognized as the standard work on Indian ornithology. Many years must elapse before its utility
will be impaired; and it is certain that every one writing on the birds of India has to. take

Jerdon’s book as his starting-point. Mr. Blyth’s able critique on this book in ‘The Ibis’ added

he

kit

) 10

My

INTRODUCTION. 5

considerably to its importance; and in 1872 Dr. Jerdon himself contributed a series of supplementary
notes to the last-mentioned journal: these have been duly recorded in a second edition of the ‘Birds
of India,’ published under the superintendence of Colonel Godwin-Austen. A very interesting MS.
work by the late Colonel Tickell, with beautifully painted pictures of Indian birds, has also been
presented to the library of the Zoological Society.

If, however, Indian ornithology is indebted to an incalculable extent to the labours of Blyth and Jerdon,
there is at least one naturalist whose claim to equal rank with the above-named pioneers will be admitted
by every future historian of the subject. This is Mr. A. O. Hume, who for the past fifteen years
has worthily trod in the footsteps of his renowned predecessors; and one cannot but regret that
neither Blyth nor Jerdon have survived to see the results of their early studies as pushed towards such
a brilliant conclusion by Mr. Hume. To attempt to write on Indian birds without consulting the
pages of ‘Stray Feathers,’ which is the curiously chosen title of Mr. Hume’s journal, would be as
impossible as for any one to essay to write a history of Neotropical birds without referring to the
works of Dr. Sclater or Mr. Salvin. Suffice it to say that Mr. Hume has succeeded in interesting
a large number of ardent naturalists in a study of the birds of India; and although he has been
singularly fortunate in the number and calibre of his coadjators, the credit of the extraordinary
advance which the study of Indian ornithology has made during the last twelve years is mainly due
to the energy of Mr. Hume himself. Not only does his journal contain useful lists of species from
various parts of the Indian peninsula, but important essays will be found therein on the ornithology of
Yarkand, Afghanistan, Sindh, Tenasserim (occupying an entire volume of 524 pages), and the Malayan
peninsula. In England, too, considerable energy has been shown in the study of Indian ornithology.
Besides the uninterrupted issue of the ‘Birds of Asia,’ this country was indebted to the late Marquis
of Tweeddale for many of the most valuable memoirs ever written on birds. His large collections
and his intimate knowledge of ornithological literature rendered him the first authority on Asiatic
ornithology in this country; and his untimely death was mourned by the entire scientific world.

The islands in the Bay of Bengal have been thoroughly explored on Mr. Hume’s behalf by Mr. W.
Davison, probably one of the best collectors that science has ever known; and it is to this same gentleman
that we are indebted for the successful ornithological results in Tenasserim and the Malayan peninsula.

Captain Wardlaw Ramsay has also largely contributed to our knowledge of the avifauna of the Andaman

Cc

sn np a I ne i Nm i i iA Ne SO a

6 EN DO DU Cail 1 OrN.

Islands. The history of the ‘Birds of Ceylon’ by Major Vincent Legge is simply a model work.
Having resided in the island for seven years, he devoted his attention to its ornithology, and has
published the results of his studies in a large quarto volume of 1237 pages.

No connected account has yet been published of the birds of Assam and the hills of North-
eastern Bengal, such as the Khasia, Naga, Garo, and Munipur hills. McClelland collected a
certain number of specimens in Assam, which were presented by him to the India Museum, and
are now in the national collection. They are mostly wretchedly preserved, and are without any indication
of locality, sex, or date of capture. To Colonel Godwin-Austen we are indebted for scattered lists of
the birds procured by him and his assistants during the surveys of the hill-ranges of North-eastern
Bengal; and a connected account of the ornithological results obtained by these expeditions would
be of the greatest assistance to students. These hill-ranges seem to have been well explored by Colonel
Godwin-Austen, who has described some beautiful new species, and whose collection of birds from these
localities is very extensive.

The province of Arracan is almost unknown as regards its ornithology. In 1875 the late Mr. Blyth
prepared a list of the “Birds of Burmah;” but unfortunately bis death prevented the publication by
his own hands : it was, however, most ably edited by the late Marquis of Tweeddale [then Lord Walden],
who not only added his own information on the subject, but included the birds recorded shortly before by
ee Hume from Tenasserim, and the important collections made by Captain Wardlaw Ramsay in the State
of Karen-nee. We have not yet alluded to the labours of an excellent naturalist in Pegu, Mr. Eugene
W. Oates, who has quite recently incorporated the results of his former papers along with those of
other field-naturalists in an admirable ‘Handbook to the Birds of British Burmah.’ This work gives
a concise account of his own researches in Pegu, and those of Mr. Davison and Captain Bingham in
Tenasserim. We may refer to this work, one of the best of its kind ever written, as proving by the
numberless instances in which Mr. Hume’s name is quoted, the immense influence which he has exercised
on Asiatic ornithology.

Here must be mentioned also the work by Dr. Anderson on the: zoological results of the
second expedition to Yunnan. Unfortunately this expedition did not succeed in penetrating further
than the frovtiers of the latter province; but many interesting observations were made during the

brief stay of the above-named naturalist in Yunnan, and on the route traversed by the expedition

ly i

ele

toe

it

INTRODUCTION. 7

through native Burmah. The ornithology of Cochin China is well represented in the Paris Museum ;
and Dr. Tiraud has published a useful list of the birds of that country.

With the ornithology of China the name of the late Consul Swinhoe will be inseparably connected.
Numerous contributions from his pen were published in ‘The Ibis;’ and two complete lists of the
birds of China were issued in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1863 and 1871
respectively. In 1877, however, a very complete work on Chinese ornithology appeared from the
pens of Abbé David and Dr. Oustalet, whose book, entitled ‘Les Oiseaux de la Chine,’ embodies
not only Mr. Swinhoe’s discoveries, but likewise the results of the travels of Abbé David throughout
China as well as those of Colonel Prjewalsky in Mongolia and Thibet. A complete account of the
ornithological observations made by the latter traveller was also translated from the Russian, and
published in the late Mr. Dawson Rowley’s ‘Ornithological Miscellany.’

We may here remark on the explorations of Dr. Dybowski and other Russian travellers in the region
of Lake Baikal and Eastern Siberia, a synopsis of which has been written by Dr. Taczanowski in the
‘Bulletin’ of the French Zoological Society. As regards Japan, there appeared in 1850 the beautiful
illustrated work on the Fauna Japonica by Temminck and Schlegel, wherein are seen some fine
pictures of birds, some of them drawn by Professor Schlegel himself, while others are early examples
of that great zoological draughtsman Joseph Wolf. After that but little was written on the ornithology of
the Japanese Islands until 1867, when a list of the birds collected by Mr. Henry Whitely (since
celebrated for his explorations in Peru and Guiana) appeared in ‘The Ibis;’ hut more recently two
good field-naturalists, Captain Blakiston and Mr. H. Pryer, have published a list of the Birds of
Japan; and Mr. Seebohm has also devoted some attention to the ornithology of this part of Asia.

Lastly we have to consider the ornithology of the Indo-Malayan subregion. In 1854 a list of

the birds of Malacca collected by Dr. Cantor was commenced by Mr. F. Moore; but the best

accounts of the birds of the Malayan peninsula are those of Mr. Hume in ‘Stray Feathers’ (founded
on the collections made by Mr. Davison in the western half of the peninsula), and of Lieut.
Kelham in ‘The Ibis.’ Mr. Davison has proved by his researches that many of the Malayan birds
range into Southern Tenasserim; and it is much to be regretted that this energetic collector has

been disabled by the state of his health from exploring the eastern half of the Malayan peninsula,

which is zoologically absolutely unknown. It will remain for some future explorer, therefore, to

8 ENERO DU CT-N:

visit this dangerous and unknown region, when, as an ornithological result, it will doubtless be
discovered that many species inhabiting the Eastern Himalayas and the hills of Burmah and Tenasserim
extend their range to the mountains of Java and Sumatra along the elevated ridge which forms
the backbone of the Malayan peninsula.

For our knowledge of the ornithology of Sumatra we are still mainly dependent upon the collections
of the old Dutch travellers, Solomon Muller and others, who penetrated the mountain-ranges of

the island; if we except the successful expedition made by Dr. Beccari in 1878, and the more

recent researches of Mr. H. O. Forbes, lately recorded by Mr. F. Nicholson. The collections made
near the coast, such as those of the late Mr. E. C. Buxton in Lampong, mainly resulted in the
procuring of common Malayan and Bornean forms.

But little has been written on the ornithology of Java. Horsfield’s list of the birds procured
by him, and subsequent observations by Dr. Bernstein, Mr. H. O. Forbes, and Mr. Vordeman
comprise nearly all we know of the ornithology of the island; but rich collections are contained in
the Leiden Museum, and the British Museum likewise possesses a good series prepared by Mr. Wallace,
and by no means the least valuable result of that naturalist’s expedition to the East.

With the ornithology of Borneo we are much better acquainted, thanks to the excellent work

of Count Salvadori, the ‘ Uccelli di Borneo,’ which contains a complete record of the avifauna of

the island up to the year 1874. Since that date Mr. Alfred Everett and his brother Mr. Henry
Everett in Sarawak, Mr. Hugh Low and the late Governor Ussher in Labuan and the provinces
of Brunei and Lumbidan, and Mr. W. B. Pryer in Sandakan, have added greatly to our knowledge
of the birds of Borneo, and have shown that the relations of its avifauna are mostly with that of
Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula, that few forms are peculiar to the island, and that it receives a
considerable migratory influx of Siberian and Eastern Asiatic forms which make Borneo their winter
home.

Our knowledge of the avifauna of the Philippine Islands has also been vastly increased since Mr.
Gould commenced the present work. Many species had been recorded by Sonnerat and the older
writers; but their accounts were often confused and meagre, and it was not till the late Mr.

Cuming had visited the archipelago that British ornithologists received any definite and trustworthy

information respecting the birds of the Philippine Islands. The Prussian expedition to Eastern Asia

at

Made

cured
ean
ed iD

lace,

I

D

TN 2 RO Dae CA @oNe 9

resulted in the publication of a list of Philippine birds by Dr. von Martens, which, however, was
not very satisfactory; but the explorations of Dr. A. B. Meyer were of more enduring importance,
as it was principally on his collections that the excellent memoir on the Birds .of the Philippine
Archipelago by the Marquis of Tweeddale was founded. Following closely upon this, we ourselves
published a list of the birds obtained by Dr. Steere, who visited many of the islands on which no
naturalist had before set foot, and whose collections contained a large number of new forms. Perhaps
the most interesting result of Dr. Steere’s expedition was the demonstration that the Philippine Island
of Palawan possessed a distinct Bornean and, therefore, Malayan element—a result which has been
amply confirmed by Mr. Alfred Everett in the same island. The latter naturalist was sent by Lord
Tweeddale; and his expedition has proved to be one of the most important ever undertaken in the
Indian region. Like Dr. Steere he also visited many islands not before trodden by an ornithologist,
and obtained a large number of beautiful novelties.

Such is a brief retrospect, as far as our experience allows us to make it, of the progress of oriental
ornithology since the year 1850, when Mr. Gould issued his first part. Every one must admit that
it would be far easier now to attempt such a work, although so vast is the extent of the Indian
region that each year records a large increase in our knowledge of Asiatic birds. It would almost seem
as if we had now once more reached a period of quiescence, such as supervened upon the publication
of Horsfield and Moore’s ‘ Catalogue,’ and Jerdon’s ‘Birds of India.’ Let us hope that this is not
the case, and that Mr. Hume, who has done so much for the increase of our knowledge of Indian
birds, will not allow his pen to remain dry, that Colonel Godwin-Austen will, on the termination of
his present important work on Mollusca, be induced to give us a connected catalogue of the birds
of North-eastern Bengal, that Captain Wardlaw Ramsay will publish a catalogue of the Tweeddale
collection, and that Mr. Blanford will not allow his retirement from India to imterfere with the

publication of his useful works on the zoology of that portion of the globe.

R. BOWDLER SHARPE.

AO

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS:

HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN.
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF PORTUGAL.
HIS MAJESTY THE LATE KING OF HANOVER.
S. A. R. LE COMTE DE FLANDRE.

Aberdeen, The University of.

Advocates, The Library of the Faculty of, Edinburgh.

Amherst, W. A. Tyssen, Esq., M.P., Didlington Park,
Brandon, Norfolk.

Argyll, His Grace the Duke of, K.T., &c., &e., &e.,;
Inverary Castle, Argyllshire.

Army and Navy Club, The, Pall Mail.

Astor Library, The, New York, U.S.A.

Atheneum Club, The, Pall Mail.

Austria, The Library of the Imperial and Royal Court
of, Vienna.

Austria, The Zoological Museum of the Imperial and

Royal Court of, Vienna.

Baer & Co., Messrs., Booksellers, Frankfort on the |
| Colthurst, E., Esq., Streatham Lodge, Streatham.

| Cooper, Sir Daniel, Bart., De Vere Gardens, Kensington.

Maine, Germany.
Barclay, J. G., Esq., Leyton, Essex.
Barthés & Lowell, Messrs., Booksellers, London.
Bedford, His Grace The Duke of, K.G., &c., &c., &c.,
Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.
Bengal, The Asiatic Society of, Calcutta.
Bennett, Dr. George, Sydney, N. S. Wales.
Berlin, The Royal Library of.
Berlin, The Zoological Museum of the University of.
Bodleian Library, The, Oxford.
Bolckow, C., Esq., Marton Hall, Middlesborough.
Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Bombay.
Bouton, Mr. J. W., Bookseller, New York, U. S. A.
Bradford, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Belgrave Square.
Brassey, H. A. Esq., M.P., Preston Hall, Aylesford.

Braybrooke, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Audley End, Saffron |

Walden, Essea.

British Museum, The Library of the.

Brooke, Sir Victor A., Bart., Colebrooke Park, co. |

Fermanagh, Ireland.

Browne, The Rev. J. G. Cotton, Walkern Hall, Stevenage,
Herts.

Buccleuch and Queensberry, His Grace The Duke of,
K.G., &e., &e., &c., Dalkeith Palace, near Edinburgh.

Buckley, H., Esq., Gt. Charles Street, Birmingham.

Butler, C., Esq., Connaught Place, Hyde Park.

| Buxton, Sir T. Fowell, Bart., Spitalfields.

Cabbell, Mrs. B. Bond, Cromer Hall, Norfolk.

Calthorpe, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Grosvenor Square.

Cambridge University, The.

Campbell, Colonel Sir A. C. C., Bart., Blythswood,
Renfrew, N.B.

Canada, The Library of the Parliament of.

Clarke, J., Esq., Fairy Croft, Saffron Walden, Essex.

| Cooper, Lieut.-Colonel E. H., Portman Square.
| Cory, Barney, Esq., Boston, Mass. U. S. A.
| Craven, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Charles Street,

Berkeley Square.

| Crewe, Sir J. Harpur, Bart., Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.
| Crowley, Philip, Esq., Waddon House, Croydon.

Dennistoun, A. H., Esq., Rosslea, Row, Dumbartonshire,
IN HB

Devonshire, His Grace The Duke of, K.G., &c., &c.,
Chatsworth, Derbyshire.

Dresden, The Royal Library of.

Drummond, R., Esq., Charing Cross.

Dublin, The Royal Society of.

East India Company, The Honourable.

Edinburgh, The University of.

Egerton of Tatton, The Rt. Hon. Lord, St. James’s

Square.

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Estes and Lauriat, Messrs., Booksellers, Boston, Mass.,
U. S. A.

Eyton, The late T. C., Esq., Eyton on the Wealdmoors,
Wellington, Salop.

Falmouth, The Rt. Hon, Viscount, Sé. James’s Square.

Fitzwilliam, The Rt. Hon. Earl, Grosvenor Square.

Foljambe, F. J. S., Osberton Hall, Worksop,
Notts.

Fowler, J., Esq., Thornwood, Campden Hill.

Esq.,

Fox, Francis F., Esq., Yate House, Chipping Sodbury,
Gloucestershire.

Frank, Mrs., Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire.

Gibson, G. S., Esq., Saffron Walden, Essex.

Square.

Gosford, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Harley Street.

Gottingen, The Royal University Library of.

Gzowski, C. 8., Esq., Toronto, Upper Canada.

Malifax, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Belgrave Square.

Hamilton and Brandon, His Grace The Duke of, K.T.,
&c., &c., &ec., The Palace, Hamilton, N. B.

Harcourt, E. W. Vernon, Esq., Nuneham Park, Abingdon,
Berks.

Hartree, Mrs., Lewisham Road, Greenwich.

Haslar Hospital, The Library of.

Howell, Mr. E., Bookseller, Liverpool.

Hawkshaw, J. Clarke, Esq., Harrington Road, South

Kensington.

Hesketh, Sir Thomas Fermor, Bart., Rufford Hall, |

Ormskirk.
Mill, The Rt. Hon. Viscount, Hawkstone, Shrewsbury.
Holland, W., Esq., Bread Street, Cheapside.
Hudson, The late Robert, Esq., Clapham Common.
Hull Subscription Library, The.
Ingram, Mrs., Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames.
Jeffrey, R., Esq., Crosslee House, Renfrewshire, N. B.
Keays, Major-General, C. F., Bombay Army, India.
King & Co., Messrs., Booksellers, London.
Larking, J. W., Esq., Fhe Firs, Lee, Kent.
Leaf, C. J., Esq., Pain’s Hill, Cobham.
Lees, John, Esq., Clarksfield, Oldham.
Lilford, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Lilford Hall, Oundle,
Northamptonshire.
Liverpool Library, The.
Liverpool, The Free Public Library of.
Liverpool, The Royal Institution of.
Llewelyn, J. T. D., Esq., Swansea.

London Institution, The, Finsbury Circus.

Longman & Co., Messrs., Booksellers, London.

| Peckover, A., Esq.

Lucas, T. Esq., Kensington Palace Gardens.
Lyon, The Natural History Museum of.
McGarel-Hogg, Lieut.-Colonel Sir J. M., Bart.,
Grosvenor Gardens.
Madras, The Government Central Museum of.
Malcolm, J., Eisq., Gt. Stanhope Street.
Maidstone Museum, The.
Marseilles, The Natural History Museum of.
Marshall, Captain, Umballa City, India.
Melbourne, The Public Library of, Austraha.
Milton, The Viscountess, Carlton House Terrace.
Mitchell, Mr., Bookseller, Parliament Street.

| Muskett, Mrs., The Nunnery, Diss, Norfolk.
Godman, F. DuCane, Esq., Chandos Street, Cavendish

Naylor, J., Esq., Leighton Hall, Welshpool.

Noble, J., Esq., Park Place, Henley-on-Thames.

Northbrook, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Hamilton Place,
S. W.

Northumberland, His Grace The Duke of, Alnwick
Castle, Northumberland.

Nutt, Mr. D., Bookseller, Strand.

Osmaston, John, Esq., Osmaston Manor, Derby.

Paris, Bibliotheque du Musée d’ Histoire Naturelle.

Paterson, Mr., Bookseller, Hdinburgh.

Sibuld’s Holme, Wisbeach,
Cambridgeshire.

Percy, Dr., Gloucester Crescent, Hyde Park.

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

Plowden, The late W. H. C., Esq., Ewhurst Park,
Hants.

Porter, H., Esq., Tomb Street, Belfast.

Portland, His Grace The Duke of, Welbeck
Notts.

Portman, The Hen. Mrs., Bryanston, Blandford.

Quaritch, Mr. Bernard, Bookseller, London.

Radcliffe Library, The, Oxford.

Rolle, The Lady, Upper Grosvenor Street.

Rowley, G. F., Esg., Chichester House, Brighton.

Royal Artillery Institution, The, Woolwich.

Royal Society of London, The, Burlington

Abbey,

House,
Piccadilly.

St. Andrew’s, The University of.

Seebohm, H., Esq., Courtfield Gardens, S.W.

| Sherborne, The Rt. Hon. Lord, St. James’s Place.

Skaife, The late J., Esq., Strawberry Bank, Blackburn.

Sondes, The Dowager Lady, Grosvenor Place.

Sotheran & Co., Messrs. Henry, Booksellers,
London.

Sotheran & Co., Messrs. Henry, Booksellers,
Manchester.

ae
iif

ers,

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.

Spicer, Major, Spye Park, Chippenham, Wilts.
Stanhope, J. B., Esq., Revesley Abbey, Boston, Lincolnshire.
Staniforth, The Rev. T., Storr’s Hall, Windermere.
Stuart, R. N., Esq., New York, U.S. A,

‘Sutherland, His Grace The Duke of, K.G., &c., &c., |

&c., Stafford House, St. James’s.

Sydney, The Free Public Library of.

Teyler’s Institution, Haarlem.

Thompson, Alderman Joseph, J.P., Woodburn, Fulshaw
Park, Wilmslow.

Toovey, Mr., Bookseller, London.

Triibner & Co., Messrs., Booksellers, London.

Tweedmonth, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Brook House, Park
Lane.

Van Wickevoort Crommelin, M. J. P., Amsterdam.

Wardlaw-Ramsay, Capt. R.G., Whitehill, Rosewell, N. B.

Webb, E., Esq , Mincing Lane.

Webster, A. G., Esq., Hobart Town, Tasmania.

Wellington, His Grace The Duke of, K.G., &c., &e.
&c., Apsley House, Piccadilly.

Wells, W., Holmewood, near Peterborough.

Westerman, G. F., Esq., Amsterdam.

Westminster, His Grace The Duke of, K.G., &c., &e.,
&c., Eaton Hall, Cheshire.

Westminster, The Most Hon. The Marchioness of,
Motcombe House, Shaftesbury.

Wharncliffe, The Rt. Hon. Earl of, Wortley Hall,

Sheffield.

| Wilson, A. Maitland, Esq., Stowlangtoft Hall, Bury

St. Edmunds.
Wood, John, Esq., J.P., Arden, near Stockport.
Wright, F. Beresford, Esq., Aldercar Hail, Nottingham.
Yarborough, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Brocklesby
Park, Lincolnshire.

Yorkshire Philosophical Society, The, York.

| Zoological Society of London, The, Hanover Square.

LIST OF PLATES.

VOLUME I.

Norr.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publication was impracticable, the Numbers here given will refer to them
when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them.

bo bo © bb WO Pb PO OD
COIN Scr HS ds k=

305.

Otogyps calvus
Gyps Bengalensis
Falco Peregrinator .
» Babylonicus .
», sacer
ee lamas
i ducer
Erythropus amurensis

Spilornis rufipectus
Spizaetus alboniger
Milvus Govinda
Elanus hypoleucus .
Scops pennatus
Phodilus badius
Athene Brodiei
Syrnium ocellatum .
Strix indica
» candida . : 5

Caprimulgus Mahrattensis
Cypselus infumatus
Dendrochelidon coronatus
Klecho
Wallacei
mystaceus
* comatus
Hirundo filifera
Cecropis rufula

hs Daurica

» erythropygia

. hyperythra
Delichon Nipalensis
Hypurolepis domicola
Lagenoplastes fluvicola
Merops quinticolor .
viridis

99
bb)

99

£}%)
» Philippinus.
Nyctiornis Athertoni
yy amictus .

Meropogon Forsteni
Actenoides Hombroni

re Lindsayi
a concretus

Part

Black Vulture XII.
Bengal Vulture st
Shaheen Falcon fe
Red-naped Falcon XX.
Saker Falcon : : sc
Lanner Falcon ~ . , ; 33
Jugger Falcon : ; : I.
White-winged Red-footed

Kestrel XXXII.
Rufous- breasted Spilornis XII.
Black-and-white Crested Eagle. XV
Govinda Kite IV.
Celebean Elanus XII
Indian Scops Owl XXII
Bay Owl : : ; F
Brodie’s Owlet : , j 3
Speckled Wood-Owl 33
Indian Screech Ow] XXIV.

Grass-Ow]l , : : i

Mahratta Nightjar i:
Palm Roof-Swift XXIV.
Crested Tree-Swift . 2S,
Klecho Tree-Swift . : : 3
Wallace’s Tree-Swift : , *,
Bearded Tree-Swift . ; : .
Hooded Tree-Swift . , ; ie
Wire-tailed Swallow ovals
Western Mosque-Swallow XX.
Daurian Mosque-Swallow : ui
Indian Mosque-Swallow . 4 hs
Ceylonese Mosque-Swallow iN
Nepal Martin-Swallow . ; “
Bungalow Swallow . ; ; Af
Indian Cliff-Swallow va
Pirik Bee-eater VIII.
Hurrial Bee-eater VII.
Philippine Bee-eater ; 53
Blue-throated Nyctiornis . II.
Red-throated Nyctiornis . -
Forsten’s Bee-eater . XXV.
Hombron’s Kingfisher XXIX.
Lindsay’s Kingfisher : ; FA
Sumatra Kingfisher . ; : .

Dare.
June 1860.
June 1851.
April 1868.

99 cy)

January 1850.

July 1880.
June 1860.
June 1863.
November 1852.
June 1860.)
March 1870.

29 29
39 9
99 99

March 1872.

bb) Do)
July 1850.
March 1872.
May 1859.

April 1866.
April 1868.

99 29
29 29
99 oh)
99 99
” ”
oe) ”
May 1856.

April 1855.

July 1850.
March 1873.
April 1877.

be) be)

PLATE
43.

as NON SD Ss
ws

no —

GS to -& Ct

Halcyon fusca

A cularis
Pe atricapillus
» fulgidus
* omnicolor
Carcineutes pulchellus
& melanops
4 amabilis

Dacelo Tyro .
Alcedo grandis

» Bengalensis
Coracias indica

85 affinis

- Temmincki
Eurylaimus Javanicus

e ochromelas .

LIST OF PLATES.

Indian Kingfisher

Manilla Kingfisher
Black-capped Kingfisher
Blue-and-white Kingfisher
Many-coloured Kingfisher
Banded Kingfisher
Black-faced Kingfisher
Tenasserim Kingfisher
Mantled Kingfisher

Great Alcedo

Indian Kingfisher

Indian Roller

Burmese Roller
Temminck’s Roller

Javan Kurylaime

Hooded Eurylaime

Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus Great-billed Eurylaime

“3 affinis
Corydon Sumatranus
Serilophus lunatus

Fs rubropygius

Psarisoinus Dalhousie
Sarcophanops Steerii
Upupa nigripennis
Harpactes Duvauceli

m rutilus

36 Hodgsoni

>, Diardi

3 Oreskios

fs Reinwardti
s Mackloti

a Kasumba

A fasciatus

a ardens

Allied Eurylaime
Great Kurylaime
Lunated Eurylaime .
Red-backed EKurylaime
Dalhousie’s Eurylaime
Steere’s Broadbill
Indian Hoopoe
Duvaucel’s Trogon
Malacca Trogon
Hodgson’s Trogon
Diard’s Trogon
Mountain Trogon.
Reinwardt’s Trogon
Macklot’s Trogon
Kasumba Trogon
Fasciated Trogon
Rosy-breasted Trogon

DOCK

XXXIT.

XI.

DaTE.
May 1861.
bed 3°
June 1860.
”) 55)
bb) >)
July 1880.
bP) >»)

99 99

June 1860.
March 1870.
May 1862.
April 1869.

bP) >P]

3) bP)

October 1877.
July 1880.
May 1859.

a9 99

April 1865.

be) py)
by) bY)
May 1856.

July 1854.
May 1862.

ioe

ae

liih

7

del ci

HC fichier

Dy

J Wolf and

OTOGYPS CALVUS.
Black Vulture.

Vultur caluus, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insub., p. 85.

Le Vautour royal de Pondichéry, Sonn. Voy. aux Ind., tom. ii. p. 182, pl. 104.

Vultur Ponticerianus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 941.—Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., pl. 15. fig. 1.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,
p. 10, Vultur, sp. 3.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 7.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 25.—Temm. Pl.
Col. 2; Ann. du Mus., tom. i. pl. 20.—Daud. Orn., tom. ii. p. 11.—Bonn. et Vieill. Encyc. Méth.
Orn., part iii. p. 1173, pl. 196. fig. 2.—Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxxv. p. 260.

Otogyps calvus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 6, Otogyps, sp. 2.—Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus., part i. Accipitres, p. 4; Ib. 2nd. edit. p. 5.—Adams in Proe. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 469.
—Tytler in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xiii. p. 366.—Burgess in Proc. of Zool. Soc.,
part xxii, p. 1.

Hemigyps ponticerianus, Hodgs. Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 81.

Pondicherry Vulture, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 6.—Id. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 22.

Tur Otogyps calvus is a truly Indian species, for it inhabits every part of that great peninsula; but it is
not so gregarious, nor found in such great numbers, as the other members of the genus.

Dr. Adams states that “It is found in Bengal, the Deccan, and Lower Himalayan Range, but does
not travel any distance into the interior of the mountains. This species is easily distinguished from the
other Vultures by the red colour of the skin and neck. In size it is less than Gyps Bengalensis, the total
length being about 23 feet.”

But by far the most valuable account of this species is that given by Captain Burgess, in the ‘ Proceedings
of the Zoological Society of London’ for 1854, where he says :—

“This Vulture, as far as I had opportunities of observing it, is much more common in the Deccan than
either the large (Vultur indicus) or the small brown Vulture (/ultur Bengatensis). have never, however,
seen more than two or three together, and these generally in the low ranges of hills which intersect that
part of the country. As this bird has doubtless been already figured, it is not my purpose in these notes
to enter into any description of it, but merely to state what I have observed of its habits, food, manner and
time of nesting, with any other information regarding it which I may have gained by actual investigation,
or learned from credible sources. In its habits this Vulture, I should certainly say, is not gregarious : I do
not remember to have seen more than four or five together; and then it has been for the purpose of
partaking of a social meal. It flies in circles, with the wings extended, apparently without motion, and
with their tips pointed upwards, the legs being stretched out beneath the tail. The food consists of
decaying animal substances: one which I shot drinking in a stream disgorged the entire leg of a cat.
It breeds during the months of February and March. In my notes taken at the time I find the following :
—‘March 7.—Found to-day, on the top of a rather low Peepul (a species of Banian tree), the nest of a
Black Vulture, on which one of the old birds was sitting. The nest, which was very large, was built of
small sticks; it contained one egg. On the same tree, a pair of the Black-headed Ibis (Zuntalus melano-
cephalus) had also built their nest... ... . March 19.—Shot a male Black Vulture sitting on one ege ;
the nest was about a yard in circumference, built on the top of a thorny tree; it was composed of the
thorny branches, and other sticks below it. Among the thorny twigs forming the nest were two small
nests, belonging to birds of the Passerine order, containing young.’ In both these cases only one egg was
found, of a pure white colour, 35%; inches in length by 35 inches in width. In a third also only one egg
was found. The natives say the bird lays two eggs, containing a male and a female bird; but these facts
seem opposed to such a statement.”

I am indebted to J. H. Gurney, Esq., for permission to copy the drawing of this species of Vulture, made
for him by Mr. Wolf from a fine living example.

Base of the bill, face, and wattles naked and of a dull red; ruff at the base of the neck white ; downy
feather on the fore part of the neck pale brown; the remainder of the plumage black, with a wash of grey
on the shoulders and the outer webs of the primaries ; legs and feet deep pinkish red; nails black. —

The figure, which represents a fully adult male, is about one-third of the natural size.

|
|
|
:

|
|
|
|

p
'
p
i

w,

i
i
; i
H
|
i
i
H

r
i
RS

IN A AAR SS LT SE I Lt ep

sh

\

nS) y
N }
8 4

pa a er eee ee

GYPS BENGALENSIS.

Bengal Vulture.

Vultur Bengalensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 245, young.—Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., pl. 15.—Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i.
pl. 1.—Id. Supp., p. 3.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. 2nd Edit., tom. xxxv. p. 247.—Ib. Ency.
Méth. Orn., part iii. p. 1168.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p- 3.—Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 30.

Changoun, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 14, adult.

leuconotus, Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., pl. 14, adult.

——— Indicus, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insub., p. 85 ?—Sonn. Voy., tom. ii. p. 183. pl. 105 ?

Changoun, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxxv. p. 248 °?—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., part iii. p. 1169.

Gyps Bengalensis, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part i. p. 3, 2nd Edit. p. 6.—Gray and Mitch.

Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 6, Gyps, sp. 2.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 33.

Bengal Vulture, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 24. pl. 4.

Tuts species, one of the smallest of the typical Vultures, is very abundant in all parts of India, and is a summer
visitant in Afghanistaun ; specimens from the neighbourhood of Calcutta are contained in the Museum of
the Asiatic Society of that city, and it is figured in the Drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore from a speci-
men killed at Hurdwar. Latham and some other authors state that it also inhabits Africa, but I have never
seen any example from that country, and have therefore no doubt that they have confounded it with some
nearly allied species. The specific term of Bengalensis, too, is singularly inappropriate for a bird ranging so
widely over the country; but although in the first instance assigned to the young only, it must, according to
the rule of priority, be the one retained; otherwise the term /euconotus bestowed upon the adult by
Mr. Gray would be very descriptive.

From the notes of the Hon. F. J. Shore I learn that the bird is called Gid or Geed by the natives of
Hurdwar, and Gwroor by the Guhrwalles ; and Latham states that it is called Gurra in Hindostan and Kurges
in some other parts of India.

No account whatever has been given of its habits and economy, which has doubtless arisen from their
being so similar to those of the other members of the group, that a particular description of them has been
deemed unnecessary. My figure is taken from a fine adult specimen in the Gardens of the Zoological Society,
where it has resided for many years, and borne its captivity with the usual stolid indifference of its race.

Skin of the head and neck purplish brown covered with thinly dispersed hair-like brown feathers ; on the
lower part of the neck a ruff of white lengthened feathers, the ruff being broadest at the back of the
neck and decreasing in breadth until it meets in front ; general plumage dark greyish slate-colour, becoming
of a silvery hue on the under surface, and some of the breast feathers margined with white ; back snow-
white, but not perceptible when the wings are closed ; bill dark horn-colour ; irides dark brown; legs and

feet greyish purple.
The figure represents the bird somewhat more than half the natural size.

|
|
i
|
|
I
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

ne

|
)
|
:
|
|
|
|
|

se 4 (é
i“) k he

si &

a

Sy

:

gy

EL

ie

Ae

FALCO PEREGRINATOR, Swuaa.

Shaheen Falcon.

Falco peregrinator, Sundev. Physiogr. Sellsk. Tidsk. 1837, 1838, p. 38.—Kaup, Isis, 1847, p- 74.—Jerd. Ill. Ind.
Orn., pl. xxvul.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part I. 2nd edit. p. 50.—Cat. of Sp. and Draw. of
Mamm. and Birds pr. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 44.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds,
vol. i. p. 19, Falco, sp. 5.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 14.—Ib. Consp. Orn.
Ind. &c. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1850, p. 321.

—— Shaheen, Jerd. Madr. Journ. Lit. and Sci. 1839, p. 81.—Ib. Il. Ind. Orn., pl. xi.

—— Aldrovandi, Ib.

—— Sultaneus, Hodgs.—Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 81.

—— rhombeus, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 35?

ruber indicus, Aldrovand. (Blyth).

Bahari-bacha of the Indian Falconers.

Shaheen (Royal) Female,

Koéla (Charcoal) Male,

Jawolum, Telugu.

Walhér, Tamul.

i Hindustanee.

Tus species offers so many points of close resemblance to the Peregrine Falcon, that by the casual observer
it would be considered identical with that bird; but notwithstanding its similarity, it will be found, as shown
by Sundevall, Kaup, and other writers, to possess characters sufficiently different to warrant its being con-
sidered distinct: it is very widely dispersed over the greater part of India, but does not appear to be
abundant in any particular locality.

Not having had the advantage of seeing the bird in its native wilds, I have ventured to extract the greater
portion of the very interesting account of its habits and economy published by Mr. Jerdon in bis “ Illustra-
tions of Indian Ornithology.”

“The Shaheen,” says Mr. Jerdon, “appears to be spread throughout the whole of India, from the
Himalayas to the extreme south of the Peninsula. Of its range out of India we have at present no correct
information, but in several works on Falconry I have seen in this country, Persian, Toorkish and Arabic
names are assigned to it, so that it may occur in other parts of Asia. It is far from being a common bird,
but I have had few opportunities of observing it in its wild state. It is, however, well-known to the native
falconers, who have from time immemorial been acquainted both with its breeding-places and its most
favourite haunts. I have myself obtained it in the South of Travancore and in Malabar, and have seen it
on the Neilgherries, and on the northern Ghauts, at the celebrated hill-fort of Untoor, where I had long
before been informed there was an eyrie.

“The habitual resorts of this Falcon are high rocky hills in the neighbourhood of jungle and forest
land, whether in a low or mountainous country, though the latter is always preferred. In the Carnatic,
which is nearly devoid of forest, the Shaheen is but seldom met with, yet there are certain spots even here
where individuals of the species resort to after the breeding-season, being chiefly young birds, and they are
known to breed in various parts of the range of Eastern Ghauts. Its habits in a wild state vary somewhat
according to the kind of country frequented. If a denizen of a forest, it watches on some lofty tree at the
skirts of a glade, or hovers over it, ready to pounce on any unlucky bird that ventures to cross. In more
open country it 1s necessitated to take a wider circuit in search of its prey, and is of course much more on
the wing. Such birds are more highly prized for training than forest-bred birds, which are, therefore,
seldom sought for. This Falcon destroys large quantities of game, partridges, quails, &c., and is said to be
very partial to parroquets. This assertion is corroborated by the fact of my having first obtained a Specimen
of the rare Alexandrine Parroquet by the agency of a Shaheen, which pounced on a flock that was crossing a
glade of a forest in Malabar, and carried one off, but dropped it on my firing at it. Very lately too, one
belonging to me having lost a partridge at which it was flown, took a long though unsuccessful flight after
some parroquets it spied high up in the air. One I shot in Travancore just after sunset was busily de-
vouring a goatsucker it had captured.

“The Shaheen breeds on steep and inaccessible cliffs. It lays its eggs in March and April, and the young
fly in May and June, when they are caught by the falconers.

“The Royal Shaheen of the Kast (as its Indian name implies) is very highly prized by the natives for use
in hawking, and it is esteemed the first of all the Falcons, or black-eyed birds of prey as they are called in
native works on Falconry, the large and powerful Bhyree (the Peregrine) even being considered only second
to it. Although hawking is now comparatively at a low ebb in India, yet many individuals of this species
are annually captured in various parts of the Peninsula, and taken for sale to Hydrabad, and other places
where the noble sport of falconry is yet carried on, and they sell for a considerable price. The Shaheen and
other Falcons are usually caught by what is called the Eerwan. This is a thin strip of cane of a length

about equal to the expanse of wings of the bird sought for. ‘The ends of the stick are smeared with bird-
lime for several inches, and a living bird is tied to the centre of it. On observing the hawk, the bird,
which has its eyes sewn up to make it soar, is let loose, and the falcon pounces on and attempts to carry it
off, when the ends of its wings strike the limed twig, and it falls to the ground. The birds usually selected

for this purpose are doves, either Zurtur risorius or T. humilis.

“The Shaheen is always trained for what in the language of F alconry is called a standing gait, that is,
not slipped from the hand at a quarry, but made to hover and circle high in the air over the falconer and
party, until the game is started, and then to make its swoop, which it does with amazing speed. It Is, indeed,
a beautiful sight to see this fine bird stoop on a partridge or florikin, which has been flushed at some con-
siderable distance from it, as it often makes a wide circuit round the party. As soon as the falcon observes
the game which has been flushed, it makes two or three onward plunges in its direction, and then darts
down obliquely with half-closed wings on the devoted quarry with more than the velocity of an arrow. This
is of course a very sure and deadly way of hunting, and, though infinitely more exciting than the flight of
short-winged hawks, is certainly not to be compared in interest to the flight of a Bhyree (Peregrine) from
the hand after the heron, or the douk (Tantalus leucocephalus). The Shaheen is usually trained to stoop at
partridges and florikin (Odis aurita), and occasionally at the stone plover (Gidicnemus crepitans) and the
jungle fowl. It will not hover in the air so long as the Lugger, another large falcon used by the natives,

which, being of a more patient and docile disposition, will stay up above an hour.
‘In the works on Falconry before alluded to, the name Shaheen is said to be that by which it is known

in Persia, as well as among the Mussulmen of India. o/ee is the name given to it by the Hindoos of the
North of India, whence, in all probability, comes the name of the male bird in general use, viz. Koéla or
Kohela,—though it is said to be called Shaheen Bucha in Persia ; it is also said to bear the name of Laheen
in Toorkistan, and Awédursh in Arabic. Among the localities given for it in the native works on Falconry
are Koordistan, Khorasan, Moultan, and Cabool. Several varieties are enumerated, viz. the red, the white,

the blue, and the black; but these are merely shades of difference in the colours and in the more or

less distinctness of the markings. These variations, I may remark, are very considerable in this Falcon, as

well as in the Peregrines found in India, and are probably in some measure owing to the long domestication,
if I may so speak, of these birds, as it is well-known that birds moulting in confinement vary somewhat in
the shades of their plumage from those subject to the more vigorous actions of a wild state of life.”

The male has the head, line beneath the eye, the moustache, back, wings and tail dark slaty brown; the
feathers at the back of the neck stained with rufous, forming a semi-collar ; primaries and secondaries
slightly margined at the tip with dull reddish brown, and crossed on the basal three-fourths of their inner
webs with broad marks or bands of buff; rump and upper tail-coverts grey, with darker shafts; two centre
tail-feathers crossed with faint bands of greyish buff, the remainder with broader and more conspicuous
bands of buff, with a wash of grey on those nearest the base of the feathers; all the feathers tipped with
buff; throat, breast and ear-coverts white, gradually blending with the rusty red which occupies the whole
of the under surface ; the feathers of the breast, abdomen and flanks with a streak of brownish black down
the centre, becoming broader towards the tip, and gradually increasing in size, until on the flank feathers
the marks assume a triangular or transverse form; under surface of the wing deep buff, crossed by irregular
bands of blackish brown ; orbits, cere, and base of the mandibles pale yellow ; legs and feet deep yellow ;
bill dark horn-colour; claws black ; irides dark hazel.

A young female in Mr. Jerdon’s possession differed from the male in having the chin, throat and cheeks
white, the rufous edgings of the feathers very indistinct, and the general plumage of a darker hue.

“« After the first moult,” says Mr. Jerdon, “the markings of the lower surface disappear, except a few on
the lower part of the abdomen and legs, the plumage of the upper surface becomes of a more bluish tinge,
and the edgings and barrings disappear ; with further moultings the shade of the upper surface becomes still
lighter, and of a slaty blue, the markings beneath vanish entirely, and the rufous tint of the breast becomes
paler.”

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, from a spirited sketch by Mr. Wolf; the figure of
the male being that of a bird not quite mature.

i
i

tr
\

Turne

aa

XN
»)

Sei

[CU

WY)
Ni
EAONZ

4

O)

\

i

O)

FALC(

a
)

Walter, Imp

J Woli& MC Kichter, del et: bith.

Dt

fi
z

Oe
AD

sly YP >

8

\

U

}

De

a

oe
y (
}

FALCO BABYLONICUS, Gum.
Red-naped Falcon.

Falco babylonicus, Gurney, Sclater and Ivby in Ibis, 1861, p. 218, pl. vii.—Blyth, Ibis, 1863, p. 8.—Jerd. Birds
of India, vol. i. p. 32.

Tus fine peregrine type of Falcon has only been brought to light within the last few years ; for it is in
‘The Ibis’ for 1861, p. 218, that Captain Irby states «Mr. Sclater has kindly supplied me with the following
remarks upon this hitherto undescribed bird :—

‘“«* Captain Irby’s specimen, which was obtained in Oude, seems to be referable to a new species or
distinct variety of true Falcon, most nearly allied to the Falco barbarus, for which Mr. Gurney proposes to
use the name 2”. dadylonicus, the first specimen of it having been obtained in Babylonia by the Euphrates
Exploring Expedition. Besides Captain Irby’s specimen, I am acquainted with the following individuals
referable to 2. babylonicus:—An example in partially immature plumage also procured by the Euphrates
Exploring Expedition in Babylonia, and presented by Commander Jones to the India Museum, and two
adult specimens in the Norwich Museum.’ ”

Since these remarks were published, I have been favoured by Colonel L’Estrange with the loan of a female ;
and a fine male was in my possession for some time from the collection of Major E. Delmé Radcliffe, of the
88th Connaught Rangers, both of which were obtained in the north-western portion of India; and Mr. Blyth
states that, ina recent communication from Dr. Jerdon, it is asserted that the F. babylonicus is not uncommon in
Cashmere. The occurrence of the bird in the above-mentioned localities leaves no doubt on my mind that
part of Scinde, the north-western Himalayas, and Afghanistan form the true habitat of this species, and that
its range never extends so far east as the Bengal Presidency, or to the southern part of the Indian peninsula.
That it has many habits in common with the F. peregrinus, and that it also assimilates to that species in
disposition, flight, and courage, there can be little doubt; but on this head I shall give some extracts from
a very valuable paper published in the ‘ Field’ for Nov. 16, 1867, by Major E. Delmé Radcliffe, a gentleman
who is evidently a careful observer and fully impressed with the interest which attaches to any information
respecting the fine Falcons of the part of India in which he is located (Kala Bagh, near Murree,:in the
Himalayas); and it has seldom fallen to my lot to quote lines more to the purpose, and which I feel confident
may be strictly relied upon.

After a few preliminary remarks on the Shaheen Falcons of India, this gentleman says :-—

“I believe there are at least three kinds. The two 1 am best acquainted with are the Common
Shaheen, or Sultan Faleon (7. peregrinator), called by the falconers of India ‘kala shaheen,’ or ‘kala
kohee,’ signifying black shaheen, or black kohee; and the Red-naped Shaheen (F. babylonicus), called
by the Indian falconers ‘sufaid shaheen’ or ‘kohee,’ or ‘all sir shabeen ’ (white shaheen or kohee,
or red-head shaheen). ‘The latter has been erroneously called the Red-naped Lanner by some authors ;
and I am inclined to think that, in the very pale slate-colour which this Falcon always assumes on the back,
in the adult plumage, it has been mistaken by some observers for the Sultan Falcon in an undescribed state
of plumage: for the Sultan Falcon certainly never becomes light-coloured with age; the head is of a very
dark slate-colour, almost black in some, the back darker than in most dark-coloured Peregrines, while the
breast is very deep rufous at an advanced age. The Red-naped Shaheen becomes very pale slate-colour on
the back, and its head red, “at the first moult, and the back perhaps a shade or two paler at the next
two moults; but the rufous colour of the breast, never so deep as in the Sultan Falcon, is maintained,
and, if anything, becomes a shade deeper, while the markings become finer, as in the Sultan Falcon and
Peregrine. [ am at a loss to understand how the Red-naped Shaheen ever came to be confounded with
the Lanners or Desert Faleons—birds of a far inferior type,—as it.has nothing in common with these
Falcons, possessing as it does all the characteristics of the Peregrine type; and a very handsome Falcon
it is, though not equalling the Sultan Falcon in beauty. I do not entirely admire its red head; some
individuals I have seen with the heads nearly as red as the Red-headed Indian Merlin.

‘Both F. peregrinator and F. babylonicus breed in the rocks in the hills surrounding our hut encampment,
chiefly towards the north and west. Many, I am told, breed in and about the Khyber pass and the
mountains of Affghanistan; certain breeding pairs are well known to the native chiefs, from which they
obtain the young Hawks for training every year. I have a stuffed specimen of F. babylonicus, which was
shot close by; it is a bird of this year, which had apparently not long left the nest; and I almost daily
see young Hawks of the latter species flying over the hill we are on, though it is covered with pine trees, and

stooping at the Ravens (Corvus coraa)—which are very abundant here, as wild as they are in England, and

nearly as impudent as the C. splendens of the lower country,—and also at the hill-Crows (C. intermedius).
By both of these they are evidently held in great awe; and while the Falcon is soaring overhead there
is a dead silence which is very remarkable (owing to the incessant noise these rascals kick up all day long),
and they are all carefully stowed away in the pine trees. The Falcon often appears suddenly when they are
flying about croaking and cawing and enjoying themselves, and comes up amongst them, stooping right
and left, putting them all in; and then she rises and soars overhead. It is all play, I suppose ; but I have

> seen the Ravens on several occasions within an ace of being killed, which they must have been if actually
struck, from the velocity of the Falcon; and once one was picked up which I believe to have been killed by
the Shaheen. I suppose she would not eat Crows ; but it is very evident to any one seeing her fly, that if
she stooped to strike, even in this place with all these pine trees about, she could easily strike a Crow,
or even a Raven, whenever she pleased. The Crows seem quite helpless before her; and though the
Ravens fly far better than the Crows, they are in mortal terror too. In these hills the Shaheen preys
principally upon Green Pigeons and Chukar Partridges.

‘The flight of Shaheens is very fine. Ido not think they are so active in repeating a stoop as the
Peregrine, or that they mount as quickly; but in a long rush slanting downwards, or straight down,
I think they excel the Peregrine in speed. They would make first-class game-Hawks, but they require a
great deal of room to fly. ‘They are exceedingly docile and good-tempered, and are very easily broken to
the hood. They moult faster and better in confinement than any Falcons or Hawks I am acquainted with.
Shaheens are not adapted for ringing flights, which is the chief reason why they are not so highly
esteemed by the falconers in the lower country as they are up here, where Hawks are trained to wait on.
In their wild state, as I said before, they do not mount so quickly as Peregrines; and when brought
into low condition, to make them fly at Herons &c., and for the rapid course of training practised by the
falconers of Oude and Central India, who only get wild-caught Hawks to deal with, and a very short
hawking-season to break and fly them in, this defect is the more observable ; and it is a common thing to
hear the falconers of Oude say that the Shaheen or Kohee does not stand training. The truth is, that
these Falcons are useless, or nearly so, unless they are flown in very high condition. The style of their flight

does not admit of their being pinched.
‘« Speaking of the plumage of Shaheens has reminded me that I have seen it stated that the varieties

noted are probably owing in some measure to domestication, ‘as it is well known that birds moulting

in confinement vary somewhat in the shades of their plumage’ from wild ones. (See Jerdon’s
+ ‘Birds of India,’ vol. i. p. 38.) This is, speaking of the varieties of the Shaheen called by the natives, as
ms Jerdon says, white, black, blue, and red. Now their white Shaheen, or Kohee, as I before said, is the red-
naped Shaheen (J. dadylonicus) ; their black Shaheen is the Sultan Falcon (” peregrinator) ; and these two
species are sufficiently defined. I have met with another, more like the Peregrine than these two, which
is called ‘ Neela,’ or the blue Shaheen. The red or ‘lall’ Shaheen, I do not know ; but I don’t think there
is any confusion, owing to variations in colour from domestication, with the more intelligent falconers
of India.”

The figures represent a male and a female, of the size of life.

Sanaa encom

A NR IR Re Re ng

ae

tichter deb eb Lith.

B
hs

Wolf be HC.

if
/

FALCO SACER.

Saker Falcon.

Accipiter falco sacer, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 337.

stellaris, Briss. ib., p. 359.

Falco sacer, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 273.—Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur.
Rev. Zool., 1850, p. 485.—Strickl. Orn. Syn., vol. i. p. 79.

—— stellaris, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p-. 274.

—— lanarius, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. i. p. 330 (excl. of syn.).—Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 20, tom. iii,

p. 10.—Gould, Birds of Eur., vol. i. pl. 20.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 19, Falco, sp. 2.
—— cyanopus, Gesn., Thienemann, Rhea, tab.

Le Sacre, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois. édit. Sonn., tom. iii. Doz

» pp. 2, 9.—Bonap..

I am unacquainted with any species of Falcon the synonymy of which is in such a state of confusion as that
of the present bird, familiarly known to most living ornithologists as the Saker. 1 might have greatly mul-
tiplied the list of names given above; but as a degree of uncertainty as to their really pertaining to this bird
would have rested upon many of them, I have thought it best to restrict their number. I may state that the
Saker is considerably less courageous, and consequently of less esteem among falconers than the Peregrine,
the Jerfalcon, and its immediate allies. So ably have these and all other particulars respecting the bird
been treated by my friend Professor Schlegel in his admirable ‘ Traité de Fauconnerie,’ that I must advise my
readers, and all who are interested in falconry, to consult it whenever they may have an opportunity of so doing,
and content myself with giving a brief sketch of its habits and range from the writings of those who have
had the advantage of observing the bird in its native haunts, never having myself seen it alive except ina
state of captivity. In size it considerably exceeds the Falco jugger of India, to which it is nearly affined,
and which it also resembles in habits, disposition, and economy. In south-eastern Europe, in Asia Minor,
and in the intermediate countries as far as Afghanistan, this bird will probably be found in all situations
suited to its habits. It is known to breed in abundance in the low, flat, country of Bulgaria, and it is
doubtless also to be found in the sandy deserts of Asia Minor and northern Persia. In the Rev. H. B.
Tristram’s “ Notes on the Ornithology of Palestine,” that gentleman says :—‘ This splendid Falcon only
came once under my observation in the oak-forests of Bashan, where I was close to it, as it perched in a
tree overhead. It seems to prefer the wide plains and deserts to the cliffs of the Jordan valley. The
Sheikhs of the Beni Sakk’r (sons of the Falcon) make it a point of distinction to possess several of these
birds trained for the chase of the gazelle; and the distinction between it and the Lanner is well known to
all the Arabs.”

‘This very handsome Falcon,” says Mr. EK. C. Taylor, “ appears to be rare in Egypt; for, with the
exception of a fine female obtained near Girgeh, I never saw it alive or dead, nor did I hear of any other
having been seen in Egypt. The legs and feet of the adult are yellow, and not blue as they are sometimes
represented.”

The following account of the nesting of this species, from the pen of W. H. Simpson, Esq., appeared in
the ‘Ibis’ for 1860 :-—

“On the evening of the 29th of April last, we were strolling on a low flat island in the Danube, the
edge of which is well covered with tall poplars and other trees. Opposite this belt of trees, and across
the river, the Turkish shore rises pretty steeply to a level with the plateau of the Dobrudska, whilst behind,
toward the mainland of Wallachia, there stretches an immense tract of low ground, partly swamp, partly
forest, and partly open plain. On getting close to the river, in a place where the trees are very tall and
not thickly grouped, my attention was drawn to a good-sized nest which was placed about one-third of the
way up a tallish poplar. It was resting upon a large branch close to the bole of the tree, and appeared
exceedingly easy of access. Whilst my friend was climbing towards it, the bird slipped off and was shot
immediately. It proved to be a female Falco sacer. The nest was not much larger than that of a Hooded
Crow, but was deep and comfortably lined, and appeared externally as like a large Crow’s nest as one
bundle of sticks is like another. The eggs, four in number, were slightly incubated. In size they seem to be
intermediate between those of the Peregrine and Gyr Falcons, but are longer in proportion to their breadth.
Two of them are light in colour, the other two much darker.” One of the latter, accurately represented
on Plate XII. fig. 1 of the ‘Ibis’ for 1860, measures 2°2 inches by 1-6 inch, and is of a rich, bright, chestnut
red, minutely freckled with black, with a few hair-like marks of the same colour, and a number of small
light-coloured patches.

“The male bird,” continues Mr. Simpson, ‘was shortly afterwards observed sitting utterly motionless

on the top of a dead tree, with his head turned over his shoulder; he seemed so mournfully conscious of
the catastrophe which had befallen his family that I felt utterly ashamed at having added murder to robbery
in my desire to possess myself of, as I supposed, an unknown bird. If the gun had still been in my hand,
I could have shot him ‘easily, as he then seemed indifferent to his fate; but he flew away before the weapon
arrived, and thus escaped being involved in the ruin of his household.

‘This was the only pair of alco sacer ever seen by me or by any of my friends in this part of the country ;

I am inclined, therefore, to believe that the species is rare even here, though the bare and treeless chalk

downs of the Dobrudska are frequented by innumerable Bustards, both great and small, if that be the food

they covet.”
In the appendix at the end of the third volume of the ‘ Birds of India,’ Dr. Jerdon says :—‘ This rare
European bird, the Saker Falcon of old writers, is brought in tolerable abundance from the Hazara country

and the Alpine Punjab generally, and is much used for hawking the Indian Houbara Bustard, Hares, &c.”

Professor Schlegel remarks that “The name of Saker, used in Europe since the time of the Emperor

Frederick II. and Marco Polo, is evidently of Arab origin ; for it is by this name the Arabs designate Falcons

in general; it is consequently an error to render this word into the Latin ‘“ sacer,” which signifies, sacred.
This error has led to many others, even to the extent of the bird being regarded by some as identical with
the Sacred Falcon of the Egyptians.

‘This species,” continues the Professor, “ having been often confounded with some others nearly allied
| to it, its geographical distribution has not been clearly defined. The late Mr. Natterer killed several in
Hungary; and the Dutch falconer, Mollen, tells us that when in Austria, in the service of Prince Trautmans-
dorff, he received young Sakers, taken from the nest in the middle of May, from the frontiers of the
same country. Pallas indicates two varieties of this species—a larger kind from the Uralian mountains, and
a smaller from the deserts of Great Tartary. Both, he says, emigrate in winter. The smaller one appears
to be the true Saker ; he states that it constructs its nest upon the trees (or even the shrubs) which are found
in the desert. The young, two or three in number, often leave the nest before they are full-grown, and
follow their mother everywhere, uttering loud cries. Being easily caught, the natives take them at this
period, as they are much esteemed for hunting, particularly by the Kalmucs. The bird inhabits the eastern
cee ‘parts of Europe and the western portions of Asia.”

| The Plate represents a female, from the Collection of Lord Lilford, somewhat less than the natural size,
and a young bird in the distance,

FALCO LANARIUS,

Lanner Falcon.

Aceipiter lanarius, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 363.

Falco lanarius, Klein, Ova Av., p. 48.—Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., pp. 2, 11.—Bonap. Rey. Zool., 1850,
p. 485.—Adams in Ibis, 1864, p. 10.

Feldeggu, Schleg. Abh. aus dem Geb. der Zool. &c., tabb. 10, 11; Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., paket

Le vrai Lanier, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. i. p. 243.

Brown Lanner, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 86.—Id. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 84.

Tse remarks made at the commencement of my account of Falco sacer, as to the amount of confusion
which exists with regard to its synonymy, apply with equal force to the present bird, so well known to all
living European ornithologists as Falco lanarius; hence, for the like reasons, the list of names said to
pertain to it are sparsely given. The native country of the bird is Northern Africa, over which portion of
the globe it ranges from Morocco to Egypt, and proceeds still further eastward to Palestine, Asia Minor,
Persia, and, according to the late Mr. G. T. V igne’s note to me, as far as the Punjab. That a bird enjoying
such vast powers of flight should not occasionally visit other countries would be contrary to probability ; and
we find that it not only occasionally visits Spain, but there are recorded instances of its occurrence in
Greece and other European countries, and one at least of its being killed in England; indeed the Reviewer,
in the ‘Ibis’ for 1859, of Dr. Bree’s ‘Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles’ remarks that
“The Lanner has a good claim to be included in the British list ; for Lewin’s figure in his ‘ British Birds,’
vol. 1. pl. 17, seems referable only to this species, and the subject of it was taken in Lincolnshire; but we
know of no other instance of its occurrence here unaccompanied by considerable doubt.”

Of all the Falcons I have had opportunities of becoming acquainted with in a living state, this is at once
the most beautiful and the most docile. My figure was taken with great care from a living example
perched on my arm, and which appeared to be as inquisitive and as interested: in the delineation of his figure
as the draftsman himself. This fine bird is now (March 1868) living in the aviary of the Zoological
Society of London in the Regent’s Park.

A glance at my plates of Falco’sacer and Falco lanarius will furnish a better idea of the differences
of the two birds than any verbal description, however accurate. Like the former, the latter bird is
considered by the falconers a less powerful flier than the birds of the Peregrine form; and I believe it is
less courageous and sanguinary. The fact is, these two desert Falcons are of a different type, befitting them
for a different mode of life from that of the Peregrines, but equally suited for some special purpose, such as
preying upon the smaller quadrupeds as well as birds, which the Peregrine and its allies never do.

I shall now give some extracts from the writings of the ornithologists and travellers who have remarked
on this elegant bird,—a course I do not hesitate to adopt, as the furtherance of science and the promotion
of truthful knowledge is my constant aim.

“« By far the most common of the large Falcons of Palestine,” says the Rev. H. B. Tristram, “is the
Falco tanaris. It is universally distributed throughout the rocky wadys on both sides of the Jordan and
the Dead Sea and as far north as the foot of Hermon, is a permanent resident, and, as we were told,
reoccupies the same eyrie year after year. A nest of four eggs was taken in the gorge of the Wady Kelt,
near Jericho, on the 29th of February; and the Lanner was breeding in four or five places in the Wady
Hamam and the Wady Leimun, near Gennesaret, in April. No region is too desolate or dreary for this
noble bird. On the stupendous rock of Masada, facing the Dead Sea, a Lanner dropped a Pochard Duck
on being fired at; and we also saw a pair at Jebel Usdum, the salt mountain at the south end of the lake.
It seems to avoid the forests; for though very common near the mouths of the ravines east of Jordan,
we never observed it in the vast forests of Gilead and Ajlun. It is in high repute among the Bedouins
for the chace; and trained birds are as valuable as in North Africa. But though we frequently saw it
in the possession of Arab sheikhs of high degree, we never had an opportunity of witnessing the sport, as
we only met them on the march.”

Mr. E. Cavendish Taylor says the ‘‘ Lanner is decidedly the most abundant of the large Falcons in Egypt,
where it breeds and is resident, I believe, all the year round. In the month of January 1864, I shot three
specimens within a short walk of Cairo.”

Mr. J. Clarke Hawkshaw informs me that when at Girgeh on the 19th of March, 1865, he “ saw a Lanner
eating a tame Pigeon on the sandbank by the water's edge; on my approach it flew with its prey a quarter

of a mile further up the Nile, and, after being twice disturbed, retired to a mud-bank in the middle of the

jl

river, carrying the Pigeon with it. The next day I observed a pair of Lanners about the rocks by the Nile,
opposite the Girgeh; one of the pair was pursued and driven up a rocky valley by a Raven. I shot the
male bird while soaring near the top of the cliffs.”

Professor Schlegel remarks that

“Little is really known of the habits, manners, or distribution of the Lanner. As the Baron de Feldege
killed four specimens of this bird in Dalmatia, we may reasonably conclude that it is a native of that country.
However this may be, it has rarely been seen in other parts of Europe, and would seem to be merely an
accidental visitor to its temperate portions. With the exception of the three individuals described by Buffon,
Lewin, and Naumann, I do not know a single specimen which has been met with in Central Kurope. Dutch
falconers, who annually take a great number of Falcons, unanimously declare they have never seen this bird
in a wild state.

‘It appears that the Lanner was formerly much sought after by falconers, as they mention it in all their
works.”
My figure of the Lanner is of the size of life.

|
|
}
|
|
|
|
|
i
|

‘

€

Cr.

coed

Hillmandel & Wattor Lug

WOT Ra ay

iio

FALCO JUGGER, Gray.
Jugger Falcon.

Jugger Falcon, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 192.

Falco Jugger, Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., vol. ii. pl. 26.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part I. 2nd Edit. p. 52.—
Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 13.—Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds
presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. to Brit. Mus., p. 43.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 19,
Falco, sp. 8.

lugger, Jerd. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci. 1839, vol. x. p. 80.

thermophilus, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 81.

—— (Gennaia) Jugger, Kaup in Oken’s Isis, 1847, p. 71.

Tunis species, which was first described by Latham, under its trivial name of Jugger Falcon, appears to be
very generally dispersed over the whole of the peninsula of India, for we have many proofs that it inhabits
the entire country from its most southern parts to the Himalayan Range; Mr. Blyth states that it is com-
mon along the banks of the Ganges above the tideway, but is not so numerous in the lower portion of
Bengal; and we learn from Mr. Jerdon’s “ Catalogue of the Birds of the Indian Peninsula” that it is the
commonest of the large Falcons of India, and that it breeds in the neighbourhood of Madras, on trees,
during the hot weather: he adds, that it is one of the species trained for hawking, and is frequently flown
at crows, in the pursuit of which much sport is said to be afforded; but it is a bird of heavier and slower
flight than any of the other Falcons of India. It is usually flown at crows from the hand, but it is also
taught to stoop at partridges, florikins, &c.

I am indebted to Andrew Murray, Esq. of Aberdeen, for the loan of a very fine collection of Indian birds
formed by his brother, Dr. John Murray, Civil Surgeon at Agra; among which are the fine examples of
this Falcon from which my figures were taken: as will be seen by the accompanying Plate, they differ
considerably in size and colour, one being much larger and browner than the other, which is doubtless
indicative of a difference of sex. Mr. Jerdon informs us that the young birds are entirely brown on their
under surface, and that they lose the brown of the breast at the first, and that of the belly at the two
succeeding moultings.

It will be observed that the terms Jugger and Lugger have both been employed as specific appellations
for this bird; that of Jug ger must however be the one retained, inasmuch as it has the priority and is the
name applied to the male by the Hindoos, that of Lugger being assigned by them to the female.

The adult male has the forehead, stripe over the eye, cheeks, chin, throat, chest, and edge of the
shoulder white; crown of the head and nape rufous, with a narrow stripe of black down the centre of each
feather; round the eye numerous fine lines of black, which increase in number beneath the eye, and are
continued downwards in front of the cheeks like a delicate moustache; back brownish black, which colour
is continued on the sides of the chest in a semicrescentic form, all the feathers with a slight edging of
rufous; wings slaty brown, with paler edges; primaries barred with white on their inner webs; under
wing-coverts brown, spotted with white on their margins; under surface white, with a line of brown
becoming spatulate towards the tip, down the centre of each feather; on either flank a patch of brown
feathers, some of which are largely spotted with white; lower part of the back and tail greyish brown,
the latter crossed by numerous bars, and tipped with white; irides brown; cere, base of the bill, tarsi
and toes yellow ; remainder of bill and claws slaty horn-colour.

The female has the head dull rufous, largely striated with brown; all the upper surface, wings and tail
deep brown, with pale margins; primaries barred with white on their inner webs; tail-feathers toothed
with dull white on their inner webs; moustaches more conspicuous than in the male; cheeks and throat
striated with brown; under surface brown, mottled with white; under tail-coverts white; cere and legs
slate-grey.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

rr pn

a rn ea

a ae ee

AMURENSIS.,

ERY THROPUS

lari; deh ede bith

i Gould &W Hp

+}

i

ERYTHROPUS AMURENSIS.

White-winged Red-footed Kestrel.

Falco vespertinus, Schrenck, Reis. Amurl. Vég. p. 230 (1860, nec Linn.).

Erythropus vespertinus, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1861, pp. 253, 327 (nec Linn.).—Id. P. Z. S. 1862, p. 315.—Jerdon, B. of
Ind. i. p. 40 (1862).—Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 260.—Kirk, Ibis, 1864, p. 316.—Hume, Rough Notes,
i. p. 106 (1869).—Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 243.

Falco vespertinus, var. amurensis, Radde, Sibir. Reise, ii. p. 102, Taf. 1. figs. 1-3 (1863).

Hypotriorchis concolor, Gurney, Ibis, 1866, p. 127.

Falco amurensis, Homeyer, J. f. O. 1868, p. 251.—David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 34 (1877).

Erythropus amurensis, Gurney, Ibis, 1868, p. 41, pl. 2.—Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1870, pp. 436, 448, 1871, p. 340.—Id.
Ibis, 1873, p. 96.—Gurney in Anderss. B. Dam. L. p. 17 (1872).

Tinnunculus amurensis, Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 23 (1869).

Falco raddei, Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. p. 74 (1870).

Cerchneis amurensis, Sharpe, Brit.-Mus. Cat. B. 1. p. 445 (1874).—Id. ed. Layard, p. 66 (1874).

Erythropus raddei, Dybowski, J. f. O. 1874, p. 334.—Tacz. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1876, p. 126.

Tue present species is closely allied to the Red-legged Hobby or Red-footed Falcon of Eastern and Southern
Europe (Lrythropus vespertinus), and represents it in Western Siberia and China. Dr. von Schrenck daly
noticed some differences between the bird which he procured in Amoor Land and those of Europe, but did
not separate them specifically ; while Mr. Radde, who obtained specimens from Amoor Land and on the
Ussuri, only deemed it worth while to recognize the bird from these localities as a mere race. In my own
opinion the eastern bird is quite distinct from the European Red-footed Falcon (which is also an inhabitant
of Western Siberia, but gradually disappearing on the eastward side of Lake Baikal), and differs not only
in the white under wing-coverts, but also in the very different plumage of the female bird, which is not
unlike a young Hobby in appearance. |

In addition to the localities mentioned above, Dr. Dybowski has sent specimens from the Akscha, in
Daouria, and also from old Tsuruchaitui, on the Argun river. In China, according to Pere David, it is
not found in the south, but arrives in April in the plains of Northern China and Mongolia, flying in bands
which consist generally of the males and females in separate flocks. It is a very familiar bird, according
to the same observer, and takes up its residence in the large trees which are often in the neighbourhood of
dwelling-houses, or even in the midst of villages, often selecting for their homes the deserted nests of
Magpies or Crows. This Falcon is said by Pere David to be a bird of a pleasing and amiable temperament,
and very gentle and sociable in its ways, on which account it is not interfered with by the Chinese, all the
more because its food consists solely of insects and small reptiles (Phrynocephalus caudivolvulus and Lacerta
argus). It particularly affects the open country, and never establishes itself in the mountams or among
rocks; and it may be seen near all the villages in the Pekin plain, sailing from early morning till night-time
in the air, when it sails about quietly or cleaves the air with a graceful motion. In autumn these birds
unite once more in large troops and go off to the south-west, the young birds being the last to quit the
country.

It occurs in India, where, Dr. Jerdon says, it is not common, but is generally spread throughout the
country; and he has killed it himself in various places, but only in the rainy season. It is also numerous
in South-eastern Africa during the northern winter.

Mr. Swinhoe gives an interesting account of this Falcon near Chefoo, where it breeds in the nests of
Magpies; but he did not succeed in obtaining the eggs. He states also that the food consists not only of
insects, but also of small birds, and for the capture of the latter they are trained for bawking.

The following description of the adult male bird is given by Mr. Sharpe in his ‘ Catalogue : —“‘Above
leaden black, a little paler on the lower back and secondaries, the greater wing-coverts and primaries clearly
washed externally with silvery grey; tail greyish black above, paler beneath; under surface of body pale
grey 5 lower abdomen, thighs, vent, and under tail-coverts bright chestnut ; under wing-coverts pure white ;
cere and orbits orange; feet and tarsi dark orange, claws whitish; bill dark orange, black at tip; iris hazel.
Total length 9°5 inches, culmen 0°75, wing 9-0, tail 5°3, tarsus I-19.

The female is very Hobby-like in plumage, and has the tail grey, banded with black, and the upper surface
broadly barred with black; the under surface creamy white, the breast broadly streaked and the flanks
barred with black; the abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts uniform pale rufous.

_ Young birds are like the old female, but have the feathers edged with rufous.

The figures in the Plate are drawn from specimens lent me by Mr. Henry Seebohm from the Swinhoe

collection ; they represent an adult male and female, of about the size of life.

a rn ne
pr

rox.

Z

/,3 4
lii/2

mS
s
sS
aS
BS
S
Ss

iS

8
8

SPILORNIS RUFIPECTUS, Gowa.

Rufous-breasted Spilornis.

Spilorms rufipectus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part. xxv. p. 222.

WE are now acquainted with at least three or four species of this well-defined genus of Hawks, whose habits
and mode of life appear to be very peculiar ; it would seem, also, that their structure is especially adapted for .
living upon snakes and lizards; at least, this is the kind of food upon which the common Indian species
(the Spilornis Cheela) is said to exist. Another bird of this form (the Spilornis holospilus) inhabits Manilla ;
and the well-known Spilornis Bacha frequents the islands of Java and Sumatra: the present bird, which
inhabits countries still further south, and which is the smallest member of the genus, was sent by Mr.
Wallace from Celebes, and was obtained by him in the vicinity of Macassar.

Before figuring this bird as new, I consulted Mr. J. H. Gurney as to the propriety of so doing, and of
assigning to it a specific appellation, when he unhesitatingly affirmed that it differed from every other known
species, and added that I should be quite right in so doing. I mention this because my friend M. Jules Ver-
reaux of Paris, in a conversation I had with him on the subject, appeared to be of a different opinion,
and stated that he had seen specimens intermediate in plumage between this bird and the 8. Cheela, which
circumstance induced him to believe that they were of one species. I believe, however, that, great orni-
thologist as the latter gentleman undoubtedly is, in this instance he is in error, and that the birds are
really distinct.

It is probable that the sexes, when fully adult, offer little or no difference in colour; on the other hand,
as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, a considerable variation exists in the young
state. My thanks are due to Mr. Gurney for his kindness and liberality in permitting me to enrich this
work with a copy of the beautiful drawing of this species prepared for him by Mr. Wolf.

Crown of the head and occipital plumes deep black, the occipital plumes margined at the tip with rufous ;
feathers at the nape black, conspicuously margined with rufous ; feathers of the upper surface and the wings
dark chocolate-brown, with paler edges ; chin, and sides of the neck, greyish-black ; chest deep cinnamon-
brown ; primaries and secondaries blotched with white at intervals on their internal web ; under wing-coverts,
abdomen, vent, thighs, and under tail-coverts cinnamon-brown, crossed by bands composed of two large spots
of white, bounded above and below with a narrow line of black; tail dark brown, crossed near the base by
a narrow and not very distinct band of greyish, and near the apex by broad bands of a lighter hue passing
into whitish on the edges of the internal webs, and narrowly edged at the tip with pale reddish-brown and
white; bill blackish brown; the cere, naked orbits, legs, and feet yellow.

The figure is about, or perhaps rather less than, the natural size.

|
)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Scaeameeaee

SE Re i a a

|
I
I
|
|
}
|
i
|
|

°

SPIZAETUS ALBONT

°

R, Blyth

Ky

‘

1
»

ly

T & Cohn,

6,

be

Wa,

JIWolt andl Richier, del, et bith.

SPIZAETUS ALBONIGER, By.

Nisaétus alboniger, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 173.
Spizaétus alboniger, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 26.
borneonensis, Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., 2nd edit. part 1, Accipitres, p. 16.

THERE 1S no one section of the Falconide respecting the habits and economy of which we know so little as
of the Crested Eagles forming the genus Spizaétus ; the synonymy, too, of the various species has not been
so clearly defined as might be desired; I have not hesitated, therefore, to seek the aid of a gentleman
(J. H. Gurney, Esq.) who has devoted much of his attention for many years to the birds of the Raptorial
order; and this aid has been most courteously accorded to me, in the form of a monograph of the Indian
species, which I consider I may most appropriately publish as an accompaniment to my illustration of the
Spizaétus alboniger. 1 must, at the same time, thank Mr. Gurney for permission to copy Mr. Wolt’s spirited
sketch, which represents the adult and young of this species as nearly three-fourths the natural size as may be.

The following are Mr. Gurney’s observations :—

“* Spizaétus alboniger, Blyth; S. dorneonensis, Gray.—This very distinct species, the smallest of the Asiatic
Spizaeti with which we are at present acquainted, was first described by Mr. Blyth (a. p. 1845) in the four-
teenth volume of the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ p. 173, in the following terms :—‘ A
smaller species than either of those from India, measuring about 214 inches in length; wing 13 inches,
and tail 93 inches; tarsus 3 inches; occipital crest 3: inches. Adult :—black above, with a purple gloss ;
the large alars embrowned, and distinctly banded with black ; tail black, with a broad, light greyish brown bar
occupying about its third quarter from the base; the longer upper tail-coverts have each two cross-bands of
the same; lower parts pure white, with a black mesial line on throat ; large intense black drops on the breast.
The belly, vent, lower tail-coverts, tibial plumes, and short tarsal feathers are throughout closely barred
black and white; beak black, and toes wax-yellow. A younger specimen has the drops fewer and smaller on
the breast, an admixture of rufous about the head, several unmoulted brown feathers among the wing-
coverts, and one unmoulted tail-feather which has three narrowish dark bars, with two or more at the base,
closer and less defined: a remarkably handsome species from Malacca, the Tenasserim provinces, and Borneo.

‘The two specimens now figured are in the collection of the Norwich Museum; the adult was obtained
from Singapore through the intervention of H. F. Barclay, Esq.; the immature bird was presented by the
late Captain Glasspoole, who obtained it in the course of one of his voyages to the East, but the exact
locality from whence it was procured is not recorded.

‘The following species are also found on the continent of Asia and in the adjacent islands :—

‘‘ SPIZAETUS LANCEOLATUS, T'emminck & Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, p. 7.

*«¢________ fasciolatus, Schlegel, Muséum des Pays Bas, p. 9.

Professor Schlegel, though citing the above synonym for this species, appears to doubt its being specifi-
cally distinct ; it is, however, a very well-defined species, differing from S. a/boniger in its larger size, in the
absence of a crest, and in the strong rufous colouring of the upper portion of the breast in the adult bird.
It inhabits the Celebes, and, according to the authors of the ‘Fauna Japonica,’ is also found in Borneo.
This species, of which the British and Norwich Museums contain fine examples, brought from the Celebes
by Mr. Wallace, has not yet been figured.

*«SpizaETus Kreneri, De Sparre, Magasin de Zoologie, 1835, pl. 35 (adult).

‘A specimen in immature plumage, said to have been killed on the coast of Scotland, near Aberdeen, in
the year 1828, is figured in Jardine and Selby’s ‘Illustrations of Ornithology,’ pl. 66. This species has
been observed in Northern and in Central India, and it also occurs in the islands of Java and Borneo; but
both there and in India it appears to be a bird of considerable rarity.

“ Spizaetus Purmippensis.—This specific name I would propose for a species of Spizaétus inhabiting the
Philippine Islands, which appears to me to be undoubtedly distinct, though not admitted as such by Pro-
fessor Schlegel, who is disposed to consider it as referable to S. Aienert (vide Muséum des Pays Bas, p. 12),
an opinion in which Iam unable to agree. As this Spizaétus is at present unfigured, I add the description
of a specimen in the Norwich Museum, which I suppose to be an adult female :—

“Total length 25 inches; wing, from carpal joint, 143; tail 114; crest 23; tarsus 3$; middle toe and
claw 3.

‘The general colour of the upper surface in this species is a dark umber-brown ; but the base of the feathers
of the crest is white, and the margins of the other occipital feathers are of a light yellowish brown. Some
of the scapulars and upper alar feathers (especially the latter) are slightly tipped with the same; the tail,
which is of a somewhat lighter brown than the back, is tipped with a very narrow edging of white, and is

also crossed by seven blackish-brown bars, the upper one being, however, somewhat indistinct, and the two
lower being separated by an interval which is twice the breadth of the spaces between the other bars. The
throat has a broad blackish band running down its centre, with two similar and nearly parallel bands pro-
ceeding from the corners of the mouth, the three bands all merging in a cluster of dark brown lanceolate
marks upon the upper portion of the breast, the intervals between these markings and also the whole
plumage of the lower sternal and abdominal regions being tinged with a yellowish rufous; the under tail-
coverts are barred with brown and white, the former bars being much broader than the latter; and the thighs
and tarsi are marked throughout their length with narrow equidistant transverse bars of the same colours.

‘* A second and apparently less adult specimen in the Norwich Museum resembles the one above described,
except in the crest being less developed and in the colours generally being somewhat lighter, particularly on
the head, and the markings, especially on the lower part of the tarsi, being paler and less distinct.

“ Sprzaerus Nipaensis, Hodgson.—The following description of this fine species, the largest of the Asiatic
Spizaét?, is extracted from Mr. T. C. Jerdon’s excellent work on the Birds of India, now in course of
publication :—‘ Plumage of the upper parts deep brown, very dark on the interscapulars, and verging on
black on the crown and occipital crest, which is slightly tipped with white, and is 4 inches long; nuchal
feathers edged tawny brown; chin blackish, continued as a median line to the breast, which is fulvous brown
and with dark streaks; or in some, the chin, throat, and breast fulvous, with large blackish-brown ovate spots ;
and a dark moustacheal band and two similar lateral streaks, at first very broad, proceed from the corners of
the gape; belly, flanks, lower tail-coverts, and thigh-coverts more or less distinctly banded with brown and
white; tarsal feathers banded whitish ; wings dark brown, banded with blackish ; under wing-coverts banded
with white; tail light greyish brown, with five dark bands, as broad or broader than the interspaces ;_ upper
tail-coverts also banded brown and white. The feathers of the tarsus cover the bases of the toes.

“¢Length of a male 29 inches ; wing 18; tail 13; tarsus 4; mid-toe 32.

“«¢ Another, probably a female, was 32 inches ; wing 19; tail 14; tarsi 44; mid-toe and claw 33.

‘© «This splendid Hawk-Eagle has been found on the Himalayas, in the Khasia Hills, and in Ceylon. I
got one specimen only at Darjeeling, where, however, it is well known, though rare, and is said to kill
pheasants, partridges, and other birds.’ .

‘To the above account I would add that the transverse abdominal bars which occur in this species are
frequently divided by the brown centre of the feather so as to present an appearance of white ovate spots,
which I have not observed in the other Asiatic Spizaét?. I would also remark that the ‘ Spizaétus orientalis’
of Japan and Formosa, of which a Japanese example is figured in the ‘Fauna Japonica,’ Aves, pl. 3, is
certainly closely allied to, and probably not specifically distinct from, this species.

“ SpizaeTus crrrwarus, Gmel.—This species (the common Crested Eagle of India and Ceylon) differs
from S. /ipalensis in its somewhat smaller and much more variable size, in the paler character of the trans-
verse markings on the abdomen and thighs, in the entire absence of the white abdominal ovate spots, and
especially in the less powerful development of its talons generally, and of the inner and hinder claws in
particular, these being very decidedly smaller and feebler in this species than in S. Nipalensis.

“« §. cirrhatus is figured in the Planches Coloriées, pl. 282, under the name of ‘ Falco cristatellus.’

“Spizarrus catiearus, Raffles.—This species is very nearly allied to the preceding (with which many
ornithologists consider it to be identical), but appears to differ from it in the following particulars, viz., first,
by the non-development of the crest, which is a marked feature in most specimens of S. cirrhatus, but
which is entirely absent in the great majority of specimens of S§. caligatus, and when it does appear is
much less elongated than it usually is in S. cérrhatus ; second, by the bill being somewhat deeper and more
powerful, and the tarsi somewhat shorter, in S. calgatus than in S. cirrhatus, the comparison being, of
course, made between individuals of equal general size ; third, by the wider geographical range of S. cali-
gatus, which is found not only in India and Ceylon, but also in Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,
Borneo, and Java; fourth, by the tendency to melanism, which is of constant occurrence in S. caligatus,
while in S. cerrhatus such a variety is very rare. This black variety of S. caligatus has been observed in
Java to be permanent and hereditary, and to be commoner in that island than the paler race. Some natu-
ralists have, indeed, considered it as specifically distinct; and such is the opinion expressed by Dr. Bern-
stein (a resident in Java) in a very interesting paper published in Cabanis’s Journal of Ornithology,
vol. vii. p. 417. The adult of the paler race is figured by Temminck in the Planches Coloriées, pl. 127,
under the title of ‘ Falco niveus;’ and the same work contains a figure, in pl. 134, of the dark variety,
under the name of ‘Falco Amnaétus :’ the latter is also figured in Horsfield’s Zoological Researches in Java,
Aves, pl. 3. :

“In conclusion, I may recapitulate the species of Asiatic Sprzaéeti which I have above enumerated, and
which, in my opinion, may be considered as distinct :—

“ Spizaetus albomyer, Blyth ; S. lanceolatus, Temminck ; S. Kieneri, De Sparre; S. Philippensis, nobis ;
S. Mpalensis, Hodgson ; S. cirrhatus, Gmelin; S. caligatus, Raffles.”

eee al

Fulimande & Walton, L7p-

J Wall and 1 Chichter, del a lith.

MILVUS GOVINDA, Sykes.

Govinda Kite.

Milvus Govinda, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. 81.—Gray and Mitch. Gen.
of Birds, vol. iii. App. p. 2, App. to p. 24 of vol. i—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 21, Milwus, sp. 2.—
List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., Part I. 2nd edit., p. 43.

Cheele, Jerdon in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. x. p. 71.

melanotis, Temm. et Schlegel, Faun. Japon. Aves, p. 14. tab. v. ?

indicus vel Cheela, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 81.

Cheela, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 24, Milvus, sp. 3.

melanotis, Ib., Milvus, sp. 6.

(Aydroictinia) govinda, Kaup, Isis 1847, p. 119.

Haliaétus lineatus, Gray, Il. Ind. Zool., pl. 18.

Falco Cheela, Lath. Ind. Orn., i. p. 14?—Daud. Orn., ii. p. 41 ?—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 69?

Cheela Falcon, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 33?

Cheela Eagle, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 145?

Cheel, of the Hindoos.

Common or Pariah Kite, of the European residents in India.

nh el

Tus fine species of true Kite appears to be very generally dispersed over the Peninsula of India from
Madras to the base of the Himalayas, performing the same offices there that the lous affinis does in
Australia and the Milvus ater in Europe. Like its Australian prototype, it is a bold and fearless bird, the
presence of man, in his wanderings through the country, at all times attracting its presence.

I cannot for a moment consider this bird in any other light than as specifically different from the 47. ater
of Europe and the JZ. affnis of Australia; in my opinion they form three very distinct species, of which the
M. Govinda is by far the largest and finest. The accompanying drawing was made from specimens collected
by Captain Boys, and which now form part of the fine collection at Philadelphia. ;

«This very useful bird,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘ is very numerous, more especially in cantonments, camps
and villages, and is continually upon the look-out for refuse of every description; Colonel Sykes says,
‘ Constantly soaring in the air in circles, watching an opportunity to dart upon a chicken, upon refuse animal
matter thrown from the cook-room, and occasionally even having the hardihood to stoop at a dish of meat
carrying from the cook-room to the house.’ Away from the cantonments it preys chiefly on reptiles, and
is also remarkably fond of fish.

Considerable difference occurs in the colouring of the young and old birds, the youthful plumage being
characterized by a much greater amount of white on the head and neck, as well as on the upper surface
generally, the white occupying the tips of the feathers of the upper surface and the margins of those of
the under surface, which therefore appears as conspicuously streaked with buffy white, as in the adult it
is with dark brown.

The entire head clothed with feathers, which are of a dark brown margined with white, giving it a
streaked appearance; all the upper surface very dark brown, becoming of a paler hue on the tips of the
wing-coverts ; tail brown, crossed by numerous irregular bars of a deeper colour; breast and abdomen of a
paler brown than the upper surface, with a broad streak of very dark brown, bounded on each side by a
narrow line of brownish white down the centre of each feather, giving the whole a conspicuously streaked
appearance ; vent, thighs and under tail-coverts rusty red, with a narrow line of dark brown down the shaft ;
irides dark brown; cere and base of lower mandible yellow, upper mandible and point of the lower black ;
legs and feet olive-yellow ; claws black.

The figures represent a young and an old bird about two-thirds of the natural size.

EG ym a i en i tine ne pn

Gould

9

ad
S)

“eX
+

f

lion, [mp.

a

WN

Ca

Hillman

hth

ec

ldand HC Feichter del

OU

LG

ELANUS HYPOLEUCUS, Gowa

Celebean Elanus.

Elanus hypoleucus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 127.

Tuer is not a more distinct and better-defined group of Hawks than those forming the genus Elanus, the
members of which are widely spread over both the Old and the New World. In America the Elanus
leucurus has a wide range, from Mexico to Brazil; Africa, India, and the Indian Islands are inhabited by
three others; one, the E. melanoptérus, ranges over Southern Europe, the whole of Africa, and India;
Australia, however, appears to be the head-quarters of the genus, two species at least, the EZ. axillaris
and E. scriptus, inhabiting that country. The present bird differs from all the other members of the
genus; it is most nearly allied to Z. avillaris, but exceeds that bird in size, and is destitute of the black
spot on the under surface of the wing. It is true, some small tippings of black are seen, but they occur
on a different part to the spot in Z. aadlaris: the character by which it may at all times be distinguished
is the silvery-white hue of the under surface of the primaries throughout their whole length.

Mr. Wallace sent specimens of both old and young birds from Celebes; I have seen another example
in the collection of T. C. Eyton, Esq., which was procured in the Philippines ; and J. H. Gurney, Esq., informs
me that he has seen specimens from Java; this latter island, then, appears to be the portion of the Old
World where two, if not all the species of the genus inosculate; the Z. awillaris is certainly found there,
and, if I mistake not, the LE. melanopterus also. . There seems to be no difference in the colouring of the
sexes ; the young, on the other hand, as will be seen on reference to the Plate, are distinguished by having
the head striated with reddish brown, and by having a crescent of white at the tips of the wing-feathers.

The adult has the face, space over the eye, ear-coverts, and all the under surface of the body, under
surface of the wing, under tail-coverts, under surface of the tail-feathers, and the thighs pure white; basal
half of the under side of the first six primaries white, slightly speckled with grey, passing into blackish
grey; on their apical halves this grey hue also pervades the under surface of the remaining primaries ;
crown of the head, back of the neck, back and scapularies deep grey; on the shoulders a large patch of
black; secondaries and basal half of the primaries deep grey, passing into blackish grey at their tips; two
centre tail-feathers grey above, the next on each side grey on their outer margins, the rest white; cere and
legs orange-yellow ; bill and nails black. |

The young at apparently about nine months old differ from the adult in having the crown lineated with
reddish brown, and a crescent of white at the tip of the primaries, secondaries, scapularies, and wing-

coverts.
The figure in the Plate is of the size of life.

Seseeetuniemimeenenncenemeecemmarerie carat

to a mo nr ee Et

|
|
|
|
|
|

SS
ck
=

Z

, LIMP.

i} ny lt CT

SCOPS PENNATUS.

Indian Scops Owl.

Scops pennatus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beny., vol. vi. p. 69; Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 175.-—Blyth, ibid., vol. xiv.
p. 183.—Kaup, Mon. Strig. in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1852, p. 110.
—— Aldrovandi, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 36.
zorca, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 47.
sunia, Hodgs. Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 175.—Jerd. Ill. Ind. Orn., pl. 41.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, vol. i.
p. 45.
—— Malayanus, Hay.

E’phialtes spilocephalus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p. 8.

———— scops, Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 69.
pematus, Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 136.

Choghad kusial and Sunya kusial, in Nepaul.

Chetta guba and Yerra chitta guba, Telugu.

I sHouLp suppose that there is no species of Owl respecting the specific name of which there has been
more confusion than the one here represented, a confusion which has been mainly occasioned by the same
author at oue time considering it identical with the Scops zorca of Europe, and at another, under a
different impression, reapplying either the one or the other of the two names pennatus and sunia given to it
by Mr. Hodgson ; its generic appellation, also, has been equally variable, being at one time S¢rizv, at another
Scops, and at a third Hphialtes.

That the Indian Scops pennatus and the European Scops zorca are two distinct species, there never has
been any doubt in my mind. As Mr. Jerdon justly remarks, the former, besides differing very considerably
in its markings, is much smaller than the latter. The red phase of plumage, too, whether due to sex or
age, is much stronger in the Indian than in the European species. I trust that a glance at the accompanying
Plate will be sufficient to convince those ornithologists who have a knowledge of our bird that the opinion of
their being distinct is the correct one; in confirmation of this view, I may add that I have not yet seen
the Scops zorca from India, but I have a specimen in the grey plumage from Asia Minor, the most eastern
locality in which I have known it to be found. From the time when Mr. Jerdon’s plate of the Indian
bird first came under my observation in his ‘ Illustrations of Indian Ornithology,’ this species has been of
great interest to me; and it doubtless has and will be held in equal estimation by other ornithologists.
With its habits and economy I have had no opportunity of making myself acquainted ; I must therefore take
the liberty of transcribing the notes made by those who have been more fortunately situated.

‘This little Owl,” remarks Mr. Jerdon, ‘ was first considered distinct from its European representative,
S. zorca, and named pennatus by Hodgson. It has been considered identical by some, and is so put
in Blyth’s and Horsfield’s Catalogues. Kaup, however, keeps it distinct from the European one; and all
ornithologists agree in distinguishing swnia, which is only found in the same localities with the grey one, and
must be considered a phase of plumage of that bird. Indian specimens, even in the grey plumage, can
generally be distinguished from European ones, though it is difficult to describe in words in what the diffe-
rence consists. ‘Two European specimens of S. zorca in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta
differ from Indian specimens of pennatus in the upper plumage being more conspicuously streaked, in the
bands on the quills being lighter, and in the pale ground-colour being wider and more mottled. They are
also decidedly larger, the wing being above six inches in length.”

After stating that “the Indian Scops is found occasionally throughout all India and Ceylon, in forests and
well-wooded districts,” Mr. Jerdon adds :—“ The first specimen I procured was found dead outside my house
at Madras, and had probably been killed by the Crows, as it was in good case and very little injured. I
have obtained it both from the Eastern and Western Ghats, but not from Central India. It is also found
in the Himalayas, and extends into Burmah, Malayana, and China. It utters a low, mild hoot which is often
repeated, soon after dark. All I have examined had eaten insects.”

«This Owl,” says Capt. Hutton, ‘ occurs on the Himalaya in the neighbourhood of Mussoorie, at an
elevation of five thousand feet, and nidificates in hollow trees, laying three pure white eggs of a rounded form,
on the rotten wood, without any preparation of a nest. A nest was found on the 19th of March; the
diameter of the egg 1+’ by 1 inch.

In the red phase the whole of the upper surface is of a deep cinnamon or bright chestnut hue, with a
mark of black down the shaft of each feather, showing inconspicuously on the back and wings, but very

A DEI EIA AA OE IOP EEL EEE AANA A EI ait aaa itr tnt tn cn ig ee —

distinct on the fore part of the head; outer web of the scapularies white, terminated near the tip with a
narrow oblique bar of black ; facial disks of the same hue as the upper surface, but becoming much paler
near their edge, the tips of the feathers of which are black; wing-coverts with a spot of white bounded
posteriorly with black at the tip of each; primaries dark brown, externally banded with white bounded on
each side with a line of black ; breast chestnut, each feather with a black shaft, larger and more conspicuous
on the upper part of the abdomen, where the feathers are tipped with white ; on the lower part they become
still lighter and are crossed by narrow lines of black, and are moreover washed with rufous ; tail rufous,
crossed by several narrow double bars of black; irides pale golden yellow; bill dusky greenish; feet
ashy grey.

In the grey state the markings are similar but, of course, much less contrasted.

Mr. Jerdon states that the young birds are of a much duller red and more distinctly black-shafted, that
they have much white on the under surface, a good deal of white in the disks, the scapularies white exter-
nally, with black tips and bars on the quills, and the tail of a more distinct brown and mottled.

The Plate represents two birds in the red, and one in the grey plumage, of the natural size.

|
}

BADIUS.

PHODILUS

JS Gould & HCRichier, deb & litt.

PHODILUS BADIUS.
Bay Owl.

Strix badia, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 139.—Id. Zool. Res. in Java, pl. 37.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. i.
p- 353.—Temm. Pl. Col., 318.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 114.—Vig. App. Life of Raff., p. 651.

Athene badia, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 82.

Phodilus badius, I. Geoff. Ann. Sci. Nat., tom. xxi. p. 201.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Beng., vol. xix. n. s., p. 513.—Gray
& Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 42, pl. 15. fig. 1.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 55.—Dillw. Nat.
Hist. Lab., p. 8.—Kaup, Mon. Strig. in Jard. Cont. Orn., 1852, p. 118.—Strickl. Orn. Syn., vol, i. p. 183.
--Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calc., p- 41.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East
Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 80.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 119.—Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 252.—G. R. Gray,
Hand-list of Birds, vol, i. p. 53.

——— nepalensis, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, vol. i. p. 53?

Wowo-wiwt or Kalong-wiwi of the Japanese (Horsfield).

I am indebted to Captain Stackhouse Pinwill, of Trehane, in Cornwall, for the loan of a drawing taken from
life of the face, eyes, and disks of this highly curious Owl, which rather inhabits the confines than the penin-
sula of India, but which, nevertheless, appears to enjoy a wide extent of range, since Mr. Blyth enumerates
the following countries as frequented by it—namely, Nepaul, Sikim, Assam, Arracan, and the Malayan Penin-
sula and Archipelago ; that it also inhabits Java will be seen on reference to Dr. Horsfield’s note given below.
Hitherto it has been regarded as the sole representative of its genus ; but I observe that Mr. G. R. Gray con-
siders the Nepaulese bird distinct, and has named it Phodilus Nepalensis, in the recently published first
volume of bis ‘ Hand-list of Birds,’ p. 53; for my own part, I have not seen any reason for believing it to be
distinct. A mere glance at its peculiar physiognomy, its large eyes and bill, great wings, short body,
and huge feet, will fully justify the separation of the form from the genus Stir, to which, however, it would
seem to be nearly related; but Mr. Blyth remarks that, ‘upon examination of the external ear and other
characters, I find it has no claim to belong the Screech-Owl subfamily (Strigine), but is distinctly one of
the Hooters (Syrnune@). Messrs. Mottley and Dillwyn state that ‘it has only a single note, frequently repeated,
and which is much like the first note of the Wood-Owl’s cry.” (‘ Ibis,’ 1866, p. 252.)

Mr. Jerdon informs me that “ this peculiarly coloured Owl has been very rarely found in India, having mostly
been obtained by Mr. Hodgson in Nepaul and Sikim. It appears to be more common in Burmah and

Malayana, especially in the Archipelago. It is said by the natives to be on good terms with the Tiger.”
“The Wowo-wiwi,” says Dr. Horsfield, “is rarely met with in Java. It never visits the villages, but
resides in the closest forests, which are the usual resort of the Tiger. The natives even assert that it
approaches this animal with the same familiarity with which the Jallah (Pastor jalla, Horsf.) approaches the
buffalo, and that it has no dread to alight on the tiger’s back. It is never seen in confinement; the few in- .
dividuals J obtained were from the densest forests of the district of Pugar, and from the ranges of low hills
south of the capital of Surakarta. Like most other species of this family, it is a nocturnal bird.”
rh The sexes are alike in colour, and differ but little in size; the rich chestnut tint of their upper surface,
\ relieved with spangles of black and white, renders them very pretty objects. Their plumage is soft and
yielding, and their flight is probably noiseless.
| Forehead light vinous buff; facial disks similar, but paler ; before, above, and behind the eye a large
4) mark of deep chestnut ; edge of the facial disks white, each feather with a mark of chestnut varying in shape
near the tip; all the upper surface, wings, and tail rich deep chestnut, the scapularies and some of the wing-
coverts having a double spot of white and black near the tip; primaries and secondaries banded with black 5
the interspaces of the external web of the outer primaries white; under surface fawn-colour washed with
vinous, aud with a small spot of black near the tips of the feathers; irides full, lustrous, and black ; bill
yellowish horn-colour ; bare part of the feet the same ; claws black.
The figures are of the natural size.

ne ee

ATHENE BRODIEL
Brodie’s Owlet.

Noctua Brodiet, Burt. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part iii., 1835, p. 152.

Athene Brodiei, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 163.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calc., p. 40.
—Gray & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 35, Athene, sp. 9.—Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvii.
part i. p. 5.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 46.—Gray, Hand-list
of Birds, vol. i. p. 40.

Noctua tubiger, Hodgs. Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 175.

Athene badia, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 82.

Tenioptyne Brodiet, Kaup, in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1851, p. 130; 1852, p. 104.—Bulger, Ibis, 1869, p. 155.

Glaucidium Brodiei, Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 146.—Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 258.

Av a first glance, this diminutive Owl would appear to be the European Strix passerina of Linnzeus ; but on
comparison it will be found that not only is it quite distinct from that species, but it cannot be placed in
the same genus. In size, and in size only, do the two birds at all assimilate; for, besides differing in their
markings, the toes of §. passerina are thickly clothed with dense warm feathers, while those of Brodie’s
Owlet are nude, or at most have only a few hairs thinly dispersed over their upper portion.

Were I to say that Brodie’s Owlet is the smallest of the Old-World Owls, I should, I believe, be stating an
untruth ; for I have now before me an Owlet from Assam which not only is more diminutive in size, but
also differs considerably in the markings of its plumage—that is to say, in the absence of bars on the back
and chest, those parts being of a uniform brown, the forehead alone being slightly spotted with fawn-colour ;
in all other respects it is very similar. I have compared this Assam bird with the smallest male examples
I have seen of A. Brodie: from the Himalayas, and find it to be considerably more diminutive than either of
them; and when compared with the females of the latter species it is not more than two-thirds of the size.
Believing it to be undescribed, I shall provisionally name this little Owlet Athene minutilla, and await the
arrival of other specimens, from Assam or elsewhere, before more fully characterizing it. As regards the
true 1. Brodie, 1 find a difference occurs in the light portion of the throat and under surface, some spe-
cimens having those parts pure white ; while in others they have a faint wash of sulpbur-yellow.

Those who carefully examine this little Owl cannot fail to notice its lengthened and tubular nostrils, the
why and the wherefore of which is at present unknown. By Dr. Kaup this bird has been constituted the
type of his genus Zenwptynx ; but I do not see the necessity of separating it from Athene.

“This pretty little Owl,” says Captain Hutton, “is exceedingly common in the Himalayas, in the neigh-
bourhood of Mussoorie and Simla, and may be heard at nightfall uttering its monotonous but not unmusical
whistle of two notes ofttimes repeated. It nidificates in hollow trees, without any preparation of a nest.
On the 11th of May, 1848, I found three young ones and an egg just ready to hatch, in a hole of a wild
cherry-tree. The egg was nearly round and pure white, but being broken I could take no measurement of
it. The young ones were clothed in a soft and pure white down. The old female remained in the hole
while we cut into the tree, and allowed herself to be captured.”

Mr. Jerdon informs us that this species “is found throughout the Himalayas, from 3000 or 4000 feet to
a considerably greater elevation. It is not rare about Darjeeling ; and its low monotonous call or whistle of
two notes may frequently be heard at nightfall, whence it is called ‘ the melancholy bird’ at some of the hill
stations. It lives chiefly on beetles and other insects.”

Major Bulger mentions that, while in Sikkim in the summer of 1867, he had two or three specimens
brought to him, he saw the bird himself in the forests near the station, and a hollow ringing sound, said
by the natives to be its call, was very common in the woods. (‘ Ibis,’ 1869, p- 155).

It may be as well to mention that this charming little Owl was dedicated by Mr. Burton to the late
eminent surgeon Sir Benjamin C. Brodie, Bart., “in token of high respect and ancient friendship.”

Head, all the upper surface and wings olive-brown, crossed by numerous bands of fulvous, which are
lightest or almost fawn-white on the forehead and over the eyes; primaries very dark brown, with a row of
irregularly shaped spots of fulvous along the outer web; at the back of the neck a conspicuous deep fulvous
collar, with a spot of black on each side ; the scapularies next the wing dashed with fawn-white ; tail dark
brown, crossed by seven or eight narrow bands of fulvous, placed at regular intervals ; facial disks spotted
and striated with fulvous and grey on a dark brown ground, and edged with a ring of white; chin, centre
of the breast, and margins of the feathers of the lower part of the abdomen and flanks white, or faintly
tinged with yellow; under surface dark olive, banded with pale fulvous and white ; bill and toes pale greenish
yellow ; irides pale yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

t
i

SYRNIUM OCELLATUM, Zess.
Speckled Wood-Owl.

Syrnium ocellatum, Less. Rev. Zool., 1839, p. 289.—Gray & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 39, Syrnium, sp. 5.—
Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part 2. p. 870.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, vol. i. p. 49.

sinense, Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 123.

Strix sinensis, Hard. & Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool. pl. 21.

Bulaca ocellata, Blyth, Ibis, 1865, p. 29; 1866, p. 253.

** Wuar’s ina name?” is a frequent exclamation to indicate that the matter referred to is of no moment ;
but if any of my non-scientific readers had to work out synonymies, they would find that in many instances it
would be precisely the reverse. Thus it would appear that the beautiful and well-known Owl, figured some
forty years ago, in Hardwicke and Gray’s ‘ Illustrations of Indian Zoology,’ under the name of Sérza sinensis
has borne an appellation which does not and cannot belong to it, since it was applied by Latham to a bird
which he places among the Eared Owls both in his ‘Index Ornithologicus’ and his ‘ General History of

Birds.’ .Under these circumstances, we must agree with Mr. Blyth that Lesson’s specific appellation of —

ocellatum should be retained for it. Moreover the term sznensis would be very inappropriate, inasmuch as
the bird is never found im China; while oce//atum, as descriptive of its marking’s, is an excellent one: under
this appellation I have therefore figured it on the accompanying Plate, my drawing being taken from a
specimen obtained in India proper. The Syrnium ocellatum belongs to a small division of the Owls to which
the subgeneric name of Bulaca has been applied ; it will be seen, however, that I have preferred to retain
it under that of Syrnium.

I have stated that this bird is not found in China, and I may mention that Mr. Swinhoe did not meet
with it in any of his extensive wanderings in the Celestial Empire. Of its habits and economy little is
known. As far as we are aware, there is no external difference in the sexes. Its soft and moth-like plumage
renders it one of the most attractive members of its great family.

“This very beautifully plumaged Owl,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘is found throughout the greater part of India.
It is only met with in well-wooded districts, at no great elevation. I have found it most numerous in the
Carnatic and in parts of Mysore, frequenting groves of trees and avenues; it is rare in Central India and the
forests of Malabar, but does not occur in Lower Bengal. It emits a loud, harsh, dissonant hoot.”

“‘T never obtained a Bengal specimen,” remarks Mr. Blyth; “ but I once picked up an unmistakable
feather of this bird in a mango-tope, some thirty miles above Calcutta. I have never seen it from the east-
ward. A specimen is noted by Mr. F. Moore from the Himalaya; but I doubt this alleged habitat, and be-
lieve that it was from one of the Subhimalayan valleys. Capt. J. Hutton has well remarked that an
ordinary collector at one of the Himalayan Sanitary Stations (say Masuri) employs three or four native
shikaris, and sends one or two of them far into the interior of the hills, and others down into the Subhimalayan
valley of the Deyra-doon; and their gatherings of birds, insects, and so forth (from quite different faune or
assemblages of species) are alike brought to England as a collection from the Himalaya! Thus untravelled
students are apt to be misled.”

Upper surface rich tawny buff; each feather of the head and nape tipped with black, within which are two
or more irregularly shaped spots of white, which increase in size (and in some instances are mottled with
black in the centre) towards the mantle; feathers of the back, scapularies, wing-coverts, and upper
tail-coverts with a series of large patches of white, freckled with dusky on each web, the central line and the
lines dividing the patches being of a blackish brown ; primaries tawny at the base, and blackish brown for
the remainder of their length ; the tawny portion crossed by dark brown bands, the exterior webs by irregular
mottled bands, and the dark portion of the inner webs by faint irregular bands of a lighter tint; tail tawny
at the base, gradually deepening into dark brown near the tip, the whole crossed by broad, irregular, mottled
bands, dark on the basal portion and becoming nearly white towards the tip, which terminates in white ;
facial disks white, brown, and fulvous, the white occupying the shafts of the feathers ; the edges of the disks
white, surrounded by a dark brown ruff; chin white ; undersurface of the body beautifully banded with tawny
white and brownish black, each feather being tawny at the base, and white crossed with three bands
of brownish black for the remainder of their length; tarsal feathers similar, but the tawny tint prevailing on
the upper portion, and the grey or white on the lower part of the limbs; bill black ; eyelids orange, irides
dark brown; soles of the feet yellowish; claws dusky.

The figure is somewhat smaller than the natural size.

a {/!

i eA ea png

Walter. Im:

ey,

(CA, Bébrth.

+

JUN

STRIX

SGould &HCRichter del et lith,

STRIX INDICA, Byti:

Indian Screech-Owl.

Strix flammea, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 41.—Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1859,
p. 151.

javanica, Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. x. p. 85.—Sykes, in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr.
of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 81.—Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 117.

indica, Blyth, in Ibis, 1866, p. 250.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 52.—Holdsw. Proc. of Zool. Soc.,
1872, p.

Karaya and Karail, Hind. ; also Buri-churi, 1. e. the bad bird.—Jz=rRpon.

Chaao pitta, Telugu, and Chaao-Kuravi, Tamul, both meaning death-bird.—Jerpon.

However far to the eastward from Europe the Common Owl (Striv fammea) may range, it does not appear
to extend to India, as was formerly supposed, its place in that country being occupied by the present species,
which may be easily distinguished by its larger size, longer tarsi, much larger feet, by the more buffy hue of
its ‘plumage, and the smaller size of the spots with which it is ornamented. ‘To what extent this bird ranges
over the islands of the Eastern archipelago, or if it is found there at all, is not known with certainty. Mr.
Swinhoe does not notice it as a species found in China; neither is it, I believe, identical with the Sériw
javanica of Dr. Horsfield—that is, if the figure given of the latter by Gray and Mitchell, in their ‘ Genera of
Birds,’ be a correct representation of the Java bird. Mr. Jerdon is the principal writer on this species ; and
he, I regret to say, has furnished but little respecting it; what he has said, together with a brief note by
Col. Sykes, will be found below—as also a short paragraph kindly furnished to me by Mr. E. W. H. Holds-
worth, who has recently returned from Ceylon, respecting its range and habits as observed by him in
that island, and which forms a part of bis ‘“‘ Catalogue of the Birds of Ceylon,” to be published in the
‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London’ for 1872.

‘The Indian Screech-Owl,” says Dr. Jerdon, ‘is found throughout India and Ceylon, ascending through
Burmah to Malayana. Sometimes it takes up its quarters in a grove of old trees, in the holes of which it
roosts during the day; at others it lives in deserted buildings, tombs, pagodas, mosques, &c. ; and I have
often found them in the solitary cells and powder-magazines which are generally situate at a little distance
from the lower part of acantonment. It hunts entirely by night, not coming forth until it is quite dark, and
lives on rats, mice, shrews, &c. More than once, one has flown into a room in which I was sitting with open
doors and windows, after a rat that had entered. It breeds both in holes in trees and buildings.”

Col. Sykes remarks :—‘‘ One of my specimens was captured alive while lying on its back on the ground,
defending itself against the attacks of a body of Crows.”

«Strix indica,” says Mr. Holdsworth, ‘is very local in Ceylon, and is entirely confined to the north of the
island. Layard gave the Fort of Jaffna as the only locality for it; but I have since obtained it at Aripo,
where a pair of these Owls were resident. They frequented a Government storehouse in my compound,
each bird regularly perching in a dark corner under the roof at opposite ends of the long building, and
‘apparently living in harmony with the hundreds of Bats which hung from the roof and walls around. |
have never observed these birds out of doors until some time after sunset.”

Upper surface buff, minutely freckled with grey and with one or two small spots of brown and white
near the tip of each: feather; quills and tail darker or richer buff, freckled with grey on the outer
margins, passing into white on the inner, and crossed with distinct bands of brown; facial disk white,
with a rufous patch at the inner corner of the eye; ruff mingled yellow and rufous; undersurface, in-
cluding the under wing-coverts white in some, and pale yellowish buff in others; the feathers of the
breast and abdomen ornamented with a small brown spot at the tip of each; bill horny yellow; irides
black ; legs and feet yellowish brown. | .

I remark that in specimens of the European Strix flammea the presence of bands on the primaries
is only indicated on their undersurfaces by small spots near the shaft, while in Strwv zndica these marks are
much larger, and extend across somewhat more than half the breadth of the web.

The principal figure represents the bird, of the size of life.

}
j
q
i
i
i
i
fi
Wi
i
i
|

A

Et ae nn i a Sey mere
. oe Re in en

|
;
7
i
i
|
'
1
ji

ee

nn Ni it i a

a ARR

STRIEX CANDIDA , Eck

Walter, lrp.

J Gould & HC Richter, del et’ tithy.

STRIX CANDIDA, Tickei.
Grass-Owl.

Straw candida, Tick. in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. ii. p. 572.—Jerd. Ill. Ind. Orn., pl. 30.—Id. Birds of India,
vol. i. p. 118.—Gould, Supp. Birds of Australia, pl. 1.—Swinh. in Proce. Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 344.

—— longimembris, Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. x. p. 86.

—— Walleri, Diggles, Orn. of Australia, part vii. pl. 1.

—— pithecops, Swinh. in Ibis, 1866, pp. 396, 397.

Scelostrix candida, Blyth, in Ibis, 1866, p. 251

Glaux javanica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 42.

Striv javanica, Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 81.

— (Glaux) candida, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part 1. p. 53.

Tuar this fine Owl ranges over the greater part of the Old World, there can be no doubt, since I find little
or no difference between specimens collected on the peninsula of India and those from the great grassy plains
of Eastern Australia. It is supposed to inhabit the intermediate islands (Java included) ; and though I
have not seen specimens from Java, it is probable that it inhabits both that island and the Philippines ; for I
observe that Mr. Swinhoe, in his ‘ Revised Catalogue of the Birds of China and its Islands,’ mentions that it
frequents South-west Formosa.

Structurally, this bird differs from the rest of the typical members of the restricted genus Striv in the
much greater length of its tarsi, which was doubtless the occasion of Dr. Kaup’s proposing for it a separate
generic appellation—that of Scelostriv ; but I do not think this difference a character of much importance,
inasmuch as the tarsi of the Indian Screech-Owl (Strix indica) are directly intermediate in length between
those of this species and those of the Common Barn-Owl of Europe (S. flammea); at the same time I may
mention that the propriety of the separation would seem to be supported by the difference which is found to
exist in the colouring of the young of the Stria candida and the young of our well known Barn-Owl,—that of
the latter being snow-white, while that of the former is tawny, as shown on the opposite Plate. Those who
may think proper to adopt Dr. Kaup’s generic appellation of Scelostriv for it are, of course, at liberty so to
do; for myself, I prefer to retain it in the genus Striv. The lengthened tarsi are admirably adapted for
standing upon the great grassy plains in the midst of which this Owl principally dwells, and for rising there-
from with much greater ease than the shorter-legged members of the genus, which generally frequent trees,
rocks, towers, and other buildings ; this character, therefore, may be regarded as a special means to an end,
and one which is as apparent as it well can be. The precise food of the Strix candida is not known; small
quadrupeds, young birds, reptiles, and insects are doubtless what it lives upon in India, while the numerous
little rodents which inhabit the grassy plains, sandy glades, and ridges of Australia afford it an abundance of
food in that country. .

I have not failed to observe that the plumage of the adult Indian birds is darker in colour, has the
brown washes more uniform or spread about, and the white speckles smaller and less diffused than that
of the Australian bird; still this does not induce me to believe they are other than one and the same species.
The adult specimen from which my figure was taken formed, I believe, a part of the collection made by the
Marquis of Blandford during his researches in India.

Respecting this species, Mr. Jerdon says :—‘ The Grass-Owl is found throughout the greater part of
‘India, but thinly scattered and by no means plentiful. I first procured it on the grassy side of a hill on
the Neilgherries, at about 6000 feet elevation. I afterwards obtained it in the Carnatic and in Central
India ; and it was procured by Tickell in the same district, and probably occurs also in the North-western
Provinces ; for Mr. Philipps, in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,’ mentions its living
in long grass, and being found in abundance some miles from Hoda; Tickell, too, mentions its being
found throughout Bengal and the Upper Provinces.

“Our species does indeed live almost exclusively in long grass, not frequenting jungles or coming
near the haunts of man. It is probably not rare in some localities; for, on the occasion of the long
grass and reeds in the dry bed of a large tank near Nellore being fired to drive out some wild pigs,
I saw at least twenty of these Owls. It in general rises heavily and flies only a short distance, when it drops
down suddenly into the grass. Mr. Philipps mentions that it may sometimes be put up and chased by Hawks.
I presume he means by trained Falcons ; for I have heard that a favourite quarry for hawking in the Punjab is
a Grass-Owl, which gives an excellent and long chase. It must be remembered, however, that Otus brachy-
otus frequents similar localities, and may be the Owl alluded to, rather than this one.”

- ies a a ae

Upper surface tawny yellow, each feather broadly terminated with brown and a small white spot at the

tip, or brown with a white terminal spot and tawny at the base ; primaries and secondaries fulvous yellow,
distinctly barred with brown, freckled on their outer margins with pale or greyish brown, and fading into
white on the margins of their inner webs; tail buffy yellow, fading into white on the outer feathers, or white
crossed by four dark brown bars and freckled with a lighter tint at the tip; facial disk whitish or buffy white,
with a dark brown spot at the inner angle of the eye ; ruff or margin of the disk dark fulvous ; under surface
yellowish white, with a small spot of brown at the tip of each feather ; irides very dark brown ; bill horny ;
legs yellowish.

In the youthful state the facial disk and markings are deep tawny; the body is clothed in a lengthened
greyish buff down; and the feet and claws are dull flesh-colour.
The Plate represents an adult and a young bird, of the size of life.

YW
| am
J
=

ok ith

cht

Hichter A

¥
ee

_

CAPRIMULGUS MAHRATTENSIS, Sykes.

Mahratta Nightjar.

Caprimulgus Mahrattensis, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. Sci. of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. 83.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of
Birds, vol. i. p. 48.

I rivp that Colonel Sykes was the first to notice and give a defined description of this delicately marked
species of Caprimulgus. The Colonel’s collection was chiefly formed in the Dukhun; and in the East India
Company’s Museum there are specimens of this bird collected by Mr. Griffiths on the banks of the Sutley,
and others from Shikarpoor, near Caubul; it is evident therefore that the species is very generally diffused
over the western portions of India. ‘Two specimens were contained in the collection made by Capt. Boys,
and one in that formed by Dr. John Murray, Civil Surgeon at Agra; and it is from this specimen, now
forming part of the fine collection of Indian birds belonging to Andrew Murray, Esq., of Aberdeen, that one
of my figures was taken.

The species to which the Caprimulgus Mahrattensis is most nearly allied, is the C. Lsabellinus of Africa ;
from which, however, among other characters, it may be readily distinguished by the shorter and more
square form of the tail; and Colonel Sykes remarks that it differs from the C. monticolus, Frankl. and C.
Asiaticus, Lath., “in the prevalent greyness of the plumage, and in the absence of the subrufous collar on
the nape of the neck.”

No account whatever can be given of its habits, the following brief entry in Captain Boys’ Notes being
all that has yet been placed on record respecting it: ‘‘ One shot at Sultanpoor, Jan. 2, 1840, weighed
twenty drachms. Others were shot at Parunpoor on the Ganges, Dec. 15, 1846.” In the absence then of
all information on the subject, we may reasonably infer that they are very similar to those of the other true
Caprimulgz.

General tint pale stone-colour, produced by very minute pencillings of brown on a pale buff ground ; near
the tips of the feathers the pencillings are interrupted, leaving an irregular-shaped mark of buff, immediately
beneath which is a smaller irregular mark of brownish black, which shows very conspicuously on the crown
and scapularies ; primaries blackish brown, the first with a large oval spot of white about the middle of the
inner web, the two next crossed by a band of white stained with buff on the outer web; the remainder of
the primaries and the tips of the first three buffy brown, freckled and crossed by irregular bars of blackish
brown ; tail similar in general appearance to the upper surface, but crossed by narrow irregular bars of
black ; the two outer feathers on each side largely tipped with buffy white; throat similar to the upper
surface, but with a white pear-shaped mark on either side below the angle of the gape; abdomen stone-
colour, crossed by narrow irregular bars of brown; irides dark brown; bill reddish, with a black tip; legs
dirty flesh-colour.

The female differs in having the entire upper surface more strongly marked, in having the tips of the
outer tail-feathers not so largely marked with buff, the white spots on the first three primaries much
smaller, and the white less pure, and in being a little less in all her admeasurements.

The Plate represents both sexes of the natural size, near a Rheum Webbianum.

sceuieetieeenineeneerinemenenenene eeete meneame ee

i a rN Np

|
i)

er

Walter; Fp.

hier deb et: lithy,

Sbculeh & Ht

CYPSELUS INFUMATUS, Setat |
Palm-roof Swift.

Cypselus nfumatus, Sclat. in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 602.—Jerd. in Ibis, 1871, p. 355, pl. x.—Swinh. in Proc. Mi
Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 345.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part 1. p. 64. Tk
finus, Swinh. in Ibis, 1870, p. 90.

—_— tectorum, Jerd. Proc. of Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, 1870, p. 71.—Godwin-Austen, Cat. of Birds in Journ. Asiat. )

|
Soc., 1870, p. 94. i

I am indebted to Mr. Jerdon for the Joan of a specimen of this little Swift, which, as will be seen above, has He
: already received three specific names, that proposed by Mr. Sclater having the priority. When characterizing
it this gentleman remarked :—‘‘I have as yet seen but a single example of this species, now in Mr. Wallace’s He
possession. It formed part of the collection made by the late Mr. Mottley at Banjermassing, in Borneo, for |
- , Mr. L. L. Dillwyn. It is decidedly a Cypselus, allied to C. batassiensis of India. I have searched in vain in
for this species among the treasures of the Leyden Museum.” HA
Besides Borneo, it has also been found in India, where Mr. Jerdon informs us, in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1871, that
“‘ Major Godwin-Austen procured this interesting Swift on the Naga hills, and subsequently on the Garo hills,
where it had also been obtained by a native collector employed by Dr. Anderson. The Garo hills are a
direct continuation of the Naga bills—the Khasia and Jynteea hills, however, intervening, where this Swift is
» not known. The more highly civilized Khasi race have better houses than their neighbours on each side,
who use huts thatched with palm-leaves; on these roofs this Palm-Swift invariably builds its nest. Mr. |
Hume, who saw the specimen I was taking home, subsequently identified it, doubtfully, with Sclater’s Cn ii
infumatus ; and on comparison of the unique specimen existing in England of that Swift, they were found to
be identical, and Mr. Hume’s ingenious surmise proved correct.” i
Mr. Swinhoe also includes it in his list of the Birds of China, and, speaking of it in ‘The Ibis’ for 1870
under the name of Cypselas tinus, which, believing it to be a new species, he there assigned to it, says :—‘‘ I I
first noticed this little species at Tai-ping-sze (Central Hainan), where a single pair passed over my head, Vi
and I shot one. Among the cocoa-nut trees on the sandbanks of Lingshuy lagoon (S.E. Hainan) they were |
common enough, and we procured several. It was the 10th of March; but there did not appear any signs
of nidification. On the 18th of March, at Nychow (S. Hainan), I again saw numbers of them flying
backwards and forwards over a wood near the city.

“« This species is of the same typical form as C. datassiensis, Gray, of India and Burmah, but is smaller and
iB | more deeply coloured, with a shorter and narrower bill, longer wings, and less forked tail. It appears to be
a good second species of the Palm-Swift type, which connects Cypselus with Collocalia.”

In his ‘ Revised Catalogne of the Birds of China and its Islands,’ Mr. Swinhoe remarks :—‘ I have com- 1)
pared my specimens with Dr. Jerdon’s type from Upper Assam, and with Dr. Sclater’s type from Borneo in
Mr. Wallace’s collection, and find them all to be of the same species.”

The courtesy of Major Godwin-Austen having induced him to permit my copying a drawing representing
the bungalows, or native dwelling-places, under which this bird builds, I am enabled to render the opposite
Plate much more interesting than it could otherwise have been. Such sketches are in the highest degree
useful to the ornithologist; and it is to be regretted that similar illustrations of the breeding-habits of birds | |
are not more frequently made. ii

The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s description and admeasurements of this little Swift :—

‘¢ Above deep sepia-brown, with a slight deep-green iridescence; rump lighter, beneath much brighter ;
wings and tail brownish black, the former with pale inner edges ; between the bill and the eye a whitish spot ;
bill and legs blackish brown, with a pink tinge ; iris deep hazel. |

«Length about 4:5; wing 4°75 ; first quill attenuating to the tip, and 25 in. shorter than the second ; |
tail 2:25, middle rectrices ‘875 shorter than the laterals. |

«<The female is a trifle shorter in the wing, but is otherwise similar to the male.”

Dr. Jerdon’s specimen, from which my figures were taken, was darker than those described by Mr.
Swinhoe; but as he states that he has carefully compared them, I must also consider them identical ; probably |

the examples were procured at different seasons; or the variation may be due to age. 1)

The Plate represents this bird of the size of life.

|
i

|
|
|
|
|

q

APPEAR

Tied,

» Lt fh

By,

rift

ey, 7
bid art ST.

WiGen

DENDROCHELIDON CORONATUS.

Crested Tree Swift.

Hirundo coronata, Tick. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. ii. p. 580.
Macropteryx longipennis, Jerd. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 236.
coronatus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p. 21.—Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii.
sect. 1. Fissirostres, p. 17.
coronata, Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xii. p. 167.
Dendrochelidon schisticolor, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 66, Dendrochelidon, sp. 3.
velatus, Less.—Bonap., Rivista Contemporanea, Feb. 1857, p.

Au. the members of this genus appear to be confined to particular areas, the present species inhabiting the
Peninsula of India, Ceylon, Malasia, and China; its nearest ally, the D. Alecho, Java and Sumatra, and,
more sparingly, the Malayan Peninsula; the D. Wallacei, Macassar ; the D. comatus, the Philippines ;
and the D. mystaceus, the Aru and New Guinea groups of islands.

Of the habits and manners of the whole of these birds but little has been recorded: in this respect,
however, the D. coronatus, being a native of the Peninsula of India, the birds of which have naturally received
a greater share of attention than those of the more remote parts of the country, has been more fortunate
than its congeners ; and the following notes, though meagre, will not be destitute of interest.

“I first observed this species,” says Captain Boys, ‘‘at Mandoo, where, with much difficulty, and only
with No. 1 shot, I succeeded in procuring two males. On the 3rd of June, 1840, I obtained other examples,
which were flying over the deep dell near Suckteysghur, and occasionally came within shot of the top of
the waterfall at that place. I only observed four or five pairs, out of which I shot five birds; the next day
not one was visible. Other specimens were procured in the same locality on the 14th of May and Ist of
June, 1841.

‘This bird flies exceedingly high, affects the tops of high table-lands, and is frequently to be seen
hovering over deep chasms. During flight the long tail-feathers are constantly opened and shut, the motion
closely resembling the action of a pair of scissors.”

Mr. Layard states that it is “generally distributed in Ceylon, but affects the jungles more than the open
country. It usually selects an elevated and leafless branch, from which it sallies in quest of insects ; when
on the wing, it utters a peculiar cry resembling the words ‘ chiffle, chaffie,’ ‘ Klecho, Klecho,’ often repeated.
Sometimes I have heard it utter the same note when at rest, rapidly elevating and depressing the crest.

“T never could find the nests of this species; but the natives assure me they are built in old Luphorbia
trees in the jungles. It appears about Colombo in March, and disappears in December. I shot a young
bird in March; its plumage was green, each feather edged with white, causing the bird to appear as if
covered with scales.”

Lieut. Tickell informs us, in his “List of Birds collected in the Jungles of Borabhum and Dholbhum,”
that this bird flies “in large flocks, but is partially met with hovering over the marshy places of the jungles.
The note resembles the monotonous ‘hia kia’ of the parrot. It disappears in these regions by the end of
March; but I never could trace the direction of its flight.”

“This very elegant Swift,” says Mr. Jerdon, “is only found in the South of India, in high forest jungles
in the neighbourhood of hills. I bave seen it in Goomsoor, at the foot of the Neilgherry Hills, and in
various parts of the jungle of the western coast. It frequently perches on bare and leafless trees. While
on the wing, it has a somewhat loud parrot-like cry, very different from that of the other species. The
elegant frontal crest is frequently raised when the bird is sitting.”

Mr. Blyth states, in the Supplement to his ‘Memoir on the Cypsefide,” that Mr. Layard had informed
him that m Ceylon this species is ‘“ periodical in its appearance, and not very uncommon in a few favourite
localities in the environs of Colombo. It perches readily and continually on trees, sailing off for prey.”
To this Mr. Blyth adds that ‘to the northward it does not appear to occur in the sub-Himalayan region :
Mr. Hodgson never met with it in Nepal; and Capt. Hutton assures us that it does not occur in the Deyra
Doon.”

Independently of examples from India, there are beautiful specimens of this bird in the British Museum,
procured by Mr. Fortune in China, and also from Ceylon. There is rather more chestnut on the throat
and ears of these latter specimens ; in other respects they appear quite the same.

The male has the crown of the head, neck, back, rump, chest, and flanks delicate grey slightly glossed
with green ; over the eye a narrow indistinct stripe of greyish white ; shoulders, wings, and tail dull brownish
green, slightly tmged with blue on the shoulders; tertiaries light grey; centre of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts white ; throat and ear-coverts lively reddish chestnut ; lores black ; bill and legs bluish black ;
soles of the feet reddish white; irides deep brown.

Total length, 83 inches; bill, +; wing, 6; tail, 51; tarsi, 1.

The female is said to be destitute of the chestnut throat and ear-mark, but in other respects to resemble
her mate.

The figures are of the natural size.

|
|

A a i i

‘ “ : } x Myf?

fs

LO.

4

iC

ney
iLA

DON KL

W
AAW

q
IH
A

x ai 5

(

“IN DIRO

D)

Orval & Wattory, inp.

Ee
Zed

JS Goulihinwl Ckichicr, del &é& lth

DENDROCHELIDON KLECHO,

Klecho Tree Swift.

Hirundo Klecho, Horsf. in Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 143.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 293.

¢ Dendrochelidon Klecho, Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 106.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 66, Dendrochelidon, sp. 2.—Ib.
Rivista Contemporanea, Feb. 1857, p. .—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind.
Comp., vol. i. p. 110. |

" Macropterya Klecho, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 54.—List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part 11. sect. 1. Fissi- |
rostres, p. 17.—Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 212; vol. xv. p. 22, and vol. xxiv.
p. 479.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 87.

r Cypselus longipennis, Temm. Pl. Col. 83.

, Macropteryx longipennis, Swains. Zool. Ill., 2nd ser., pl. 74.

Hirundo urbica, Raffles in Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 315.

Apus (Pallestre) Klecho, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. viii. p. 490.

Cypselus Klecho, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 81.

Samber-galeng of the Javanese, Horsfield.

Tur Dendrochelidon Klecho of Java is distinguished from the D. coronatus of India and the D. Wallace: of i
Macassar by the deep green colouring of its head, back, and shoulders; it is also somewhat smaller in size
than either of those birds. Its true habitat is Java and Sumatra; but it is also said to inhabit the Indian
Archipelago and Malacca. I have now before me several specimens lent to me from the East India House
Museum, all of which present the same difference in colour that I have mentioned above, namely, the deep
green tint pervading the upper surface, which in D. coronatus is grey or greenish grey.

Dr. Horsfield, who observed this bird during his residence in Java, mentions that the male has a spot
of chestnut below the ears, which mark is wanting in the female, confirming the accuracy of Mr. Wallace’s
labels as to the sexes of the specimens of another species dissected by him.

The following is the description of an example of this bird which I consider to be fully adult :— i

The male has the crown of the head, back of the neck, and back deep green, slightly tinged with umber-
brown ; lower part of the back and rump greenish grey; throat and under surface deep greenish grey,
becoming much lighter on the centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts; shoulders green ; primaries
bluish green; a patch of greyish white on the tertiaries ; tail green; a spot of dark chestnut on the ear- | i
coverts ; bill and feet black; irides brown.

1

Total length, 8 inches; bill, +; wing, 62; tail, 4%; tarsi, +.

The female is similarly coloured, but has the ear-coverts green instead of chestnut.
A young male which had nearly completed his moulting has the white feathers of the centre of the |

abdomen and under tail-coverts strongly barred with brown, and the shining green of the head, back, and

wings very clear and well-defined. I observe, too, that although the wings are as fully developed and

quite as long as in the adults, the tail is comparatively short, particularly the outer feathers, suggesting the

idea that, like those of our own Common Swallow, these feathers do not attain their greatest length until |

the bird is two or three years old.

The figures are of the natural size.

|
|
|
|
|

———

wh

0,

|

EI, 6

VYALLACI

A

y

=
IZ,
©
=
=
=
oo
=
(=
aa
=
=

alton Lneyp

TZ,

Licllrrramritel & Vs

J boubd andl C Ruchicr, del. ec lit,

DENDROCHELIDON WALLACEL, Gowda.

Wallace’s Tree Swift.

Dendrochelidon Wallacet, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Feb. 8, 1859.

Tue Tree Swifts have, with much propriety, been separated into a distinct genus, now comprising five well-
marked species, which some naturalists may opine might be even still further subdivided, by the separation

of D.mystaceus and D.comatus from the D. Klecho, D. coronatus, and the subject of the present paper, |

D. Wallace. Such a division, however, I do not think it necessary to institute; at the same time I do not
fail to observe its indication in the birds themselves.

After carefully comparing Indian specimens of D. coronatus and Javanese specimens of D. Klecho with
examples of a bird of the same form sent from Macassar by Mr. Wallace, I could come to no other conclusion
than that the latter is a very distinct and undescribed species, and I therefore took the opportunity of
naming the bird D. Wallacez, in honour of its discoverer; not that there is any necessity for me to attempt
to perpetuate the name of this gentleman as a promoter of natural science, since his writings sufficiently
attest his devotion to more than one of its departments.

In size, the D. Wallacet far exceeds both the D. Klecho and the D. coronatus ; besides which, it is readily
distinguished from either of them by the deep blue colouring of its shoulders and wings.

The only information we have respecting this bird is, that it is a native of Macassar, and that the sexes
exhibit the same difference in the colouring of the ear-coverts that is observable in the other species of the
genus.

The male has the crown of the head deep green, with steel-blue reflexions ; lores black; over each eye an
indistinct stripe of greyish white; sides and back of the neck and the upper part of the back green, passing
into grey on the lower part of the back and rump, which colour again passes into the bluish green of the
upper tail-coverts; below the ear a spot of chestnut; shoulders blue, with reflexions of green; primaries
bluish black, with green reflexions ; tertiaries greyish white; tail bluish black; throat and under surface
grey, passing into greyish white on the vent and under tail-coverts ; bill and feet olive.

Total length, 10 inches; bill, from gape to tip, ; wing, 7}; tail, 5}.

The female is destitute of the chestnut ear-spot ; in other respects her colouring is similar to that of her
mate.

The figures are of the natural size.

biorr, Fripp

Ya

N
a
A
IN
s
=)

f

il

DENDROCHELIDON MYSTACEUS.

Bearded Tree Swift.

Cypselus mystaceus, Less. Voy. de la Coq., Ois., t. 22.

Macropteryx mystaceus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 340.—Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii. sect. i.
Fissirostres, p. 17.—Ib. Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 170.

Apus mystaceus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 268.

—— (Pallestre) mystaceus, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. viii. p. 491.

Dendrochehdon mystaceus, Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 166.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 66, Dendrochelidon, sp. 5.—Ib.
Rivista Contemporanea, Feb. 1857, p.

Tuis truly magnificent Tree Swift—the largest member of its genus—was first made known to us by M.
Lesson, and afterwards figured in that fine French work the ‘“‘ Voyage de la Coquille.” In the size of its
body and in the great length of its wings, it so far exceeds all the other known species, that it cannot
possibly be confounded with either of them. Its true habitats are the Aru Islands and New Guinea, to
which countries it would seem to be confined; for, although its lengthened wings and consequent great
powers of flight would lead to the supposition that it enjoys a wide range from these centres, we have no
positive evidence that such is the case, none but the French voyagers and Mr. Wallace having obtained
specimens. It is to Mr. Wallace more particularly that we are indebted for the numerous examples which
have lately been transmitted to this country; these were not only shot, but were also dissected by this
intrepid traveller ; and thus we learn, from the labels which are carefully attached to each specimen, that
those having the chestnut spot on the ear-coverts are males, and those in which this mark is wanting are
females. At some future time we may hope to be gratified by receiving some account of the habits of this
noble bird, as, second to the transmission of specimens, such an account would be of the greatest interest.

The male has the crown, wings, and tail steel-blue, tinged with white or greyish white on the tertiaries ;
the outer webs of the external feathers are also grey near their bases; lores black ; above and below the eye
a stripe of white extending into lengthened plumes; ear-coverts grey, immediately below which is a spot of
chestnut ; back, rump, throat, sides of the neck, chest, and flanks greenish grey; centre of the abdomen and
under tail-coverts greyish white ; bill and legs olive-black.

Total length, 13 inches; bill, 3%; wing, 8+; tail, 8; tarsi, 4.

The female, according to the labels on Mr. Wallace’s specimens, resembles her mate, but is destitute of
the chestnut throat and ear-mark.

The Plate represents both sexes of the natural size.

DENDROCHELIDON COMATUS.
Hooded Tree Swift.

Cypselus comatus, Temm. Pl. Col. 268.

Dendrochehdon comatus, Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 166.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 66, Dendrochelidon, sp. 4.—Ib.
Rivista Contemporanea, Feb. 1857, p. _.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp.,
vol. i. p. 110.

Macropteryx comatus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 340.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 54.—Cat.
of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii. sect. 1. Fissirostres, p. 17.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc.
Calcutta, p. 87.

Apus comatus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 268.

(Pallestre) comatus, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. viii. p. 491.

Or all the known species of the genus Dendrochehdon, the present is perhaps the most ornamental,—its
colouring being more diversified than that of any of its allies, and its snow-white eye-stripes and moustaches
giving it an air of great elegance and beauty. The specimens from which my drawings were made were
procured in Manilla, whence I received them direct. The usual chestnut ear-mark occurs in one of my
specimens, in the other it is wanting; judging from the labels appended to Mr. Wallace’s specimens of
D. mystaceus, this chestnut marking indicates that the former is a male and the latter a female.

In Mr. Blyth’s ‘* Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta,” this gentle-
man gives “ Hastern Malasia and Sumatra?” as the habitats of this bird; while the specimen in the Museum
at the East India House is from Siam, where it was procured by Mr. Finlayson.

The male has the crown of the head, sides of the centre of the throat, the wings, and tail rich steel-
blue, with a greyish-brown tint pervading the shorter primaries and some of the secondaries; some of the
tertiaries white, forming a conspicuous spot on this portion of the wing; lores black ; upper part of the
throat and stripes above and below the eye white, continued in lengthened pencilled plumes ; back, rump,
chest, and abdomen deep olive-brown, with reflexions of light green; a bright chestnut spot on the ear-
coverts ; lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; bill and feet olive-brown.

Total length, 63 inches; bill, 4; wing, 54; tail, 3; tarsi, 2.

The female differs only in having the ear-coverts steel-blue instead of chestnut.

The figures are of the size of life.

ih

a ——— = ——

|
'
|
|
|

pasuba aiehsas Nuseees rece “sien deem ee

Lter, mp.

Wa

ST Gould and HCRichter, del, et lith,

HIRUNDO FILIFERA, steps.

Wire-tailed Swallow.

Hirundo filifera, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 78.—Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of
Zool. Soc., part ii. 1832, p. 83; Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. iii. p. 421.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. 1.
p. 58, Hirundo, sp. 23.—Id. List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. sec. 1, Fissirostres,
p. 25.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus, Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 197.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom i.

p. 338.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 93.—Jerd. Birds of
India, vol. i. p. 159.

filicaudata, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., 1830-31, p. 115.—Journ. Asiat.
Soc. Beng., vol. i. p. 263.

/ ruficeps, Licht. Verg. der Doubl. des Zool. Mus. zu Berl., p. 58.

(Cecropis) filifera, Less. Comp. Buff., tom. viii. p. 499.

Chilidon ruficeps, Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 171.

Wire-tailed Swallow, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vii. p. 309, pl. exili.

Leishra of the Hindoos.

Exzeant in contour as are the members of the Hirundinide generally, 1 question if any Swallow yet

discovered can excel the Hirundo jilifera in this respect, neither is there one among them whose aérial

movements are more graceful. None who have studied the various members of this family, and particularly .

those of the section to which our own Chimney Swallow (Z@irundo rustica) pertains, can have failed to

observe how greatly prolonged are the outer tail-feathers of the males, and that these deeply fork-tailed

birds are characterized also by the elegant proportion of their wings and by a general structure suited for

sustained flight and a variety of aérial evolutions. In some of the species the outer tail-feathers are more

or less broad, while in others they diminish to the thread-like form seen in the present bird.

‘This very beautiful Swallow,” says Mr. Jerdon, “ is found in small numbers throughout India, not in

general ascending mountains to any height, but, according to Adams, occurring rarely in the north-west

: Himalayas and Cashmere. It is more rare in the extreme south of India than towards the north, and is

\ unknown on the Malabar coast, Lower Bengal, and the countries to the eastward. It breeds in old

buildings, on walls, in stone bowries or wells, very commonly under bridges, and in rocks overhanging water,

making a small mud nest open at the top, and laying two or three eggs, which are white, sparingly spotted

with rusty red. I always found the nests single, and we seldom see more than five or six couple in one place.

The Hindustani name is given to it from a supposed resemblance of its thin tail-feather to the rod used for

catching birds with bird-lime, which is called Leishra. It is said also to occur in the north-east of Africa.

“In the northern parts of the country it is very generally spread, and frequents not only the neighbour-

hood of water, but also fields, gardens, and open plains. Its long thread-like tail-feathers are only obser-

vable at a few yards’ distance, and in consequence of this, nine-tenths of the Europeans in India are unaware

4 of its existence. It occasionally perches on trees.”

4 Colonel Sykes remarks that it is ‘very abundant in the Dukhun and very beautiful, with its thread-lke

tail-feathers floating behind when in flight.”

With regard to the reported occurrence of this bird in Africa, I may remark that I am inclined |

to doubt the identity of the Indian and African birds; for fine examples of both now before me appear to

differ too much to admit of their being considered as examples of one and the same species. The Gam-

bian specimens are much smaller, have a lesser amount of rufous colouring on the head, and shorter tails.

As is the case with the Swallows in general, the sexes are alike in colour, but the female is of smaller

size and has the outer tail-feathers much shorter than those of the male.

Crown of the head rich rusty red; lores black; upper surface, wings, and tail glossy steel-blue; throat

and under surface generally pure white; all but the four central tail-feathers with a nearly square spot of

white on the inner web near the tip; irides, bill, and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.

r Wee
a < =

CECROPIS RUFULA.,

Western Mosque-Swallow.

Hirundo rufula, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit. tom. iii. p. 298.—Schlegel, Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., pp. xviii et
41.—Simps. in Ibis, 1860, p. 386.—Tristr. in Ibis, 1867, p. 362.—Jaub. et Barth. de la Lapomm. Rich.
Orn. du Midi de la France, p. 308.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 338, Hirundo, sp. 12.

Mucu diversity of opinion exists among ornithologists as to whether the European, the Indian, the Siberian,
and Japanese birds to which the generic title of Cecropis has been applied are merely local races of one,
or are so many distinct species. If the former be the correct view of the case, then several other birds of
this form inhabiting Africa from north to south, which have hitherto been regarded as species, must also be
considered to be races only. But all these birds, both Asiatic and African, exhibit differences which, although
they may appear trivial to a cursory observer, are nevertheless constant ; and I believe that we shall be correct
in treating them as distinct. In their structure, in the arrangement of their colours and markings, in their
mode of nidification, and in their actions in the air, these birds differ so considerably from the members
of the genus Hrundo, of which the Common Swallow is the type, that in my opinion the late Prince Charles
Bonaparte was quite right in separating them into a distinct genus ; and I therefore unhesitatingly adopt the
term Cecropis he applied to them.

The Cecropis rufula is the European representative of the eastern C. Daurica, from which it differs in
the much lighter colourmg of the breast and rump, and in the almost total absence of striz which are so
conspicuous in the Siberian and Chinese birds. The particulars in which it varies from the Indian and
Ceylonese birds will be found in my accounts of those species. In Europe, and all similar latitudes as far
east as the C. rufula has been discovered, it is a migrant, visiting those countries only in summer. In
Greece, the Holy Land, and Asia Minor it appears to be more plentiful than elsewhere ; in Italy, France, and
Germany it must be regarded as an accidental visitor; and those individuals which are seen still further
northward, as in Heligoland and the one which has been supposed to have occurred in England, must be
considered mere wanderers, going they know not whither. Eastward, it is believed to extend to the confines
of Afghanistan ; but no one has yet observed it in India. As is the case with all the typical Hirundines, little
difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes of the present species ; neither are they subject to any great
change of plumage. As might be expected, its habits and mode of nidification closely resemble those of the
Daurian Swallow, described by Pallas ; and on this part of its economy I cannot do better than transcribe the
interesting accounts published by Mr. Simpson in ‘The Ibis’ for 1860, and by the Rev. H. B. Tristram in
the same work for 1867. Speaking of the bird as seen by him in Western Greece, the former gentleman
says :—‘“‘ It is very singular in its nidification, always fixing its nest under a cave or projecting slab of rock.
In the little Klissoura, and throughout the precipices of Aracynthus, there are plenty of these caves—in
former times a convenient refuge for the Klephts, as they now are for the shepherds tending their flocks
during the winter months. This eccentric Swallow, not satisfied with having a good dry cave all to
himself, must needs construct a long passage to his nest, thus giving it the shape of a retort with the upper
part cut away and the remaining portion glued underneath a flat surface. The entrance is narrow,
but the passage gradually widens till it finally opens into a sort of chamber very warmly lined with feathers ;
here the little fellow and his mate are sure to be most snugly tucked in just after sundown, when they
can’t see to catch any more insects. Escape, therefore, is impossible when a ruthless ornithologist wishes
to capture the pair for the sake of identifying their eggs. No more than one pair are ever seen to occupy
a cave, though the remains of previous nests could occasionally be traced on the roofs. The same pair
appear to return year after year; and their nest, unless injured by shepherd boys during the winter, will
merely require a little touching up to render it again inhabitable. The fact of the same birds returning
was proved by those caves being untenanted where the pair had been captured during the preceding year.
Several nests with eggs were found towards the end of May and beginning of June 1859. Four seems
about the complement; they are quite white, and much resemble those of H. wrbica, which could well be
passed off for them in collections.”

In his notes ‘‘On the Ornithology of Palestine,’ Mr. Tristram, when speaking of the Swallows observed
by him, remarks: “ Very distinct is that charming bird, HZ. rufula, Temm., belonging to a different group
containing ten Old-World species, which have been separated by Bonaparte into a subgenus Cecropis.
This bird does not return to Palestine till the end of March. We obtained our first specimens on the
th. It then scatters itself over the whole country, and in the warmer and more marshy regions is the

predominant species. It is a beautiful bird on the wing, showing its chestnut collar and rump to great

advantage, as it turns continually, flying much more slowly than the Common Swallow, and beating repeatedly

Though feeding in flocks, I never knew this Swallow to breed in

over a more limited extent of ground.
The nest is a beautiful structure,

company, and very rarely were two nests to be found in one cave.
composed of the same materials as that of the House-Martin, but is invariably attached to the flat surface
of the underside of the roof of a cave or vault. It is of the shape of a retort, with a bulb of the size of a
Thrush’s nest, large and roomy, the neck or passage for entrance being sometimes a foot or more in length.
The inside of the clay chamber is warmly lined with feathers. Laborious as must be the construction of
this elaborate edifice, the little architects are very fastidious, and frequently desert two or three half-finished
nests in succession, commencing a new one in the same cavern. A favourite breeding-place is under the
arches of the corridors of the Monastery on Mount Carmel. The eggs are four in number, pure white»
considerably larger than those of the House-Martin, and flatter at the small end.”

Crown of the head, back, scapularies, wing-, and upper tail-coverts deep glossy steel-blue, a few of the
white basal portions of the feathers showing on the upper part of the back; wings and tail deep brownish
black; line over the eye and collar at the back of the neck deep rusty red; rump rusty red on the
upper part, fading into creamy white towards the tail; throat, under surface of the body, and under
wing-coverts, creamy white, with a very fine hair-like line of brown down the centre of each feather; under
tail-coverts tipped with bluish black, greatly increasing in extent on those nearest the tail; bill black ;
feet brownish black. In some specimens an indistinct mark of dull white appears on the centre of the

outer tail-feathers.
The sexes are alike as regards their plumage; but the female is smaller than the male.

The figures are of the size of life.

HC Ruchter

i

‘
i
t
|
{
i
i
{
}
}
if
{
(
{
|
|

S Gould &

CECROPIS DAURICA. HH

Daurian Mosque-Swallow.

Hirundo daurica, Linn. Mant., p. 528.—Id. Syst. Nat., Gmel. edit. tom. i. p. 104.—G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds,
vol. i. p. 57.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part. ii. sect. i. p. 23.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., |
tom. i. p. 339, Hirundo, sp. 14.

——— alpestris, Pall. Itin., tom. ii. App. p. 209. no. 9.—Id. Zooe. Ross.-Asiat., tom. 1. p. 534, pl. 30. fig. 2.

——— Dauurica, Lath. Gen. Ind., vol. ii. p. 576.

——— (Cecropis) daurica, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. viii. p. 498.

Cecropis daurica, Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 174. |

Dauurian Swallow, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 570.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. part i. p. 95.—Lath. Gen. Hist., |
vol. vil. p. 289. I;

Mirundo daiirica, Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p- 255.—Id. Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 287. Hi

I am indebted to the Rev. H. B. Tristram for the very fine examples of this species from which my figures were
\ taken. The representation of the nest is a modification of the drawing published by Pallas in the first
volume of his ‘ Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica.’ It will be seen that the rump of the Daurian Swallow is darker
and more uniform in colour than that of the western Cecropis rufula, and, as noticed in my account of that
species, the striz on the breast are bolder and more clearly defined on a lighter ground ; as Pallas expresses
it ‘“‘subtus corpus lutescente vel sordide albet, rhachibus lineariter nigris striatum.” Strize are also faintly
indicated on the feathers of the wings. In size the two birds are very similar; but I have seen examples
collected by Mr. Swinhoe that are much smaller than those I have figured. Pallas states that the Daurian
Swallow inhabits the Altaian Alps, Dauria, Thibet, and China. Mr. Swinhoe adds to this range by stating
that he found it in Southern China and the island of Formosa; he remarks, however, that the Formosan
bird presents some peculiarities. ‘It is found,” says this gentleman, ‘in the extreme north of China as a
summer resident only; but in the south, where the winter climate is more genial, it stays all the year,
roaming about in small parties during the cold weather, and merely shifting its haunts from exposed to
sheltered localities according to the severity of the season. In Southern China it is by no means so
common as the Chimney-Swallow, and far more locally distributed ; but in Formosa, both north and south, Hi:
it abounds in almost every homestead. Being a resident bird, and not subject to distant migrations, we
should naturally expect to find it liable to some variation through its insular position; and this we do
observe, in the larger form, longer wings and almost entire absence of the red nuchal collar in our bird. The
same facts are observed and indirectly admitted in the variety prevalent in Japan by Professor Schlegel, who
was so struck with the differences offered by the Japanese bird as to make it a subspecies under the name
of Hirundo alpestris Japonica. ‘The variations in the Formosan bird, however, are too trivial to found on
them a new species; and were not the triple nomenclature held in such objection by the majority of modern
naturalists, we could not do better than employ it in this instance. On taking possession of our native house
at Tamsuy, I observed a nest of this Swallow under the rafters in the central hall. It was exteriorly built 1
of specks of mud, like the nests of the Martin, but had a neck-like entrance, giving the whole the form of a We
French flask flattened against the roof; the inside was amply lined with feathers. Pallas’s figure gives a very
good idea of its structure ; the mouth, however, does not always point upwards, but is adapted in form and
direction to the shape of the spot against which it is placed. The pair to which the nest belonged returned |
at the close of March, and in April began to repair it. Towards the end of the latter month the female was

sitting on three white unspotted eggs. The male and female shared the duties of incubation ; but the female
usually sat for the longest time. For the sake of science we let the birds have it all their own way, though
they made a great mess about our small house, and nearly drove us wild with their loud discordant twittering.

“In a ramble one spring morning, at dawn, I saw large numbers of these Swallows perching on some |
high bamboos. The sun was fast dispelling the thick night-fog that still hung low and heavy, and the birds
seemed in high spirits at the return of fine weather. They fluttered from branch to branch, and, as they
regained a footing, rocked backwards and forwards before recovering their balance. It was in April, and
they were all paired, the male being always distinguishable by his larger size and longer tail. In pairs they
sang, or rather twittered, their notes kee-wee-keé, like sounds that might be produced by some metal
instrument sadly out of tane. The male loudly sang his bar, and the female followed in a lower key; the
male then fluttered his wings and began again; the female followed suit. In this manner the whole clump
of tall graceful bamboos looked alive with these birds, and resounded with their strange notes. Some pairs
would start away and pursue one another, at first with a smooth, skimming flight ; then in an excited manner |

0 O 6 . . oan OD
they would stagger along, and, fluttering their wings, sing lustily their notes of love. i)

In a subsequent note Mr. Swinhoe says the bird is “locally distributed throughout China as far as Peking.
In North China it is only a summer visitant ; in South China vagrant during winter. Represented in Japan

and Formosa by larger varieties.”
Crown of the head, back, scapularies, wing-, and upper tail-coverts deep steel-blue, a few of the white bases

of the feathers showing at the upper part of the back; line over the eye, and collar at the back of the neck,
rich chestnut-red ; rump chestnut-red, striated with brown ;. wings and tail blackish brown, glossed with blue ;
under surface pale buff, with a conspicuous streak of dark brown down the centre of each feather ; under
tail-coverts largely tipped with steel-blue; bill black ; feet brownish black.

The figures are of the size of life; the sexes do not appear to differ except in the female being smaller

than the male.

SS — —_
————— ——— = === —~
: = = a = =

SS Sa =

= == S55

= = a = = x
: = = = = =

S
~
ne
5
RS
cx
>
RS
Tonk
oy
i)
~
Ss

CECROPIS ERYTHROPYGIA. q
Indian Mosque-Swallow.

Fr Hirundo erythropygia, Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part li. 1832, p. 83.—Jerd. Madr.
Journ. Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 237.—Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 337. !
:# ——— Mipalensis, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 780. ae i
7 ——— Daurica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calc., p. 198.—Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 160.—
Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-India Comp., vol. i. p. 92. |
5 Masjid Ababil, of the Hindoos, i. e. Mosque-Swallow:

Aut the remarks respecting Indian Mosque-Swallows that have from time to time appeared in various

298 scientific periodicals, have reference to this species, originally characterized by Col. Sykes, and '
ah differing from its western and eastern allies, Cecropis rufula and C. Daurica, with which it has often been | Hi
10 confounded, in its smaller size, and in the striz on the breast being intermediate, or not so apparent as |
14 in the one nor so faint as in the other—characters by which the bird may be at once distinguished, and :
an which tend to confirm the opinion of those ornithologists who regard it as a distinct species. However : i
ais narrowly defined may be the range of the other members of the genus Cecropis, that of the present bird |
1 appears to be a very wide one; for it is said to frequent the whole of India, from the most southern
ase part of the peninsula to the Himalayas, and is, moreover, seen in such countless numbers as to excite |
at the utmost astonishment. Col. Sykes relates that it “ appeared in millions in two successive years in the
wie month of March, on the parade-ground at Poona; but they rested a day or two only, and were never seen a
1" in the same numbers afterwards.” It seems to differ but little in habits and nidification, or in the similarity | Hi
iE of the colouring of the sexes, from its immediate congeners. Dr. Jerdon does not say if it be or be not | |
wie a migrant; in all-probability it merely changes from one district to another at opposite seasons, without |
a leaving the country, its movements being influenced by the nature of the season. Mr. Hodgson states that |
bi aha it ‘‘is the Common Swallow of the central region of Nepal, a household creature, remaining for seven or i Il
wal’ eight months of the year; ” while Dr. Jerdon informs us that he has seen it nesting in Southern India. |
it In Horsfield and Moore’s ‘ Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East-India Company,’ there is a iL
mM note (from whose pen is not stated) which [ take the liberty of transcribing :—
te. ‘This Swallow in general prefers the proximity of jungles. I observed it in those round the Neilgherries
f (and also on the summit of the hills), in various other parts of the west coast, and in the Carnatic, at the |
rt Tapoor pass. In the northern parts of the tableland, however, I have seen it occasionally in the cold /
A weather only, both in the neighbourhood of water and on dry open plains. In the jungles it frequents, it is | /
) often seen seated in great numbers on a tree.” i]

In Dr. Jerdon’s ‘ Birds of India,’ it is stated that ‘This Swallow is found all over India, rarely extending
to Ceylon; but it is more common in hilly or jungly districts than in the open plains. I have seen them ay
in every part of India, from the extreme south to Darjeeling. A few couples, at all events, breed in the
South of India; for I have seen their nests on a rock at the Dimhutty waterfall on the Neilgherries, twenty
or thirty together. I have found one or two nests in deserted out-houses in Mysore; and they are said to |
breed very constantly on large buildings, old mosques, pagodas, and such like; hence the native name of |
Mosque-Swallow, in the South of India; but I rather think there is a considerable increase of their numbers
during the cold weather; and it was, no doubt, at the period of their northward migration that Col. Sykes
saw them in such vast numbers at Poona. From Hodgson’s remarks I conclude that they breed in Nepaul ; tit)
and Adams says that they breed in the North-west Himalayas, migrating in winter to the Panjab. It |
constructs a spherical or oval-shaped mud nest, with a long neck or tubular entrance, of the kind which is |

) called a retort nest; and the eggs are white, faintly marked with rasty-coloured spots. The bird may often |
be seen seated on trees in great numbers. Mr. Elliot says (taking, I imagine, a native idea), “ It flies after
insects, and, when its mouth is full, sits on a tree to devour them.”

Crown of the head, back, scapularies, wing, and upper tail-coverts glossy steel-blue, a few of the white |
bases of the feathers showing on the upper part of the back; wings deep brown, glossed with steel-blue on
the tips of the inner webs; stripe over the eye, collar round the back of the neck, and the rump deep rusty |
u red; tail deep brown, the central feathers glossed with steel-blue; throat, under surface of the body, and |
under wing-coverts creamy white, with a narrow line of dark brown down the centre of each feather; under |
tail-coverts tipped with bluish black, greatly increasing in extent on those nearest the tail ; bill black ; feet
brownish black. In some specimens the red of the rump is much paler than in others, and fades off into |
ereamy white towards the tail-coverts.

In outward appearance the sexes are alike; but the female is somewhat smaller than the male.

The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size. | i

!
|
|

Sa A i a i NO

"
|

=== ——— = ——— = = :
: = : = ~ = ~—— === = = =

A i Ne i ht i i ni nnn

RA .

}

RY TH

PI

Gis

(Y

)
}
J)

CEC

ly ety lily.

d,

Ht kichte,

TGould &

J

Tis

CECROPIS HYPERYTHRA.

Ceylonese Mosque-Swallow.

Hirundo hyperythra, Layard, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xviii. p. 814.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 198.— Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., sec. ser. vol. xii. 1853, p. 170.—Blyth,
Ibis, 1867, p. 306.

However closely allied the Cecropis rufula, C. Daurica, and C. erythropygia may be, the present bird possesses
some very tangible specific characters by which it may at once be distinguished from either of them. The
most prominent of these are the absence of the rufous superciliary stripe and nuchal band, the deep ferru-
ginous chestnut hue of the entire under surface and rump, and the striee which pervade the breasts of all
the Mosque-Swallows being in this instance exceedingly narrow and hair-like. That a bird with such
distinguishing characters should be tolerably common in Ceylon, and yet never be found in the contiguous
parts of India, would excite extreme surprise, did we not find similar instances to occur in other countries :
thus the fact that the Crested Lark, so common at Calais, is scarcely ever seen at Dover, and vice versa with
regard to the Common Wagtail, may be cited as cases in point. So far as we yet know, the C. Ayperythra is
stationary, while, on the other hand, it is well ascertained that at least two or three other Asiatic species are
strictly migratory. It would be as much out of place to go into the subject of migration in the present paper,
as it would be impossible to divine why the C. Daurica is a summer visitant only in Northern China, and the
C. rufula in the Holy Land, why the intermediate species C. erythropygia never leaves India, or the present
species the beautiful island in which it is found; we may speculate upon these points, but we shall be unable
to prove anything respecting them.

I regret to say that the following brief notes from the pens of Mr. E. L. Layard and Mr. Blyth comprise
all the information respecting this species.

“I first discovered this species,” says the former gentleman, ‘‘In November 1849, at Ambepusse, on the

road to Kandy. Ihave since seen it at Putlam, up the central road as far as the hills extend, at Ambegamoa,

and up the Caltura river from Perth sugar-estate to Ratnapoora and Adam’s Peak. It breeds in caverns
and under bridges, and builds a nest of mud attached to the roof. The general shape and size is that of a
small basin, with a round entrance-hole at the top. The lining is composed of fine hay and feathers ; and
the eggs are laid in March. The late Dr. Gardner informed me that a pair built their nest on a ring sup-
porting a hanging lamp nightly used in his sitting-room. They securely hatched their eggs, unscared by
the cleaning or lighting of the lamp; and the young birds returned to the nest every night for about a month
after being fully fledged.”

Mr. Blyth remarks that this species resembles C. erythropygia, but has the entire under parts and the ear-
coverts of the same deep ferruginous hue as the rump, which is deeper in tint than that of C. erythropygia ,
the mesial streaks of the feathers of the lower parts are also less developed. It is permanently resident in
the mountainous parts of the island of Ceylon.

It seems probable that this is the only species of the genus Cecropis found in Ceylon; bat a second may
occasionally occur there; for Mr. Layard mentions, under the head of Airundo Daurica, that he found one
of these birds in the village of St. Pedro, in December, which had probably been driven over from the oppo-
site coast by stress of weather, and was hawking about the street. He fired at and wounded it, but it flew
away. The next day it appeared again in the same place, when he succeeded in killing it, and found that
the shot of the previous day had broken one of its legs. I have no doubt that this was not a C. Daurieca,
as Mr. Layard supposes, but a C. erythropygia.

Head, neck, back, wing-coverts, and upper and tips of the under tail-coverts deep steel-blue ; wings
and tail brownish black, glossed with steel-blue; throat, under surface of the body, axillaries, and under
wing-coverts deep chestnut, with a very fine hair-like line of dark brown down the centre of each feather ;
rump deep chestnut, without strize; under tail-coverts bluish black; bill black; feet brownish black.

The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.

!
|

Se

ae he

DELICHON NIPALENSIS.

Nepaul Martin.
atv Delichon Nipalensis, Hodgs., Moore in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xxii. (1854) pl. lxiii—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 384.

WO Chelidon Nipalensis, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 168.
als “Tris pretty little Martin,” says Dr. Jerdon, “ was only sent by Mr. Hodgson in 1853, from Nepaul.
a I procured it at Darjeeling, at about 4500 feet of elevation, in the valley of the Rungnoo, near the mineral
ite springs. I found it flying over the jungles in large flocks, towards the close of the rains and during the
ijl cold weather.” Mr. Moore remarks that it “ differs from the type of the genus Chefdon in its smaller and
EE more robust bill, in its shorter wings, and in its short and nearly even tail; from Cotyle it is at once distin-
a guished by its plumed feet.”
7) The above is, I believe, all the information that has been recorded respecting this singular and beautiful
hit little Martin, of which there are several specimens in the British Museum, and one in my own, for which I
re am indebted to Dr. Jerdon. The only difference I have observed in the plumage of the specimens that have
weer) come under my inspection is, that the black colouring of the throat appears to be inconstant, some of
of those in the national collection having that part interspersed with white.

| I quite agree with Mr. Moore in the propriety of separating this bird from Chehdon, if I do not in the
Tes anagrammatic character of the name he has proposed as a generic appellation ; but as Dr. Leach’s transpo-
a | sition of the letters forming the word A/cedo into Dacelo among the Kingfishers has been admitted, why
nu | should not that of Chelidon into Delichon be also allowed among the Swallows ?

As the native country of the Nepaul Martin becomes more known to ornithologists, we may hope to acquire

Te ial a detailed account of its habits, actions, and econony, all of which, I apprehend, will prove to be somewhat
peculiar.

Head, neck, back, chin, and lesser wing-coverts glossy bluish black; wings brownish black ; breast,

abdomen, and a band across the rump white; upper parts of the flanks black ; tail black, glossed with blue

on the edges of the feathers ; under tail-coverts bluish black ; bill black; feet brownish black.
The figures are of the size of life.

HYPUROLEPIS DOMICOLA.

Bungalow-Swallow.

Firundo domicola, Jerd. Madr. Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xiii. p. 173.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc.
Calcutta, p. 198.—Jerd. Birds of Ind, vol. i. p. 158.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-
Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 384.—Bulg. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1866, p. 568.—Moore in Proc. of Zool. Soc.,
part xxii. (1854) p. 264.—Mottl and Sclat. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 217.—Blyth in Ibis, 1866,
p. 336.

Te Bungalow-Swallow of India, and the bird (from the Feejee Islands) described by me, in the ‘ Proceedings
of the Zoological Society of London’ for 1856, as Hirundo subfusca, constitute a well-marked division of the
Hirundinide, for which Lesson’s generic appellation of Herse would have been adopted; but that term
having been previously employed, I propose in lieu of it that of Hypurolepis. The two birds above mentioned
differ from most of the Swallows, and particularly from the members of the genera Hirundo and Cecropis, in
the breadth of the bill, in the compact form of the body, and in the shortness of the tail. I conceive that
the Australian Welcome Swallow, Hirundo neowena, should also be placed in this genus, an opinion which
is strengthened by the absence of any thoracic band, and the presence of spots on the under tail-coverts.

It is much to be regretted that but little information respecting the range, habits, and economy of
H. domicola has been recorded by the various writers on ornithology. My own collection contains
two examples, one kindly forwarded to me from India by Dr. Jerdon; the other was obtained by Mr.
Wallace in the island of Lombock. It would be interesting to know if these are the extreme limits of the
range of the species north and south, and if the intermediate countries are favoured with its presence. It
would perhaps be an error to say that the sexes are alike in their plumage and marking ; yet, judging
from the specimens above mentioned, I think it likely that such is the case.

‘* Hitherto,” says Mr. Jerdon, “I have only procured this little species on the Neilgherries, nor has it
been noticed in any other part of India; but in passing hurriedly through Bangalore I saw some Swallows
flying about, which I believe to have been of this species, and some nests in a verandah of a house there,
which must, I think, have also belonged to this bird. It is also found in Ceylon, at Penang and other parts
of Malayana, extending to Java. I found it breeding at Ootacamond, chiefly in deserted bungalows and
outhouses, and also at the Government wooden bungalow at the Avalanche. The nest was small, open at
the top, and profusely lined with feathers: the eggs were white, spotted with reddish brown, and two or
three in number. It also breeds in houses at Newera Elia in Ceylon.”

Captain Bulger states that he found this species “tolerably abundant at Wellington in the Neilgherry
hills, at about 6000 feet above the sea-level, in April and May 1866.”

The late Mr. Mottley records that this bird was brought to him by his hunter from the Dyak in Borneo.

Forehead, chin, throat, and upper part of the breast chestnut-red ; remainder of the head, back of the
neck, back, lesser wing-coverts, scapularies, and upper tail-coverts deep steel-blue ; wings black, slightly
tinged with blue; tail the same, with a mark of white on the inner web, and near the tip, of all but the two
centre feathers ; under surface light brown, the feathers on the centre of the abdomen with paler tips ;
under tail-coverts black, tipped with dull white; bill black ; feet brownish black.

I may remark that but for the slight prolongation of the outer feather on each side, the tail of this bird
might be described as square. .

The figures are of the natural size.

a seine

LAGENOPLASTES FLU VICOLA,
Indian Cliff-Swallow.

Hirundo fluwvicola, Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 161.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 1855, p. 470.—Blanf. in
Ibis, 1867, p. 462.

Cotyle —— ? Adams in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1859, p. 176. no. 58*.

Lagenoplastes empusa, Gould, MS.—Blyth in Ibis, 1866, p. 337.

As not one in twenty of the collections of birds made in India contains an example of this pretty little
Swallow, we may reasonably infer that it is extremely rare or very local in its habitat. It appears to have
been unknown to Colonel Sykes and Captain Burgess, and even to Mr. Blyth. Of the three specimens now
before me, one was obtained by Captain Julian at Kangra in the Punjab, another was kindly sent to me by
Dr. Jerdon, and the third was procured by Mr. W. T. Blanford at Nagpoor. It is doubtless the bird
described by Dr. Leith Adams as inhabiting Cashmere. In size, and in many of its habits, particularly its

mode of nidification, it so closely resembles the Lagenoplastes Ariel of Australia, that I have no hesitation
in regarding it as a second species of that genus. Both these Swallows live in societies, and the
individuals of each breed in close contiguity. The bottle-shaped nests, represented in the plate, have been

figured from description, and not from real nests; but, having had ample opportunities of observing the

nidification of the antipodean species, I believe that they are not very far wrong.
Some little diversity occurs in the three Indian examples above mentioned,—one having an obscure

greyish white spot on the inner web of the external feather, and a still fainter one on the next; two have
the red crown striated, while in the third the strize are obsolete: these may be sexual differences only.
‘I first met with this species,” says Mr. Jerdon, “ near the rivers Sonar and Ken in Bundelkund, breeding

in company on the rocky cliffs overhanging the water; I afterwards found it in one or two localities not
very far from Saugor,—on the Nerbudda, near Jubbulpore,—and also on the Wurdu river, not far from

Chanda. It had not, I believe, been previously noticed by any observer, is both rare and local in its

haunts, and occurs only in small numbers. In several of their breeding-places, probably as many as fifty or
sixty of their retort-shaped nests were crowded close together. When I first discovered them (towards the
end of April or the beginning of May), the birds were busily engaged in breeding; but I could not get at

the nests to procure any of their eggs.”

«I thrice saw colonies of Hirundo fluvicola, Jerdon,” writes Mr. W. T. Blanford in the ‘ Ibis’ for 1867 ;
‘but it is a rare bird. The nests were in every case massed together, as described by Dr. Jerdon in his
‘Birds of India,’ beneath an overhanging bank, below which was deep water. My friend Mr. Fedden, who

was with me in the same district, told me that he met with a colony beneath a waterfall on the Pem Gunga

river, and the birds flew in and out of their nests through the spray. In every case the nests were in
places which would be covered by the river durmg the wet season. I was told by the natives that the birds
keep about the same spot, and return again to their former nesting-place after the rains. This is highly
probable ; for one of the localities was on the Wurdu river, west of Chanda, mentioned by Dr. Jerdon.
The birds appear never to go very far from their nests, and generally keep close to the river, beating for
about half a mile or so up and down, not, however, keeping to the river-bed itself. The eggs are white,
sparingly spotted with claret-colour or nearly pure white. I suspect the birds have two broods in a year—
one in February, the other in April. I found many young birds in the nests at the beginning of March ;
while in April there were eggs in the nests, and the young of the first brood, differing very little from their

parents, were flying about.”

«A small striated Swallow,” says Dr. Leith Adams, ‘is common on the lakes and streams in the Vale of
Cashmere during the summer months, and likewise in the Punjab at certain seasons. Crown rufous,
speckled with narrow black lines; back glossy black ; wings bluish black; rump inclining to white; tail
black, slightly forked ; throat and breast white, with numerous black lines; belly and vent white, with
the black lines more sparingly dispersed ; tarsus naked; inner surface of wing brownish black.”

Crown of the head rufous; back and scapularies deep steely black, some of the feathers of the former
edged with white; wings and tail brown; feathers of the lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts
brown, becoming paler at the tips; under surface white; chin, throat, breast, and flanks streaked with
brown ; under surface of the wing pale brown; bill black; feet blackish brown.

The figures on the opposite Plate are of the size of lile.

MEROPS QUINTICOLOR, Fieit.

Pirik Bee-eater.

Merops quinticolor, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. ade édit. tom. xiv. p. 20.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i. p. 391.
—Le Vaill. Hist. des Guép. pl. 15.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 86, Merops, sp. 11.—
Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus. part ii. sec. i. p. 70.—Jerd. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci. vol. xi.
p. 229.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 163, Merops, sp. 15.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind.
Comp. p. 88.—Moore, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part xxii. 1854, p. 264.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of
Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 57.—Kelaart, Prod. Faun.

_ Zeyl. p. 99.—Layard, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xii. p. 174.
———— urica, Horsf. Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 172.—Swains. Zool. Ill. pl. 8.—Less. Man. d’Orn. tom. u. p. 86.
Leschenaulti, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. tom. xiv. p. 18.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. part 1. p. 391. pl. 239.
fig. 3—Le Vaill. Hist. des Guép. pl. 18.—Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 238.
erythrocephalus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 53.
Pirik, of the Javanese.

‘Tus species, as its name implies, is conspicuous for the varied tints of its colouring ; and if it be less

elegant in form than some others of the Indian Bee-eaters, the greater beauty of its plumage is an ample
compensation for any deficiency in that respect.

I have not as yet seen examples of this bird from the western parts of India, and Mr. Blyth states that it
does not visit Lower Bengal: with these exceptions, it may be said to be universally dispersed over that great
country, the Island of Ceylon, and Java. :

Mr. Jerdon states that he procured a specimen “at the foot of the Coonoor Pass, in dense jungle, and
another in an open forest on the Malabar coast. It pursued insects from a fixed perch, returning after
having catched one; was generally observed seated on a low bough, solitary, or two or three together.”

In Dr. Kelaart’s “ Prodromus Faunz Zeylanice,” it is remarked that the “ JZ. guinticolor, so like M. viredis,

‘s found in the north and north-eastern provinces, where the latter is the species most frequently seen.
It is very amusing to see these birds perched on branches of trees watching for small insects. They are
sometimes seen in small flocks of six or eight, searching for food, which chiefly consists of coleopterous
insects.”

Mr. Layard informs us in his interesting “ Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon,” that ‘the present species
affects the hilly forest region. Here it pursues its insect prey among the lofty tree-tops, seldom descending
to the ground, except in the breeding season, when it frequents steep banks for the purpose of providing a
suitable habitation for its young; this is generally effected by scooping a hole in the soil, to the depth of
about eighteen inches, terminating in a domed chamber, in which the young are hatched on the bare ground.
The eggs, two in number, resemble those of the Kingfisher in shape and colour ; they are hatched in April.”

This species is also included in the list of Malayan birds collected by Dr. Theodore Cantor, and presented
by him to the Museum of the Honourable East India Company.

The sexes are so very similar that by dissection alone can they be distinguished with certainty.

Crown of the head, back of the neck and shoulders dark chestnut-red ; lores and line beneath and behind
the eye black; chin yellow, passing into chestnut on the lower part of the neck, and abruptly terminated by
a narrow transverse line of black; wings yellowish green, with a wash of orange-brown along the edge ;
primaries black ; rump and upper tail-coverts verditer blue ; tail dark green, with a wash of blue on the
central tail-feathers; under surface light green washed with yellow on the breast, and with orange on the
flanks ; bill black; irides red ; feet brown.

The figures are of the natural size.

Hulimundel & Wal: tow, Ine

Sbould and HU Richter, del. et: ith

ol

MEROPS VIRIDIS, Tann.

Hurrial Bee-eater.

Merops viridis, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 182 —Iath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p- 269.—Vieill. Eney. Méth. Orn., part i.
p- 273. pl. 105. fig. 3.—Blyth, Cat: of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Caleutta, p. 53.—Sykes, in Proc. of
Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soe., part ii. p: 82—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 86,
Merops, sp. 10.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. sec. 1. p. 69.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and
Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p: 58.—Bonap. Consp.
Gen. Av., p. 162, Merops, sp. 11.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. 1. p. 84.—
Layard, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xii. 2nd ser. p. 173.
Apiaster Madagascariensis torquatus, Briss. Orn., tom. iy. p. 549. pl. xli. fig. 2.
———— Philippensis minor, Briss. Orn., tom. iv. p. 555. pl. xliii. fig. 2?
Guépier a collier de Madagascar, Buff. PL, Enl. 740.
Gucpier a gorge bleue, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 497.
The Indian Bee-eater, Edw. Nat. Hist. of Birds, part. iv. p. and pl. 183.
Indian Bee-eater, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 672.—Penn. Gen. of Birds, pp. 16, 62. pl. vu.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 156.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 122.
Merops Lamareki, Cuv. Regn. Anim. 1829, tom. i. p. 442.
Orientalis, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 134 ?
Coromandus, Lath, Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 135.
Indicus, Jerd. Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 227.—Blyth, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xii. p. 93.
torquatus, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 82.
. Jerrugineiceps, Ib. p. 82.
Le Guépier a gorge bleue, ou Le Guépier Lamarck, Levaill. Hist. Nat. des Guép., t. 10.
Le Guépier jaune, de la cote de Coromandel, Sonn. Voy., ii. p. 213. pl. 119 ?
Hurrial and Putringa, Hindoos, Jerdon.
Bans-putiur (“ Bamboo-leaf’’), Hindoos, Blyth, Dr. F. B. Hamilton.
Monagyee, Aracans, Blyth.

Putinga, Capt. Boys.

*

Turis species of Bee-eater enjoys a far wider range of habitat than any other member of the family with
which I am acquainted. I have at this moment before me specimens from nearly every part of the Peninsula
of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and others from the island of Ceylon; the Zoological Society
of London possesses a specimen from the Mauritius, which so closely accords with those from India, that I
cannot consider it to be different ; Dr. Riippell includes it in his ‘ List of the Birds of North-Eastern Africa,’
and, as will be seen in the synonyms given above, Buffon figures it as a bird of Madagascar, from which
country, however, I have not myself as yet seen an example. Specimens from all these countries closely agree
in size and in their general admeasurements, but those from very distant localities offer some shight differences
in the colouring of their plumage : for instance, specimens from Nepaul have the crown of the head and the
back of the neck more strongly washed with reddish-brown than others from the more southern parts of the
Continent ; in like manner, specimens from Egypt accord with Indian ones in size, but have the filamentous
portion of the central tail-feathers longer, and no trace of the blue on the throat,—that part being of the
same rich golden-green as the head, a hue which also pervades the upper part of the tail.

Although so generally dispersed over India, the bird seems to be subject to the law of migration, or at
least, to a change of residence, according as circumstances may be favourable to the production of the
_ requisite supply of food; hence in Scinde, during the hot months of summer, when the vegetation is parched
up and insect life all but absent, the bird is not to be found in that country. Ina note on Scindian birds
addressed to. me by my son, Dr. Gould, dated Ghiznee, October 1854, he says, ‘The monsoon being now
over, birds are beginning to return, and Bee-eaters, Shrikes, Hoopoes, Stone-chats, Wheat-ears, Willow-
wrens, and many other species are now appearing amongst the rocks, where a month since nothing but a lark
was to be seen ; and Terns, which could only be found at sea, now come wandering over the land and hunting
up and down in search of dragon-flies and other insects, which are now numerous.”

“This bird,” says Mr. Blyth, ‘is extremely common, but disappears in the rainy season. It breeds in
the neighbourhood of Calcutta, as I have had specimens br ought me with eggs ready to lay, in the month of
March. The general habits of this bird are those of a Fly-catcher, but it fr equently hawks for insects on the
wing, many together, like swallows.”

Mr. Jerdon states, that ‘This well-known and common bird is spread in numbers over all India. It

é

generally hunts, like the true Fly-catcher, from a fixed station, which is either on the top or upper branch of

a high tree, or on the branch of a shrub or hedge, a bare pole, a stalk of grain or grass, or some old
building. Here it sits looking eagerly around, and on spying an insect, which it can do a long way off,
captures it on the wing with a distinct snap of its bill, and then returns to its perch, generally sailing
slowly with outspread wings, the coppery burnishing of its head and wings shining conspicuously in the
sun-beams. Sometimes it hunts alone, at others in small parties, seated near each other. Frequently it
captures one or two insects before it returns to its perch; and in the morning and evening considerable
numbers are offen seen, sometimes in company with swallows, hawking actively about. The Bee-eater also
often changes its perch, taking up a fresh one at some distance. It has a peculiar, loud, yet rather pleasant
whistling note, which it often repeats in the morning and evening when gathered together. In the bare
table-land it generally retires to some secluded and jungly district for the purpose of breeding, which it is said
to do in holes in ravines. It sometimes picks an insect off the ground, or off a flower or branch. I have
often seen this bird collect towards sunset in small parties on a road, and roll themselves about in the sand
and dust, evidently with great pleasure.” . ,

From Dr. Horsfield’s valuable ‘ Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East India Company,’ we learn
that “Mr. C. W. Smith, in his MS. notes, says, ‘Their time of incubation is the month of June; and for
months after they are hatched, the whole brood congregate, and swim about with the swiftest and most entire
movements through the air, making short dips, and returning to the topmost twig from which they took
flight: durimg these evolutions, they are busily employed in snapping up the insects.’” | ,

Mr. Pearson informs us that “‘The Green Bee-eater has the power of gliding along for some distance
without closing its wings, so that its flight consists of two parts,—a rapid commencement, in which the wings
flap rapidly; and a quick glide, with the wings and tail fully expanded. Its motion, especially in this latter %

7

position, is extremely elegant.”

I find a figure of this species among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, and the following brief
remarks among the accompanying notes :—

‘The sexes are alike: the young are all dull green: some have the forehead gilded.

«Common from Calcutta to the Himalayas, and in the Sagur and Nurbudda territories. Killed at
Allahabad, Mar. 19, 1832.”

Captain R. C. Tytler remarks that the little green Merops viridis is very common at Barrackpore.

The following notice of this bird occurs in the MS. of Capt. Boys :—

«The beauty of the plumage of this lively and active little bird tends much to enliven an Indian scene.

LY

It darts with celerity on any passing insect, and returns with its captive to the twig whence it started, and
which in the earlier parts of the morning is usually on the sunny side of some tall shrub or tree, and on the
shady side during the heat of the day. Its note is monotonous, between a chirp and a twitter, and only
emitted while the bird is on the wing. It is common all over the eastern parts of India, and as low down
as Sultanpore, where I shot examples at the end of September 184]. I have not seen it at Shirkarpore,
and only as low down the Indus as Gothku. I observed it to be numerous at Ferozepore in May 1846.”

And lastly, Mr. Layard, im his ‘ Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon,’ informs us that there, ‘‘ This species
is confined to the open plains of the maritime districts. I have seen it at Trincomalee and Hambantotte,
and traced it from Chilau to Mulletivoe. I am not aware if it be found near Columbo or in the interior,
where the JZ. Philippinus and M. quinticolor appear to replace it. ‘

“It delights in the neighbourhood of water, over which it hunts for insects. I have even seen it take
them from off the surface, which it has struck with its breast in the endeavour. It is a much bolder bird
than either of the other two, often allowing of approach within a few feet before seeking its safety in flight.

“ Merops viridis roosts in large flocks, always returning to the same tree for successive months, and
usually retires before five o’clock in the evening, whereas 14. Philippinus flies till dark.”

Head, upper surface and wings green, with a wash of golden-brown on the crown and the back of the
neck ; primaries and secondaries rufous, washed with green on the outer webs and tipped with brownish-
black; tertiaries green; under surface of the wing fawn-colour ; lores and ear-coverts black ; under surface |
grass-green, with a wash of blue on the throat and a conspicuous streak of black, ending in a point on each
side, across the chest; tail green, the lateral feathers margined internally with ashy; all with dark shafts,
and the elongated portion of the two central feathers black ; irides crimson ; bill black ; feet purplish-grey.

The sexes offer no perceptible difference in their colouring, but the young differ in being destitute of the
filamentous prolongations of the middle tail-feathers.

The foremost figure in the Plate is of the natural size, the other is a little reduced.

/

alton, Lp

Unrandel &W

We

Li

S, Liaw

us

ne i

(

LN

Y
Sa

)

1

) Tf

)
}

4

Tf
}

PALIT

oy
SS

>

}

q
A

M

A

ot itty,

(el

Aker

WM)

J Gold and UR

MEROPS PHILIPPINUS, Linn.

Philippine Bee-eater.

Merops Philppinus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 183.—Ib. Gmel. Edit., tom. i. p. 461.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i.
p. 271.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 275.—Gray, Cat. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. sec. 1.
p. 69.—Ib., Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson,
Esq., p. 57.—Jerdon, in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 228.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Asiat. Soc. of Caleutta, p. 52.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 86.—Layard,
Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xii, 2nd ser. p. 173.
Apiaster philippensis minor, Briss. Orn., tom. iv. p. 560. pl. xliii. fig. 1.
Grand Guépier des Philippmes, Buff. Pl. Enl. 57.
Guépier vert a queue @azur, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vi. p. 404.
Philippine Bee-eater, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 674.—Shaw, Gen. Zool, vol. viii. p. 165.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol.
iv. p. 129.
Merops Daudim, Cuv. Regn. Anim. (1829) tom. i. p. 442.
typicus, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc. (1844) p. 82.
Javanicus, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 171.—Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 294.—Gray
and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 86, Merops, sp. 9.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p- 162, Merops,
sp. 14. #

Javan Bee-eater, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 132.

Kachangan, Javanese, Horsfield.

Biri-birt or Barai-barai, Sumatrans, Raffles.

Berray-berray, Malays, Eyton.

Boro-putringa, Hindoos, Dr. F. B. Hamilton.

Bans-putter, Bengalese, Ib.

Putrainga, Capt. Boys.

Kattalan cooroovi, Mal.; lit. “ Aloe Bird,” (from a fanciful resemblance in the tail of the bird to the aloe plant,)
Layard.

Tuis species of Bee-eater, although less common than the Hurrial (erops viridis), is nevertheless very
generally dispersed over the Continent of India, with the exception of Scinde and the North-Western
provinces, where I believe it is seldom and perhaps never seen; in the Madras Presidency and Ceylon it is
very common, and in Tenasserim and the Malay countries generally, it is still more numerous ; most of
the collections from Singapore contain examples; it is also found in Java and Sumatra, and, as its name
implies, in the Philippines. It is a very fine and elegantly formed species, and if its markings be less strongly
defined than in some other members of the genus, it must still be one of the most showy and attractive birds
of its native forests, particularly when seen m such numbers as are mentioned by Mr. Jerdon in the following
note, which, as well as the others I have taken the hberty of transcribing, I have thought it but right to give
in the words of the respective writers.

«This bird,” says Mr. Jerdon, “ prefers a well-wooded country, and I have seen it in Goomsoor in open
parts of the jungle, and on the west coast occasionally in similar situations. It is almost always found in
small parties seated on the tops of high trees, frequently among wet paddy-fields, and in general, perhaps,
making a much longer circuit than the JZ. viridis, capturing several insects before returning to its perch.
I have on one or two occasions seen it perched on a low palisade overhanging some water, and every now
and then picking an insect off the surface. I once saw an immense flock of them at Caroor, in the Carnatic
(Coimbatoor district), and in the beginning of March there were many thousands of them perched on
the lofty trees lining the road there, which sallied forth for half-an-hour or so, making a great circuit before
returning. These birds were most probably those which had been spread over great part of that country,
now collected to migrate into a more wooded region during the approaching hot season, when insect life is
scarce. Like the WZ. viridis, this has a loud and pleasing sort of whistle, but more full and mellow.”

‘“‘T first observed this bird,” states Capt. Boys, ‘‘at Mandoo in Malwa, in the month of May 1837; since
then I have seen it at Cawnpore, Sultanpore and at Ferozepore, where, on the 17th of May 1846, I killed

——— a NNN cee

three at one shot, which, evidently tired from their transit, were packed close to each other on a prominent
twig of a mimosa, in the compound of my garden. This bird builds in holes of steep banks near rivers.
At Cawnpore it has taken possession of a steep bank, in the face of which it has perforated numerous holes.
It flies exceedingly high, and frequently utters a little chiruk-chiruk. It goes forth of a morning and returns
to these holes at night in great numbers, but does not fly in flocks, though many may be observed in the
air at one time.”

Mr. Layard, in his ‘ Notes on the Ornithology of Ceylon,’ informs us that “this Bee-eater is very common
throughout the island durmg the period of its visitation; it is the harbinger of the Snipe, and appears about
the middle of September.

“It frequents open fields, perching on fences, or on the tops of low bushes, always choosing a dry projecting
twig from which to dart at any insect that may pass by, returning with an elegant sailing flight ; before the
prey is devoured it is beaten against the perch till sufficiently broken to be swallowed entire. In the evening
it frequently pursues insects after the manner of swallows, uttering the while a pleasing chiruping note, and
soaring to a great height in the air.”

Capt. R. C. Tytler mentions that at Barrackpore, it ‘1s a well-known cold weather visitor, and is less
common than the JZ. viridis.”

Mr. Blyth has “been informed that J. Pdilippinus may occasionally be seen in the vicinity of Calcutta,
but is rare.”

A figure of this species occurs among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, with the following note :

“Futtehgurh, Oct. 11, 1833.—Does not appear to be near so common as WM. viridis. The colours vary
in every light between blue, green, bronzed, gilded, &c.”

Latham mentions that ‘it is sometimes caught alive, and that attempts have been made to keep it in
cages ; but it seldom survives long, as it feeds only on the wing and on living insects.”

Head, neck, back and wing-coverts coppery-green; lores, stripe beneath the eye and ear-coverts black,
bounded above, from the nostrils to the centre of the eye, by a narrow streak of verditer-blue, and below by
a broader streak of blue; rump and upper tail-coverts greenish-blue ; primaries dark brown, margined
externally with coppery-green at the base and blue-green towards the end, and tipped with brownish-black ;
secondaries rufous, margined externally with coppery-green and tipped with brownish-black ; tertiaries
bluish-green ; tail bluish-green with brownish-black shafts, the elongated portion of the two central feathers
black; chin yellow; throat deep chestnut; sides of the neck and breast coppery-green, gradually passing
into grass-green on the abdomen, which again passes into pale blue on the vent and under tail-coverts ; under
surface of the wing deep fawn-colour ; irides deep red; bill black; feet purplish-black.

So little difference occurs in the outward appearance of the sexes, that I question if actual dissection must
not be resorted to, to distinguish the one from the other.

The figures are of the natural size.

e

Hiceliver a

i

NYCTIORNIS ATHERTONI.

Blue-throated Nyctiornis.

Merops Atherton, Jard. and Selb. Il. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 58.

Nyctiorms ceruleus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. Dp. oa0:

Amherstiana, Royle, Il. Him. Bot., vol. i. p. Ixxvii.

Bucia Nipatensis, Hodgs., Journ. Asiat. Soc., vol. v. p. 360.

Alcemerops paleazureus, Less.

Merops ? cyanogularis, Jerd. in Madras Journ. Lit. and Sc., vol. ii. p. 229.

—— Assamensis, McClell.

Nyctiornis Atherton, McClell. in Proc. Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 155.—Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. vi. p. 450.—Gray and
Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 87.—Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by
B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 58.

Alcemerops Athertonti, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 52.

Bucia Athertoni, Blyth in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x. p. 922.

Napophila Atherton, Blyth in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 104.

Tue fine bird forming the subject of the present memoir was first described and figured in the ‘“ Ornitho-
logical Illustrations” of Messrs. Jardine and Selby, who assigned to it the specific appellation of Athertoni,.
as a tribute justly due to the memory of the late Lieut. J. Atherton, of the 13th Light Dragoons, for his
exertions in the cause of Ornithological science. According to the Notes of this gentleman, it inhabits
the interior of India, and feeds by night, at which time it is very noisy, frequently repeating the
short cry of curr-curr. These nocturnal habits are, however, somewhat problematical, as neither Mr.
Hodgson, Capt. Boys, nor any other observer with whose notes I am acquainted, make mention of them.
The parts of Asia most frequented by the Nycteorms Athertoni, are the warmer and temperate portions of
Northern India, the countries of Deyra Doon, Nepaul, Assam and Aracan: Mr. Blyth states that it is also
found in Tenasserim and Southern India, from which latter country, however, I have never seen examples.
Every account states that it inhabits the dense jungles, and justifies the conclusion that it is very solitary
in its habits, which, moreover, appear to be very similar to those of the Trogons. Mr. Hodgson, in his
Notes on this species in the ‘‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” speaking of the bird in the plural,

29

says they “‘are of rare occurrence, and are solitary woodlanders ; ” they “are found in the lower and
central regions of Nepaul, but seldom or never in the northern. The Nepaulese call them Bukay-chera ;
chera being merely a corruption of chzza, or bird.

«These birds feed principally on bees and their congeners, but they likewise consume great quantities of
scarabei and their like. They are of dull staid manners, and never quit the deepest recesses of the forest.

‘In the Raja’s shooting excursions, they are frequently taken alive by the clamorous multitude of sports-
men, some two or more of whom single out a bird and presently make him captive, disconcerted as he is by
the noise.”

“This beautiful bird,” says Capt. Boys, ‘“ has a peculiarly wild note, and is very difficult of approach. I
never obtained but one specimen, and that was procured at considerable risk, as the khud up which I fol-
lowed it was a resort for wild animals of all kinds ; indeed, while engaged in its pursuit, a leopard set up
his hideous snarling from the opposite side of the khud; my servant quietly walked off unperceived, and it
was not until I had brought down the bird that I was conscious of being alone: having no desire to meet
the leopard, who had been roused by the firing, I walked away as quietly but as quickly as possible. The
khud is an awkward one, N.W. of Bumourie, with a small stream running through it. Many species of
Woodpecker abound in the neighbourhood.”

The sexes, when they have attained their fully adult plumage, are so similar that they can only be distin-
guished by the smaller size of the female; the youthful dress, on the contrary, is characterized by a uni-
formity of tint on the upper surface, and by the absence of the blue gular plumes, which renders their im-
maturity very conspicuous.

Crown of the head verditer blue; cheeks, sides of the neck, all the upper surface, wings and tail sap
green ; down the centre of the throat and neck a number of long pendent feathers, of which those on the
throat are verditer blue, and those on the breast deep bluish green margined with verditer blue ; under
surface of the wings and tail deep buff; under surface buff streaked with dull green; irides reddish brown ;
bill blue-grey ; legs pale green in front, light brown behind.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, on the Dictamnus Himatayanus.

I
{||

AE HHHH|

NYCTIORNIS AMICTUS.

Red-throated Nyctiornis.

Merops amictus, Temm. Pl. Col. 310.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 237.—Ib. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 85.
Nyctiorms amictus, Swains. Zool. Il., 2nd ser. vol. ii. pl. 56.

— amicta, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 87.

Alcemerops amicta, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 52.

Very few of the many gaily coloured Insessorial birds, of which the gorgeous Ind can boast, have greater
claims to our notice than the Nyctiornis amictus, whose delicate blossom-coloured head, and lengthened gular
plumes of rich scarlet, offer a strong contrast to the green colouring of its body, and render it an object of
singular beauty. In size and form it so closely resembles the NV. Atherton, that in the absence of all in-
formation on the subject, we may assume that the habits and economy of the two species are equally
similar; the countries inhabited by them are, however, distantly separate; the great stronghold of the
latter being in the northern, and that of the present in the southern provinces of India ; the Malacca penin-
sula and Sumatra being the only countries in India proper whence I have seen specimens. In Sumatra it is
common ; and it was from thence, according to M. Temminck, that the first specimens seen in Europe were
sent by MM. Diard and Duvaucel to the Museum at Paris ; two other examples being transmitted nearly at
the same time to the ‘“‘ Musée du Pays Bas” by M. Van Den Berg, the Netherlands resident at Paddang.
Few of the many extensive collections, so frequently sent to this country from Sincapore, are without ex-
amples of this fine species, whence we may infer that it is very common in the forests where those collec-
tions are made, and which in all probability are in the immediate neighbourhood of the flourishing port
where they are shipped.

As is the case with the Myctiornis Athertoni, the adults of both sexes offer but little difference in their
plumage, while in the young of the year the forehead and throat are of the same colour as the upper sur-
face ; of course in the transition state a parti-coloured plumage is the natural result, and in this state speci-
mens may be seen in the Museum at Leyden and elsewhere.

Base of the bill surrounded by a narrow mark of verditer-green ; forehead beautiful lilaceous, tinged
posteriorly with bluish ; sides of the neck, all the upper surface, wings and tail grass-green ; down the centre
of the throat and breast a series of pendent feathers, of which those*on-the throat are rich scarlet, and those
on the breast very dark green, edged with rich scarlet ; under surface of the wings and tail yellowish buff,
the latter largely tipped with glossy black which is not perceptible on the upper surface, except on the edge
of the interior webs of the lateral tail-feathers ; under surface pale green, becoming still paler on the vent.

The accompanying Plate represents two birds in the adult livery at the size of life, on the Gossypium

herbaceum.

mat
{dol al

NM IN

“Mall {| I

\

‘)

aK

'

Wl
NUE Yea
did

Walter, Lrap.

We HU bichie; dd et lilfy,

Coul

&

TNH

MEROPOGON FORSTENL
Forsten’s Bee-eater.

Merops Forsteni, Temm. in Mus. Lugd.—Schl. De Dierk., fig. at p. 53.—Idem, Mus. des Pays-Bas. Merops, sp. 8.
—Meyer, Journ. fiir Orn., 1871, p. 231.

Meropogon Forsteni, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 164.—Wall. Ibis, 1860, p. 142.—Wald. Trans. Zool.
Soc., vol. viii. pp. 42, 111.

Nyctiorns (Meropogon) Forsteni, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 98.

For many years a single specimen of this showy and fine Bee-eater graced the Museum at Leyden, and
remained the only individual that had reached Europe, until Dr. Meyer recently rediscovered it and added
additional specimens to our collections. That it should have escaped the researches of Mr. Wallace, whose
perseverance as a collector has been unequalled by any traveller who has braved the dangers of the islands
of the Eastern Archipelago and New Guinea, is very surprising, the more so as, to use his own words, he
had set his heart upon obtaining it. Much credit, therefore, is due to Dr. Meyer for supplying us with
additional examples, and for giving us a few brief details respecting its habits, which will be found below,
quoted from the ‘ Journal-far Ornithologie’ for 1871.

A difference of opinion has arisen among ornithologists as to the propriety of separating this bird from
the genus Merops and making it the type of a new one. Some would place it with Myctiornis: but Lord
Walden has clearly shown that it possesses characters not found in that genus nor in Merops ; and I for one
quite agree with the late Prince Charles L. Bonaparte and his Lordship in generically separating it from
both. Lord Walden’s remarks (comprised in his very valuable memoir on the birds known to inhabit the
Island of Celebes, published in 1872, in the eighth volume of the ‘ Transactions of the Zoological Society of
London ’) are as follows :-—

‘This species has the first primary half the length of the second, which is a little shorter than the third.
The third and fourth are longest, and equal. ‘The fifth is somewhat shorter than the third and fourth, but
longer than the second. In the structure of the wing, therefore, it differs from both .Werops and Melitto-
phagus, but agrees with Nyctiornis. The grooved culmen of Myctiornis is not present; but a shallow channel
extends from the base of the maxilla, on both sides of the culmen, for two thirds of its length. This cha-
racter is not possessed by either yctiornis, Merops, or Melittophagus. 'The rectrices are truncated, as in
Nyctiornis; but the middle pair are elongated, as in Merops, and closely resemble in form and proportion
those of JZ. philippensis. The feet are those of the family. The elongated pectoral plumes resemble in
character the same feathers in Nyctiornis. Altogether JZ. Fosteni may be regarded as a link uniting Mycti-
orms to Merops, but most nearly allied to Nyctiornis.”

Lord Walden remarks in addition that “the African species which most nearly resembles JZ. Forsteni in
the graduation of the quills and the formation of the rectrices, the middle pair excepted, is MZ. bullockotdes,
Smith.”

“In the year 1840,” says Dr. Meyer, ‘‘Forsten found at Tondano, in Northern Celebes, a bird which
Schlegel subsequently described as Merops Forsteni. 'The single specimen which arrived at Leyden was the
only one that had then reached Europe; and this beautiful bird remained for a long time a desideratum to
ornithologists from its rarity, and especially on account of its resemblance to another species, from Western
Africa. The authorities at Leyden gave themselves no end of trouble in endeavouring to obtain additional

specimens, Rosenberg remaining on the spot where the first was found for a considerable time with that

especial object, but all in vain. I have now at last succeeded in killing several males and females in the
neighbourhood of Rurukan, where Wallace had established a collecting-station. In a state of nature the
bird keeps in deep, hardly accessible woods, perches on the highest trees, and has all the habits of the JZe-
ropide. It is by no means rare, but difficult to find, owing to its retreating into the thick woods. To the
natives it is unknown ; and it was only after many vain endeavours that I succeeded in obtaining the specimens
above mentioned.”

The sexes, which are alike in colouring, may be thus described :—

The lengthened feathers of the crown, cheeks, throat, and breast rich deep blue; upper surface of the
body, wings, and upper tail-coverts deep grass-green; two centre tail-feathers a somewhat richer green,
tinged with blue towards their tips; lateral tail-feathers deep chestnut-red, narrowly edged throughout their

_ entire length with grass-green ; back of the neck dark brown; abdomen green, suffused with brown on the

vent and under tail-coverts ; bill black; irides crimson; feet slate-colour.
The figure is of the natural size. :

a

h

Walier Inrp

Hart, del et lithy,

AT
¥,

J Gould & ¥

ACTENOIDES HOMBRONI.

Hombron’s Kingrfisher.

Actenoides hombroni, Bp. Consp. i. p. 157 (1850).—Reichb. Handb. Alced. p. 36, t. eccexxii. fig. 3147 (1851).
Bp. Consp. Volucr. Anis. p. 9 (1854).—Walden, Tr. Z. 5. ix. p. 155 (1875).
variegata, Hombr. & Jacq. Voyage Péle Sud, Zool. iii. p. 101 (1853).

Halcyon hombroni, Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 93 (1869).—Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. p. 221, pl. 84.

{ wave the greatest satisfaction in presenting my readers with a figure of this beautiful Kingfisher, inas-
much as it is evident from the plate of the bird given in Mr. Sharpe’s ‘Monograph’ that he was unacquainted
with the adult plumage. We learn from his book that personally he had never seen an example of the
species, but had procured a drawing of the original type from M. Huet, and had reproduced it in his ‘ Mo-
nograph.’ Independently of this mode of procedure being somewhat unsatisfactory, the original
specimen appears to me to be immature; and hence I believe that I am now giving for the first time a figure
of the full-plumaged bird. For the opportunity of doing this I am indebted to Professor Steere, who shot
the specimen in the island of Mindanao. I am also indebted to Mr. Bowdler Sharpe for the following de-
scription of it, taken from his paper on Dr. Steere’s birds in the ‘Transactions’ of the Linnean Society :—

“Adult male. Head and nape bright blue, more brilliant on the sides of the head, over the eye, and on the
nape; round the latter a narrow line of deep black ; ear-coverts tawny chestnut ; along the lower line of
the lores a streak of black feathers reaching below the eye and widening behind the latter, being here
shaded with blue ; cheeks bright blue, forming a broad band; sides of neck and hinder part of the latter
deep tawny, varied with narrow black edgings to the feathers ; mantle blackish, mottled with tawny spots,
these being subterminal, with a narrow black fringe ; middle of back, and scapulars and wing-coverts, green
with a slight shade of verditer, each feather having a distinct subterminal spot of ochraceous buff; quills
blackish, externally washed with greenish, the primaries edged with ochraceous, the secondaries with the
same subterminal spot of ochre as on the wing-coverts ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts bright
silvery cobalt, the sides of the back and the lateral coverts blackish washed with blue; tail-feathers deep
blue with black shafts; throat white slightly washed with tawny; rest of under surface deep tawny,
whiter on the centre of the abdomen, the breast-feathers with narrow, nearly obsolete, blackish margins ;
thighs externally blackish, internally deep tawny; feathers at sides of vent, adjoining sides of lower back,
deep blue, the outer web more or less ochraceous ; under wing-coverts and axillaries deep tawny; the quills
blackish below, edged with pale tawny buff along the inner web; bill coral-red, the culmen black (in skin);
iris hazel.

“Total length 11-3 inches ; culmen 2:0, wing 4:95, tail 4:15, tarsus 0°75.”

The bird is represented, in the accompanying Plate, of the size of life.

wp.

if

Walter

J Gould & WHart del et: lithy

ACTENOIDES LINDSAYL.

Lindsay’s Kingfisher.

Dacelo lindsayt, Vigors, P. Z.S. 1831, p. 97.—Eyd. & Soul. Voy. Bonite, p. 100, pl. 7 (1841) —Schl. M. P.-B.
Alced. p. 23 (1863).

; lessont, Vigors, P. Z.S. 1831, p. 97.

Halcyon lindsayi, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 79, pl. 27 (1846).—Id. List of Fissirostres in B. M. p. 52 (1848).—Bp.
Consp. i. p. 154 (1850).—Cass. Cat. Hale. Phil. Mus. p. 5 (1852).—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 93 (1869).—
Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. p. 217, pl. 82 (1874).

Paralcyon lindsayi, Reichenb. Handb. Alced. p. 36, Taf. ccccxxi. figs. 3143-44 (1851).—Bp. Consp. Vol. Anis.
p. 9 (1854). ;

Astacophilus lindsayi, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. i. p. 162.

Actenoides lessoni, Hartl. J. f. O. 1854, p. 64.

Alcedo lindsayi, Martens, J. f. O. 1864, p. 18.—Id. Preuss. Exped. Ostafr. p. 189 (1865).

Actenoides lindsayi, Walden, Tr. Z. 8. ix. p. 156.

In size Lindsay’s Kingfisher is intermediate between Actenordes concretus and A. hombrom. In colouring
it also differs from both, and is to be distinguished at once by its scaly breast, the feathers of which are
white edged with green. Nothing has as yet been recorded concerning the habits of this Kingfisher, which
still remains a rare bird in our collections. It is, however, apparently an inhabitant of the island of Luzon,
whence come the very fine examples which I have figured in my Plate. The following description is taken
from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘ Monograph of the Kingfishers’ :— '

‘‘ Head olive-green, washed with clearer green, especially over the eye; forehead and lores, with a stripe
extending backwards over the eye, tinged with buff; sides and back of the head beautiful verditer, a mous-
tachial stripe also of the same colour; ear-coverts and a narrow line of feathers running round the back of
the head black; a line extending from below the eye and encircling the neck so as to form a collar, as well as
the entire throat, rich cinnamon; upper part of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts dull green, each
feather spotted at the tip with ochre; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts bright green, each
feather mesially streaked with ochre; quills brown, buff at the base of the inner web, externally edged with
buffy olive, especially on the secondaries ; tail olive-brown, tipped with ochre; under surface white, breast
and flanks broadly edged with greenish brown, giving a scaly appearance ; bill black, the lower mandible
and a line on the upper mandible yellowish; feet olive-brown. Total length 9°6, culmen 1-8, wing 4°3,
tail 3-6, tarsus 3°6.

« Female.—Head dull olive-green, with a circlet of verdigris encircling the head from above the eye; a
line of feathers from the base of the bill forming an eyebrow, and another running below the ear-coverts
fulvous; cheeks olive-green, washed with verdigris ; ear-coverts black; feathers of the sides and hinder part
of the neck brown, mottled with buff; rest of the upper surface of the body brown, washed with green, and
spotted everywhere with fulvous, these spots being largest on the scapularies; quills and tail brown, edged
with pale fulvous brown, the latter barred on the inner web with the same colour; rump dull green, washed
with brighter green, and longitudinally streaked with fulvous; throat and lower abdomen white; the centre of
the breast white, each feather margined with brown and green, producing a mottled appearance ; bill black,
lower mandible yellow; feet reddish brown. ‘Total length 10°7 inches, culmen 1:7, wing 4°3, tail 3°57,
tarsus 0°6.

The figures in the Plate represent an adult male and female of this species, of about the natural size, drawn
from individual skins in my own collection.

ngs

[
WW

brit
{7TUp

Walter

ACTENOIDES CONCRETUS.

Sumatran Kingfisher.

Dacelo concreta, Temm. Pl. Col. 346 (1825).—D’Orb. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. t. 4 (1849). —Schleg. Mus. P.-B. Alced.
p. 26 (1863) —Id. Vog. Nederl. Ind. pp. 25, 27, pl. 8 (1864).—Swinh. Ibis, 1873, p..231.—Schleg.
Revue Alced. Mus. P.-B. p. 18 (1876).

Halcyon varia, Eyton, P. Z.S. 1839, p. 101.—Cass. U.S. Expl. Exp. Aves, p. 223 (1858).

- concreta, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 79 (1846).—Id. List of Fissirostres in B. M. p. 52 (1848).—Bp. Consp. 1.
p- 154 (1850).—Cass. Cat. Halc. Phil. Mus. p. 11 (1852).—Pelz. Reis. Novar. Vog. pp. 41, 161
(1865).—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 93 (1869).—Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. p. 219, pl. 83.

Todiramphus varius, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 11 (1846).—Id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 47 (1849).

Paralcyon concreta, Reich. Handb. Alced. i. p. 36, Taf. cccexxi. fig. 3145, Taf. cecexxii. figs. 3145-46 (1851).

Caridagrus concretus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. ii. p. 161 (1860).—Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 102.

In the different countries of the world in which I have lived, it has been my lot to see and to study members
of the two groups of Kingfishers which Mr. Sharpe calls “ fish-eating” and “ reptilivorous.” Our own 4/
cedo ispida is the most typical example of the former group, while perhaps the great Laughing Jackasses ol
Australia are the extreme representatives of the other forest-loving reptile-eating Kingfishers. These two
sections, into which the family has been divided by Mr. Bowdler Sharpe in his ‘ Monograph,’
appear to me to rest on natural grounds; but I cannot follow him in his arrangement of some of the
intermediate forms, such as the genus Halcyon &c. Nature has here provided us with several groups, each
possessing distinctive characters as regards colour &c., which seem to me to afford strong grounds for
generic separation. ‘Thus I would follow Lord Tweeddale and Count Salvadori in separating the green
Kingfishers as Sauropatis ; and I feel justified in keeping the three species now figured under the one generic
heading of Actenoides, believing, as I do, that their peculiar coloration and the character of the feathers
point them out as being all closely and generically ailied.

I regret that there is nothing recorded of the habits of this fine Kingfisher, which is a native of Malacca,
Sumatra, and Borneo.

The following careful description is drawn from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘Monograph,’ with the single alteration
that the bird which he describes as “‘ young” is here considered to be the old female, Mr. Swinhoe (J. ¢.)
having procured a properly sexed specimen of the hen bird in this plumage at Penang.

‘Head dull green, with a line of brighter green from above the eye encircling the nape ;_ below this bright
green circlet a broad line of black; eyebrow and ear-coverts pale rufous; a line of feathers from base of
bill down the sides of the neck deep ultramarine ; back of neck deep sienna, below which the back is black ;
upper part of the back and scapularies rich ultramarine; lower part of the back very bright cobalt ; quills
brown, the inner web pale rufous at the base; the whole of the wing-coverts and the outer web of the quills
rich ultramarine, uniform with the scapularies; tail blue above, black beneath; under surface of the body
rich sienna, the middle of the abdomen white; upper mandible black, fine rich ochreous buff on the under
mandible and edge of the upper; feet yellow. Total length 9 inches, culmen 1:9, wing 4:5, tail 2-2, tarsus
0:5, middle toe 0°75.

‘* Female.—Similar to the adult male, but has the wing-coverts and scapulars spotted with ochre.”

In the Plate are represented an adult pair of birds, of the natural size.

oA

dand HCL

Goula

7

HALCYON FUSCA.

Indian Kingfisher.

Martin-pécheur de la céte de Malabar, Buff. Pl. Enl., 894.

Alcedo fusca, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl., p. 51. t. 894.

smyrnensis var. y, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 457.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 248.—Vieill.

Encyc. Méth. part 1. p. 286, var. a.

Dacelo smyrnensis, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 246.—Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii.
p. 84.—M°Clell. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part vii. p. 156.—Jerd. Madras Journ. Lit. and Sci. 1840,
p. 230.—Pears. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1841, p. 633.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm.
and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 47.

Halcyon fusca, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 79, Halcyon, sp. 12.—Gray, List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus., part ii. p. 55.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 155, Halcyon, sp. 23.—Cass. Cat. of Hale. in Coll.
Acad. Sci. Philad., p. 8. sp. 3.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. E. I. Comp., vol. i. p. 125.

Entomothera fusca, Reich. Handb., i. p. 12. 32. t. 404. 3088-89.

Alcedo erythrorhyncha, Licht. in. Mus. Berol.

Entomobia fusca, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 155.

Halcyon Smyrnensis, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 47.—Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat.
Hist., vol. xii, 2nd ser. p. 172.—Burgess in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxiil. p. 28. _

Kilkila of the Hindoos, Jerdon:

Sada-bak Match-ranga of the Bengalese, Blyth, and Dr. F. B. Hamilton.

Matsya-ranga, in Sanscrit, Wilson.

Calavy Cooroovi, Mal.; lit. Large-mouthed Bird Layard.

Some ornithologists are of opinion that the Hadcyon of Asia Minor is specifically distinct from the one figured
on the accompanying Plate, which is so very generally distributed over the whole of India that it has had
the trivial name of the Indian Kingfisher bestowed upon it. Now the only differences which I am able to
detect between it and the Smyrna bird, are a slight variation in size and in brilhiancy of colouring, the Indian
species being somewhat smaller and more intense and beautiful in colour.

The Halcyon fusca is found in all parts of the Indian Peninsula, Assam, Aracan, Tenasserim, and Ceylon ;
and I have also seen specimens from Siam.

Captain Burgess informs us that “this Kingfisher is one of the most common of its tribe in the Deccan,
frequenting almost every stream and nullah. It breeds during the month of May, in holes of the banks of
rivers, laying as many as seven eggs, of a beautiful pinky tinge, owing to the colour of the yelk showing
through the thin delicate shell.”

“This,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘is the most common and generally spread of the Indian Kingfishers, fre-
quenting not only the rivers and brooks, tanks, wells, and wet paddy-fields, but also dry cultivated ground,
groves, old walls, and many other similar situations. It preys upon small fish (which it pursues below
the surface), frogs, tadpoles, and various water insects ; also on small lizards, grasshoppers, and various
other large insects. It has a very loud, harsh, rattling scream, generally uttered during flight. Is said to
breed in holes on the banks of rivers.”

Mr. Layard states that in Ceylon this bird is “‘ very common and widely distributed, feeding indiscri-
minately on fresh- or salt-water fish, crabs, beetles, and butterflies. I have seen them capture these last in
the manner of Flycatchers (Aduscicapede), darting from a sprig, and seizing them in the air, their mandibles
closing with a snap, audible at the distance of some yards. One, which was unluckily introduced into an
aviary, destroyed most of the lesser captives ere he was detected as the culprit ; he was at last caught in
the act of seizing a small bird in his powerful bill; he beat it for a moment against his perch, and then
swallowed it whole. The nest of this species is found in decaying trees; the parent bird deposits two
white eggs (axis 15 lines, diam. 13 lines), beautifully smooth and shining. Ihave procured eggs in the
north of the island in Deceméer, in the south in April.”

Head, cheeks, sides and back of the neck, edges of the shoulders, under coverts of the wing, flanks,
abdomen, vent, under tail-coverts and thighs dark chestnut-brown ; centre of the back and scapularies dull
green washed with verditer blue ; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts fine verditer blue; greater
wing-coverts black, the lowermost row tipped with deep green ; spurious wing green ; basal portion of the
outer webs of the primaries pale green, passing into deeper green, basal portion of their inner webs white ;
the apical half of both webs deep black ; secondaries bluish green on their external webs, black on the
inner; tail deep green, glossed with blue above, brownish black beneath; chin, throat, and centre of the
breast white; irides hazel; bill, legs, and feet deep orange-red.

The Plate is intended to represent both sexes of the size of life; it will be seen, therefore, that they do
not differ in their colouring. The climbing plant is the O¢ostemma lacunosa.

707

tut

7
f

“ol. be

Mra

Mi

ot lth.

LO, OL.

ch

HORE

.

Gould ane

ut

HALCYON GULARIS.
Manilla Kingfisher. |

Grand Martin-pécheur de Madagascar, Buff. P). Enl. 232.

Alcedo smyrnensis var. 8, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 456.—Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 286.

gularis, Kuhl and Swind., Buff. Fig. Av. Coll. Nom. Syst., 1820, p. 4.

rufirostris, Meyen, Beitr., iii. p. 94.

smyrnensis, Kittl. Kupf. Vog., p. 10. t. 14. 2. 232.

Halcyon ruficolhs, Swains. in Lard. Cycl. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 335.

Alcedo melanoptera, Temm. Tabl. Méth., p. 75.

smyrnensis var. albogularis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1843, p. 998.—Id. 1844, p. 394.

Haleyon gularis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 79, Halcyon, sp. 13.—Kaup, Fam. Eisy., p. 8—Bonap.
Consp. Gen. Av., tom. 1. p. 155, Halcyon, sp. 21.

Entomothera gularis, Reich. Handb., i. p. 13. 34. t. 401. 3082.

Entomobia gularis, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 155.

A SUPERFICIAL view of this Kingfisher would lead to the supposition that it is a mere variety of the Halcyon
Jusca so generally spread over India; but if a careful examination and comparison of the two birds be made,
they will be found to differ very materially, and to constitute two really distinct species. It is not only by
the lesser amount of white on its throat that the Manilla bird is to be distinguished from its Indian ally, but
other differences are also observable: in the first place, the entire plumage is of a much richer hue,
particularly the blue of the wings, which is truly beautiful ; in the next, there is a much larger mark of black
on the centre of the wing, and a greater amount of this colour on the tips of the primaries, so that, when
the wing is outspread, the white which occupies the base of the primaries is much more circumscribed, and
the white itself is much purer and more conspicuous ; the under surface, too, is wholly chestnut, with the
exception of that part of the throat termed the chin.

~The only country from which I have seen or received specimens is the rich island of Manilla, where it
doubtless takes the place of the Halcyon fusca of India.

The sexes offer no perceptible difference either in colour or markings, in which respect they assimilate to
the Indian and many other Halcyons; their habits and economy, too, are said to be very similar, sometimes
feeding upon fish and lizards, and at others upon crabs and various crustaceans, to which insects are
frequently added. |

Head, cheeks, back and sides of the neck, throat, under coverts of the wings, and the whole of the under
surface of the body rich reddish chestnut, darkest on the head and back of the neck ; back and scapularies
dull green washed with verditer blue; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts fine verditer blue ;
wing-coverts deep black, a few of those near the shoulder dark green ; spurious wing greenish blue; basal
portion of the primaries greenish blue on their outer webs and white on their inner, the apical portion of
both webs black; secondaries greenish blue on their outer webs, their inner webs being green next the
shaft and black on the margin ; tail bluish green above, black beneath ; chin white; irides hazel ; bill, legs

and feet deep orange-red.
The Plate represents both sexes, coloured as accurately as possible. The plant is the Tamarmdus

@
officinalis.

i
}
|
|
|
|

ee

——_

HALCYON ATRICAPILLUS.
Black-capped Kingfisher.

Alcedo pileata, Bodd. Tabl. des Pl. Enl. de D’Aubent., p. 41.
albiventris, Scop. Flor. et Faun. Insub., p. 90.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 79, Halcyon,
sp. 9, and vol. il. app. p. 4 (app. to p. 79).
atricapilla, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 453.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 251.—Shaw, Gen. Zool.,
vol. viii. p. 70.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 30.—Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 289.
atricapilla, Less. Cent. de Zool., p. 36.
Halcyon atricapillus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 99.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 124.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 47.—Temm.
Pl. Col. 613.—Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. pp. 150, 151.—Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat.
Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xii.
Marim-pécheur a coiffe noire, Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom. vii. p. 189.—Ib. Pl. Enl. 673.
Black-capped Kingfisher, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 624.—Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 465.
Dacelo atricapilla, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 246.
Alcedo Brama, Less. Cent. de Zool., pl. 8.
Halcyon pileata, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 79, Halcyon, sp. 8.—Ib. List of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus., part. ii. sec. 1, Fissirostres, p. 54.—Cassin, Cat. of Halcyonide in Coll. of Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad.
atricapilla, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 155, Halcyon, sp. 20.

For a Kingfisher, the characteristics of which are a large bill and a short stumpy tail, this bird, from its more
lengthened form, may be considered a far from inelegant species, to say nothing of its rich colouring. Its
native countries are India and China, from both of which I have received specimens. Mr. Blyth states
that it is frequently seen on the eastern side of Bengal, but is rarely met with on the western; and that it
also frequents the Sunderbunds, the Malay Peninsula, and the Archipelago. Those who have consulted the
volume of the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London’ for 1859 will observe that it was sent
from Siam by Sir Robert Schomburgk, Her Majesty’s Consul-General at Bankok, who, besides paying due
attention to his official duties, has found time to do much for natural science. On the opposite page of the
same volume of the ‘ Proceedings’ I have also recorded it as occurring among the birds collected in Tavoy

by Captain Briggs, Deputy Commissioner of that province,—a gentleman equally assiduous in making us
acquainted with the natural productions of a district nearly parallel to that in which Sir Robert Schom-
burgk is pursuing his researches in Siam; thus it will be seen that mere lists of birds, like those referred
to, are of great value as showing the range of species, however uninteresting they may at first sight
appear. ‘This lovely Kingfisher,” says Mr. Layard, ‘ has but once fallen under my notice as an inhabitant
of Ceylon. The specimen in question was shot in the Jaffna district, in the island of Valenny. I know
nothing personally of its habits.” As is the case with the Kingfishers generally, little perceptible difference
occurs in the colouring of the sexes.

Head, sides of the face, band across the upper part of the back, shoulders and wing-coverts black ;
upper part of the back, scapularies, outer webs of the secondaries, and upper surface of the tail deep ultra-
marine blue; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts smalt-blue ; basal portion of the inner webs of
the primaries pure white; outer webs pale lilac to the same extent; the apical portions black, margined
for some distance externally with smalt-blue; collar at the back of the neck, chin, throat, and centre of the
breast buffy white; sides of the neck, flanks, abdomen, vent, under surface of the wing and under tail-
coverts rich rust-colour, becoming paler where it blends with the buffy white on the sides of the neck ;
under surface of the tail black; bill coral-red ; irides dark brown; feet red.

- The larger figure is of the natural size.

|
i

ula.

Go

ee
——s
o>

4
y

FUL!

WY
\
A.

ALCYO

LA

Sbould and Hl Rachie del. e bith

Hilimandd & Welton, Lp

HALCYON FULGIDUS, Gowa.

Blue-and-white Kingfisher.

Haleyon fulgidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxv. p. 65.

I pusiisnep a description of this remarkably fine species of Halcyon in 1857, taken from specimens received
direct from Mr. Wallace, by whom they had been collected in the island of Lombock. It is very nearly
allied to the H. atrocapillus, but it is of considerably larger size, and, to my mind, is a still more beautiful
species, its snow-white neck and under parts offering a striking contrast to the rich deep blue of the
upper surface,—a colour interrupted only by the lengthened patch of bluish-white feathers of the rump,
which feathers have the appearance of having been broken or split up, and are altogether unlike those of the
remainder of the body; this mark must show conspicuously when the bird is alive, and particularly during
flight. Of this very fine and rare bird two beautiful specimens grace my collection. Of these, one is some-
what smaller than the other; there also occurs a slight difference in the tints of the upper surface, the blue
being less pure, and assuming a browner hue; this specimen has white under tail-coverts, while in the other
the coverts are dark blue; in all probability, the one with the white under tail-coverts is a young bird.

The figure im the accompanying plate, and the following description, will convey a correct idea of this
new and valuable discovery of Mr. Wallace.

The following description and remarks are taken from the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for
1857 :—

‘* Head, cheeks, back of the neck, back, wing's, flanks, and under tail-coverts deep black, washed with rich
ultramarine blue on the back of the neck, back and wings; rump-feathers glaucous or chalky-white, with
black bases, and with a narrow line of blue between the black and the white portion, which alone is seen ;
tail deep ultramarine blue; chin, breast, and abdomen white ; bill and feet coral-red.

“This is an exceedingly fine species, of which I have not been able to find a description. I am therefore
induced to believe it to be new.”

The figures are of the natural size.

i
|
]

oa ea ee eee
= = Nets 3 =

bata

iullmunilel & Wilton lp.

~
aS
we
S
~

LH!

led ti

Liz

HALCYON OMNICOLOR.

Many-coloured Kingrfisher.

Alcedo melanoptera, Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 174.

Halcyon melanopterus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 100.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 127.

Alcedo omnicolor, Temm. Pl. Col., 135.

Dacelo omnicolor, Less. Traité d’Orn. p. 247.

Halcyon melanoptera, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 79, Halcyon, sp. 18.—Gray, List of Birds in Coll.

Brit. Mus., part ii. sec. 1, Fissirostres, p. 54.

omnicolor, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 155, Halcyon, sp. 22.

Alcedo cyanoventris, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xix. p. 412.—Cassin, Cat. of Halcyonide in Coll. Acad.
Nat. Sci. Philadelphia.

A MORE appropriate name than omnicolor could scarcely have been given to this wonderfully coloured species
| of Kingfisher ; for, on looking at the fine specimen now before me, it appears almost questionable whether it
has not been manufactured by some clever taxidermist out of two or three species, instead of being as real
. and natural as any other member of the great family of which it forms a part. Were I'strictly to follow the

law of priority with regard to specific appellations, I ought, perhaps, to have retained that of melanopterus

for this species; but, as nearly all the Halcyonde have black shoulders, I have considered it advisable, like

Temminck and Bonaparte, to retain the more appropriate title of omnicolor. It is somewhat remarkable that
there should be no recorded information respecting the habits, economy, and range of so fine a species;
yet true it is that not a word has been written on the subject: we know that the island of Java is the
country whence the specimens in our museums have been sent ; and that is all. There appears to be little
or no difference in the colouring of the sexes; some specimens, however, have the brown of the throat, par-

ticularly that part of it nearest the bill, of a much lighter colour than others,—a feature which may be
sexual or a mark of immaturity.

Nothing can be more lovely than the colours of this bird, or more delicately white than the inner webs of
its primaries, which mark is of course most conspicuous when the wing is spread, and then offers a striking

contrast to the green and black of the other part of the wings and tail; the upper surface is further varied
by the entire back and rump being of a smalt-blue, while the back of the neck is chestnut, with a narrow

band of blue separating that colour from the brownish-black of the head.

The following is a more minute description of this fine bird :—
Head and face dark umber-brown, deepening into blackish brown on the nape, below which is a narrow

crescentic band of deep glossy blue; this is succeeded by a broad band of rich chestnut, which passes round
the sides of the neck, and unites with the lighter chestnut of the throat and front of the neck; back, scapu-

laries, upper tail-coverts, abdomen, and flanks smalt-blue ; breast-feathers chestnut, bordered with smalt-blue ;
greater wing-coverts black; lesser wing-coverts verditer blue, edged with smalt blue; basal three-fourths of
the primaries white on their inner webs, verditer green on their outer webs, deepening into dark green
near the tips, which are black; this latter colour decreases in extent as the feathers approach the body ;
secondaries black on their inner webs above, and on both webs beneath, the upper surface of the outer

web being verditer green, passing into bluer green as the feathers approach the body ; these bluer feathers
are crossed by indistinct bars of a deeper hue; there is also a line of dark green on the inner webs parallel

with the shaft, which is black ; tail-feathers bluish emerald-green, glossed with verditer green on their outer
webs; shafts and under surface black; irides dark brown; bill coral-red; feet red.
The plate represents the bird (in flight) of the natural size, and a miniature figure in the distance.

1)

we

Na

a

5

a

Hoy

f

A

Y@
Dy

Ae

T
iL

ay Tr 7
GU L 3)

LC

a

PU

i
}

© 2

(ae!
4S»

JTE

0

I
4La

1

RY
IN

CARCI

EF Hart deb et lithy.

75
eae

CARCINEUTES PULCHELLUS, Hors.

Banded Kinefisher.

Dacelo pulchella, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 175.—Id. Zool. Researches in Java, pl—Temm. Pl. Col. 277.
—Blyth, Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 46.—Moore, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 268.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat.

Birds Mus. E.I. Co. i. p. 122.—Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Alced. p. 21.—Id. Vog. Nederl. Indié, Alced.
pp. 15, 50, pl. 5.

Dacelo buccoides, Temm. Pl. Col. 586.
Halcyon pulchella, Gray, Gen. Birds, i. p. 79.—Id. Cat. Fissir. Brit. Mus. p. 52.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i.

p. 154.—Cass, Cat. Halcyonide Philad. Mus. p. 7.—Pelz. Reis. Novara, Vog. p. 44.—Gray, Hand-l. B.
1, p. 94, no. 1137. —

Lacedo pulchella, Reichenb. Handb. Alced. p. 42, Taf. cecexxix. figs. 3168, 3169.
Carcineutes pulchellus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. ii. p. 163.—Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. pl. 96.

Tris Kingfisher is the oldest known member of the genus Carcineutes, having been discovered in the island
of Java by the late Dr, Horsfield sixty years ago. It is also an inhabitant of Sumatra and the peninsula of
Malacca. Specimens from all these localities appear to me to be inseparable, although no one can examine
a large series of males without noticing certain differences. I have seen, for instance, considerable variation
in the shade of blue on the upper surface, while the presence or absence of a rufous collar round the hind
neck is also a character which has not yet been thoroughly explained. Young birds may be generally told
by their brown bills ; but even when this still lingers in the bird, the remainder of the plumage appears to
be fully adult, the blue and black coloration being quite as vivid as in old birds. At the same time none
of the species examined by me come near the Siamese C. amabilis for brilliancy of coloration, or for the fine
crest which is such an especial characteristic of the latter species.

The rarity of the present bird in Java seems to be affirmed by the few specimens which reach us from
that island; and Dr. Horsfield remarks :—“ This is a very rare and local bird; and I found it once only, in
a low range of hills about 20 miles south-east of Samarang, known in the central parts of the island by the
name of the hills of Prowoto.” To Mr. Sharpe’s ‘Monograph’ Mr. Wallace contributed the following
observation :—‘‘Carcineutes pulchellus is found in the thickets near streams, where it seems to feed chiefly
on small crabs, which it picks up off the mud.” It will be seen by Mr. Davison’s observations on C. amadilis
that he did not find the Banded Kingfisher of Tenasserim near streams, but sometimes many miles away
from water. It is doubtless the Tenasserim C. amadilis which Mr. Blyth refers to as being met with at
Mergui.

The following description J take from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘ Monograph of the Kingfishers : ’—

“Adult male. Head, nape, back, and wing-coverts black, each feather banded with white and tipped with
shining blue; tail black, banded with blue and white; primaries black, the secondaries spotted and tipped
with white; forehead, cheeks, and a collar below the nape deep chestnut ; throat white ; upper part of the
breast and flanks pale brownish red, centre of abdomen and under wing-coverts lighter ; bill deep red ;
eyes brown-olive; feet buffy ochre-yellow. Total length 9 inches, culmen 1:4, wing 3-4, tail 2°7, tarsus 0-4.

‘Female. Above black, broadly banded with ochre; under surface white, with the upper part of the breast
and flanks banded with black.”

The figures in the Plate represent both sexes of this beautiful Kingfisher, of the natural size, from speci-
mens in my own collection.

'

Wa

hall

ter lip

"3

Heal

CARCINEUTES MELANOPS.

JICould & W Hort, del eo ltl.

CARCINEUTES MELANOPS.
Black-faced Kingfisher.

Halcyon melanops, Bonap, Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 154 (1850, ex Temm. MS. in Mus. Lugd.).—Cass. Cat. Halcyo-
nide Philad. Mus. p. 7 (1852).—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 94, no. 1138.

Lacedo melanops, Reichenbach, Handb. Alced. p. 42 (1851).—Bp. Consp. Vol. Anis. p. 9 (1854).—Salvad. Ucc.
Born. p. 104 (1874).

Carcineutes melanops, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. ii. p. 163, note (1860).—Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. pl. 97.—
Id. Ibis, 1879, p. 249.

Dacelo melanops, Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, Alced. p. 21 (1863).—Id. Vog. Nederl. Indié, Alced. pp. 16, 51, pl. 5 (1864).

Tuts is the Bornean representative of the common C. pulchellus ; and although it is not so rare in collections
as it was when Mr. Sharpe wrote his work on the Kingfishers, it is still a sufficiently scarce bird. At the
time alluded to, Mr. Sharpe was unable to describe the female bird, and only a single skin, and that one not
fully adult, was known in any museum in this country. Even such ardent collectors as the Marquis Doria
and Dr. Beccari were unable to obtain more than one female bird in the course of their explorations in the
province of Sarawak, while neither of the Messrs. Everett has furnished it as yet from that locality. As
it does not seem to have occurred to Dr. Fischer in Central Borneo, and only once to Schwaner at Banjer-
massing’, it may be considered a rare bird even in some parts of Borneo, to which island it appears to be
restricted. | .

The north-western province of the island is apparently the head quarters of the species, as most of the
recent collections from Lumbidan and Brunei made by Governor Ussher and Mr. ‘Treacher contained one or
more examples. The latter gentleman also procured it on the Lawas river.

Such I believe to be the extent of our knowledge of this handsome Kingfisher, nothing having been
recorded concerning its habits. In plumage it closely resembles the Malaccan Carcineutes pulchellus, from
which it is distinguished at a glance by its black forehead, face, and collar round the hind neck. It should
be noted that in Mr. Sharpe’s figure the black collar is omitted, though it is duly mentioned in the descrip-
tion. It would appear to be gradually assumed, though when the bird is fully adult it forms a very conspicuous
feature, as will be seen by a reference to my Plate. The female, as might be expected, is so like that of
C. pulchellus that it is almost impossible to distinguish them ; and I fancy that young males of the two birds
must be very similar, as in some of the immature males from Borneo the cheeks are rufous, mottled with
black, as if the bird commenced with a rufous face, and gradually put on the black one of C. melanops.

Having detailed the principal differences between these two nearly allied species, it is unnecessary for me
to give a full description, and I must refer my readers to the Plates of the two birds accompanying the
present articles.

The figures in the Plate represent the two sexes of the natural size, and are drawn from specimens in my

own collection.

{
j
i
|

= = ==
= = Ss

CARCINEUTES AMABILIS, Ame,

SGould &W Hart dec ality

CARCINEUTES AMABILIS, Hume.

Tenasserim Kingfisher.

Carcineutes amabilis, Hume, Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 474.—Sharpe, op. cit. 1874, p. 484.—Hume, op. cit. 1875,
p- 51.

Carcineutes pulchellus, Hume (nec Horsf.), Stray F. 1874, p. 470.—Blyth & Walden, Birds of Burma, p. 70.—
Hume, Stray Feathers, 1878, p. 79.

For many years I had in my collection a fine male of the present species from Siam; at the time that
Mr. Sharpe was writing on the family I over and over again brought it under his notice; and I still
maintain that it is not specifically the same as the Malaccan C. pulchellus. Nor was I surprised when, in
1873, Mr. Hume described the Banded Kingfisher from Upper Pegu as a new species, as I felt sure that
it would turn out to be the same as my Siamese specimen—a conclusion I have since verified, thanks to
Lieut. Wardlaw Ramsay, who very kindly lent me some birds from Tenasserim, which, on comparison,
turned out to be identical with the Siamese example in my collection.

Mr. Hume, when he characterized the species, described it as similar to C. pulchellus, but the males
entirely wanting the rufous collar on the nape, while the females have the upper surface ochraceous
comparatively narrowly banded with black. Now Mr. Sharpe, when he challenged Mr. Hume respecting
the distinctness of the Pegu bird from the Malayan, was doubtless right in disposing of the presence or
absence of a nuchal collar as a valid specific character ; and he impugns also the distinctions accorded to the
female. I can only say that with regard to the latter I consider Mr. Hume to be right and Mr. Sharpe
wrong, as I imagine every one who consults my figure will be prepared to admit. The late Lord Tweeddale,
in his notes to Mr. Blyth’s ‘Birds of Burma,’ agrees with Mr. Sharpe in considering that C. amabihs is
specifically the same as C. pulchellus; and he speaks of birds from the Malayan peninsula without any rufous
collar as “very common.” Mr. Hume states that he had at the time examined twenty males from Malacca,
all of which had a rufous collar, but he has since come to the conclusion that, after all, the Banded
Kingfisher from Tenasserim and Pegu is the same as the Malayan bird.

Deserted by Mr. Hume as I am at present, I still venture to maintain the distinctness of Carcineutes

melanops as a species, but on different grounds. C. amabilis, in my opinion, cannot be separated from

C. pulchellus on account of the presence or absence of the nuchal collar, but on account of its larger size,
more splendid crest, and different shade of blue coloration. In addition to the larger crest, it will be seen,
on carefully examining the feathers of the latter, that they are grey for nearly the full extent of the feather.
In addition to this the female is paler in colour and more narrowly banded than the same sex of
C. pulchellus.

The localities mentioned by Mr. Hume for this species in Tenasserim are as follows—Meetan, Amherst,
Mergui, Palaw-ton-ton, Bankasoon, and Malaroon, where they were obtained by Mr. Davison, who
observes :—‘‘I did not meet with this species to the north of Amherst; but there and to the southward it
occurred sparingly. Of course, as is well known, this species is not a water Kingfisher. It frequents the
forest, avoiding the dense parts. I have killed a good number, both in Tenasserim and the Straits ; but I
have not, as described by Mr. Wallace (in Sharpe’s ‘Monograph’), met with them specially frequenting
thickets’ near streams. I have found them in all kinds of localities in the forest, sometimes, it is true, near
streams, sometimes many miles away from water. Their food, I found, consisted chiefly of small lizards and
various insects, such as wood-lice etc.” Mr. Eugene Oates shot a pair of birds near Thayetmyo in the
evergreen forests; and Lieut. Wardlaw Ramsay procured the species in the Karen Hills. As already
mentioned, I possess a skin from Siam.

I have stated above the characters which induce me to consider the present bird distinct from C. pudchellus ;
and my Plate will demonstrate them quite clearly. Mr. Oates describes the soft parts as follows :—‘ Bill
bright red; inside of mouth somewhat pale red; eyelids and orbital region pale salmon-red ; iris yellowish
white; legs greenish brown; claws horny.” Mr. Hume’s description of the soft parts runs thus :—“ Legs
and feet dull pale green; claws black; bill vermilion-red ; base of lower mandible brownish red; gape
generally yellowish white; irides purplish grey.’ The female has the soft parts of the same colour as the
male.

In the Plate the figure of the male is taken from my Siamese specimen, and that of the female is from a
bird in my own collection also.

—— eS — = a | = = = _—F
= = — Ss =a

z = = — = => = = = =
= i= - a =— = = — eee Zé —d =

t Walton, [np yp

Wael

CUTTLMA?

Ly,

Should OF "A HEE Ftc Aber del et lithy

DACELO TY RO, G R. Gray.
Mantled Kingrfisher.

Dacelo tyro, G. R. Gray, Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 171, Aves, pl. cxxxiii—J. E. and G. R. Gray’s Cat. of
Mammalia and Birds of New Guinea in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 19.

I nave in my collection two very fine specimens of this bird, both of which were procured by Mr. Wallace :
one of them is much smaller than the other, and is also much darker in all its fulvous tints both of the
spottings of the head and the under surface generally: this individual is marked a male, while the larger
and more delicately coloured specimen has the feminine indicative on the label. The colouring of the tail
in the male specimen is also dark bluish-green, while that of the female is pure green; these differences in
the colouring of the tail were also pointed out by Mr. Gray. For a long period I have fancied that the
male of our own Kingfisher (4/cedo ispida) was smaller than the female; and a question of some interest
has now to be solved,—whether or not the same law reigns through the entire family. The two specimens
referred to above are both figured in the accompanying plate, the hinder figure representing the male, and
the front one the opposite sex.

The spotted feathers of the head from the nape downwards are elongated and spread out, forming a kind
of mantle over the back; hence the trivial name I have given to the bird.

The Dacelo tyro must be regarded as one of the finest of Mr. Wallace’s discoveries. Its true habitat is
the Aru Islands, to which it is probably restricted.

The following is Mr. Gray’s description :—

Male.—*'Top and sides of the head and back of the neck black, spotted and banded with fulyous white ;
nape and upper part of the back fulvous white, banded and margined with black; scapulars black ; wing-
coverts black, broadly margined with shinmg blue; quills and tail black, margined externally with dull
blue; upper part of the back black, the lower part glossy silvery blue; under surface pale fulvous, lightest
on the throat ; upper mandible black, the lower one pale horn-colour.”

Female.—‘‘ Quills and tail greenish blue.”

Young.—“‘ Beneath each feather margined with black; bill black, tipped with pale horn-colour; other-
wise the same.”

The figures are of the natural size.

es

Ly eb bith,

a ( le

ON Ee
MLAUE

Re

tl

y

= us 1 &

UL

T/
U

ALCEDO GRANDIS, Byth.

Great Alecedo.

Alcedo grandis, Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 190.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calc.,
p. 49.—Id. Ibis, 1865, pp. 30, 31; 1866, pp. 348, 363.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, vol. i. p. 96.—Sharpe,
Mon. of Alced., vol. > alle

Tue recent discovery and examination of a second specimen of this extremely rare and fine species of 4cedo,
of which only a single example was previously known, enables us to fully confirm Mr. Blyth’s accuracy in
characterizing it as distinct from all its congeners ; indeed it now seems surprising that it could ever have
been thought identical with any one of them, and the only reason that can have given rise to such an
opinion must be that the type specimen, in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta, is very imperfect.
On reference to the accompanying Plate it will be seen that the A/cedo grandis fully merits the specific
appellation assigned to it, inasmuch as it is not only the largest member of the genus to which it pertains,
but fully equals, if it does not excel, any of its generic allies in the brilliancy of its plumage. Its native
country is, undoubtedly, the little-trodden parts of the Nepaulese Terai, and probably, as believed by
Mr. Blyth, those portions of Sikhim and Bhootan that are of a similar character.

Of course it would be a mere surmise to say that the sexes are alike in colour; yet it is probable, nay,
almost certain, that they are so. Now that a second specimen has been obtained, and the country of which
the bird is a native has been ascertained, examples will doubtless ere long find their way into our collections,
and an account of its habits and economy be recorded by some one or more of the enterprising naturalists
who are now scouring the Asiatic continent for novelties. At this early period of our acquaintance with
the species my readers must excuse my copying what has been written respecting it by others, particularly
by Mr. Sharpe, the publication of whose Plate and description just precedes my own,

«This truly magnificent species,” says the last-mentioned author, “ has as yet only been met with in the
neighbourhood of Darjeeling. It was first described by Mr. Blyth in 1845, and the type specimen is still in
the Calcutta Museum. Mr. Jerdon has certainly made a mistake in considering it to be the young of
A. euryzona, which was, moreover, described as a distinct species by Mr. Blyth, under the name of 4. nz-
gricans. It was bardly possible, therefore, that so acute an observer should have separated 4. grandis, and
not have united it to 4. nigricans, if they had both been the young of 4. ewryzona. Mr. Blyth has, however,
himself written in defence of the species, and I can only state my full concurrence in his views.

“The type specimen came from Darjeeling, and the one from which the figure and description are now
taken was also shot in the Darjeeling Terai, by a Shikaree in the employ of Dr. John Anderson, the well-
known Curator of the Calcutta Museum, to whom I beg to tender my most hearty thanks for his great kindness
in allowing this extremely valuable specimen (the only perfect one known) to be sent to England for
the enhancement of my work.”

The remarks by Mr. Blyth, alluded to above, are to the following effect :—‘‘d/cedo grandis, nobis, from
Sikhim, has been erroneously assigned to 4. euryzona, Temm., of which 4. negricans, nobis, trom Malacca,
is the young. 4. euryzona has white under-parts, crossed by a broad dark-green pectoral band (whence the
name, which is quite inapplicable to the other), much as in the small 4.-derylhina (v. bau); whereas
A. grandis is like A. ispida and A. bengalensis, but much larger, with the coronal spots of a paler and dif-
ferent blue, and no rufous on the ear-coverts.” (¢ Ibis,’ 1865, p. 30.)

I would here remark that Mr. Sharpe is himself in error when he states that Mr. Jerdon considered the
A. grandis to be the young of A. euryzona ; for, upon turning to the ‘ Birds of India,’ vol. i. p. 231, I find
that he regarded it as an adult of that species, an error which he corrected, on the authority of Mr. Blyth,
in the appendix to the same work, vol. 11. pt. i. p. 870.

Head and nape bluish black, crossed by a series of narrow interrupted bands of pale greenish cobalt, each
with a small streak of silvery white in the centre; ear-coverts and stripe from the angle of the mouth down
each side of the neck bluish black, striated with a pale tint of dark blue; on each side the neck a patch,
which is yellow on its upper edge, and orange-buff on the remainder ; back and upper tail-coverts glaucous
or turquoise blue ; wing-coverts greenish black, with a small spot of greenish blue at the tip of each; pri-
maries and secondaries black, edged externally with dark greenish blue, and with rufous on the imner webs
of the secondaries ; tail dark indigo-blue above, black beneath; throat buffy white; the remainder of the
under surface rich chestnut-red ; bill black, inclining to horny at the tip; feet orange.

The figure, which is of the natural size, was taken from the perfect example above mentioned.

ii

Sa ee

ALCEDO BENGALENSIS, Gnd.
Walter 4 Cohn, frp.

LNoddand Hb Ruckier del. et bith,

ALCEDO BENGALENSIS, Gwe.

Indian Kingfisher.

Alcedo bengalensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 450.—Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth., Orn., part i. p. 291.
—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. part i. p. 102.—Id. Steph. Cont., vol. xiii. part ii. p. 103.—Sykes, Proc.

of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 84.—McClell. Proc. Zool. Soc., part vii. p. 156.
—Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 231.—Pears. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x.
p. 636.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 81.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. of Birds in Brit. Mus.,
part il. sec. i. p. 63.—Id. Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H.
Hodgson, Esq., p. 57.—Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p. 11.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 49.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 158 —Dr. F. B. Hamilton’s MS.,
vol. i. p. 27.—Cass. Cat. of Halc. in Mus. Acad. Sci. Philad., p. 3—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds
in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 129.—Kittl. Kupf. Vog., t. 29. fig. 2—Cab. et Heim. Mus. Hein.,
Theil ii. p. 144.—Irby in Ibis, vol. ii. p. 228.—Swinh. in Ibis, vol. iii. pp. 31 & 328—Bonap.
Consp. Vol. Anisod. in Ateneo Italiano, no. 11, Agosto 1854.—Sieb., Temm. and Schleg. Faun. Jap.,

tab. xxxvill.
Alcedo hispidioides, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. ix. p. 345.
hispidula, Cat. of Rivoli Coll., pp. 2, 3.
Bengalensis, var. Indica, Reichenb. Handb., tom. i. p. 3, 3a, tab. 393. fig. 3047.
Ispida Bengalensis, Klein, Av., p. 34, no. 2.—Briss. Orn., tom. iv. p. 475.— Buff. Hist. Nat. des Ois., tom xiii.
p. 297.
minor, Briss. Orn., tom. iv. p. 477.

Alcedo ispida Bengalensis, Sieb., Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap., p. 76.
japonica, Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anisod. in Ateneo Italiano, no. 11, Agosto 1854.

The Little Indian Kingfisher, dw. Nat. Hist. of Birds, vol. i. pl. 11.

Chota Kilkila of the Hindoos (Jerdon).
Chota match-ranga of the Musselmans (Dr. F. B. Hamilton).

Seeta koona, Malwa (Boys).

Match-ranga of the Bengalese (Blyth and Hamilton).

Rajah whodan, Malay (Blyth).

Mal-pilli hudua (piuchi or “ small’), in Ceylon (Blyth).

Tow-yii-long of the Cantonese (Swinhoe).

Ir I were writing the history of the British Kingfisher (/cedo ispida), I should state that the middle portion
of Europe was probably the centre of its area of range, and that from thence it radiated westward to the
British Islands, northwards to Norway and Sweden, southward to Morocco, and eastward to Asia Minor,
and that, in the latter country, it inosculates with another species, the d/cedo Bengalensis, the subject of
the present memoir. Here, then, the two species meet; but this appears to be the western limit of the
Indian bird, its true habitat being Scinde, Bombay, and the whole of the Peninsula of India, wherever
situations suited to its habits occur ; thence it advances eastward to China and Japan, and southward through
the Indian Islands to Timor, according to the authors of the ‘Fauna Japonica.’ Specimens from these
widely extended localities present certain trifling differences both in size and colour, but not to the extent
observable between the Indian and European species,—the d/cedo Bengalensis differmg from the 4. isprda
not only in being considerably smaller in size, but more brilliantly coloured, and in the more decided cha-
racter of the markings of its head and wing-coverts, these features being so apparent that the experienced
ornithologist would have no difficulty in deciding at a glance to which country a specimen belonged, were
his opinion required. I have said this much on the subject in order to prove the right of Asia to claim
a true and distinct species of this form among her avi-fauna; but as the subject has been most carefully
investigated by my friend Schlegel in the ‘Fauna Japonica,’ it is only justice to him to transcribe his

remarks :—

“ The common Kingfisher of Bengal.—This bird, which takes the place of the ordinary Kingfisher
throughout a ereat part of southern and eastern Asia, does not appear to differ from that species except in
its smaller size, and occasionally by the depth of the tints of its plumage. Some modern authors, regarding
these differences of too little importance to serve as a means of specific distinction, have considered these
birds as belonging to the same species, and have not even admitted the existence of several races of this bird.

Putting on one side this question of nomenclature, we shall limit ourselves to record the observations we

have made upon these different birds, which offer to one another a striking resemblance with respect to the

distribution of their tints. The ordinary Kingfisher (/cedo ispida of authors—a species known throughout
the whole world) is of the following proportions :—Length of wings, 2 inches 10 lines ; length of beak,

from the front, 1 inch 4 lines; breadth of beak, near the front, 3+ lines; length of tail, 1 inch 4 lines;

tarsi, 32 lines.
“The ordinary Kingfisher of Bengal (4/cedo Bengalensis, Gmelin, figured by Edwards, pl. 11, and by
Kittlitz, Kupfertafeln, pl. 29. fig. 1) may be constantly distinguished from the common species by its less

robust size and less squat form, although its beak may be a little longer than in the former. This little race

has been observed at Bengal; our travellers have obtained a great number of individuals from Japan and

Timor ; and Kittlitz says that it is common in the Isle of Lucon, and that its habits are identically the same

as those of the European race. We have before us a complete series of individuals received from Bengal,
from Japan, and from Timor; these all exhibit slight but perceptible differences.

‘Those from Bengal present the same gradation of tints as those of the common Kingfisher of Europe ;
but their wings do not exceed 2 inches 7 lines in length, the tail is 1 inch 4 lines, and the beak 1 inch 5 to
6 lines long.

“The individuals from Japan still more closely resemble those from Bengal with regard to the gradation
of their tints; but they have the wings constantly a little longer, in that they measure 2 inches 8} lines long.

“Lastly, the imdividuals from Timor resemble those from Japan in the length of their wings; but they

differ from them, as well as from those of Bengal, in the tints of the upper part of the bird, which are much

more lively, of an almost perfect blue, and very little inclining to green, as seen in individuals from Japan

and Bengal, as well as in the common European species.”
I may here remark that the late Prince Charles Bonaparte regarded the Japanese bird as distinct, and
that he therefore designated it A/cedo Japonica (see his paper in the ‘ Ateneo Italiano’ for August 1854).
Colonel Sykes says, ‘‘ This species affects brooks ; it is never seen in gardens.”

Mr. Pearson informs us that “It is frequently seen seated on a stick standing upright in a paddy-field,

watching for small fishes in the shallow water.”

From Dr. Francis Buchanan Hamilton’s MS. we learn that “It builds its nest in holes, which it excavates
in abrupt banks and mud walls.”

The following brief notice of this bird occurs in the notes of the late Captain Boys :—“ Frequents the

mountain-streams and shady spots; is more frequently seen on the branch of a tree overhanging the water

than on any projecting stone or stump in it. It flies with great rapidity and ease, generally very near the
water. It is abundant near the cantonments at Nibon, each rivulet having a pair in about every two miles.
It constantly remains at the same spot, unless forced to remove by necessity and the want of food. The

sexes are alike in plumage; but that of the female is of a somewhat duller hue.”

Mr. Swinhoe states that it is sometimes seen, but is not common, between Takoo and Pekin, in North
China.

The male has the crown and nape and a stripe from the angle of the lower mandible deep-bluish green,
transversely barred with bright verditer-green ; plumage of the upper surface and wings bluish green; each
of the wing-coverts with a spot of verditer-green at the tip; back and upper tail-coverts beautiful verditer-
green; lores, space below the eye, ear-coverts, under wing-coverts, and under surface of the body reddish
chestnut; behind the ear-coverts a streak of silky white ; primaries and secondaries brown, margined ex-
ternally with green; tail deep blue; irides brown; feet orange ; bill black, lighter at the base of the under
mandible.

The female is very similar; but the markings of the head and wings are not so fine, the base of the
under mandible is lighter, and her general hue is duller than that of her mate.

In the immature bird the general colouring is less brilliant, and the upper surface and breast are clouded
with olive-brown.

The figures represent two fully adults, of the natural size.

To
tl da Ana AN TOPE TENER DEA UP PO A BASRA te Noe Res he OUR Rane AZT y
= =

/

A, Linn,

‘DIC.

ie i
EASAS

A\CIAS

1

R.

Co

Walter. En,
i

lGaudd & HCRichte, del et lith,

CORACIAS INDICA, Linn.
Indian Roller.

Coracias Indica et C. Bengalensis, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 159, et auctorum.
Blue Jay from the Hast Indies, Edw. Glean. of Nat. Hist., pl. 326.

Indian Roller, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 412.

Bengal Roller, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 410.

Garrulas (Galgulus) nevius, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxix. p. 431.
Galgulus nevius, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 868.

Coracias nevia, Wagl. Syst. Av., sp. 3.

Subzak (G.e. greenish-bird) and Nylkhant (blue-throat) of the Hindoos.
Tas of the Mahrattas.

Palu pitta G.e. milk-bird) of the Telugus.
Katta-kade, in Tamul.

Towee, by the Mahris.

Jay, Europeans in India.

To quote all the synonyms of the present species, and all that has been published respecting it is quite out of
the question, masmuch as the references to the various authors would occupy space which may be devoted
to a more useful purpose, while much that has been written regarding its nidification, the colour of its eggs,
and the extent of its range is erroneous ; besides which there is much repetition in the accounts of those
who have made it their theme. Why and wherefore so many persons have wielded the pen respecting
it, is attributable to three causes :—First, its universal distribution over the whole of the Indian peninsula,
from the base of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, Afghanistan, and, according to Dr. Leith Adams, Ladakh
and Thibet ; that it is also a very common species in the Scinde valley I can testify, as I possess several
specimens collected by my son, the late Dr. J. H. Gould, during his residence therein ; and Mr. Layard tells
us that it is widely distributed over Ceylon. Secondly, its extreme familiarity, and its habit of perching
in some prominent position—such as the top of a pole, the bare branch of a tree, or on some low bush in
groves and gardens in the immediate vicinity of villages ; and, lastly, to the great beauty of its plumage, and
the loveliness of the hues it displays during flight. If my readers will call to mind the habits and actions of
the Common Flycatcher, Buéahs grisola, and of some of the smaller Halcyonide, they will be able to form a just
notion of those of the present bird, since they resemble both, particularly in the upright manner in which it sits
on its elevated perch, and sallies forth thence when any living object for which it has a preference attracts
its eye, whether it be a grasshopper on the ground, or an insect in the air; after capturing which it
generally returns to eat its prey on the site it has just left. Like all other Rollers, a portion of its food
consists of insects, caterpillars of various kinds, and occasionally mice, small lizards, and other creeping
reptiles.

In confirmation of what I have said as to the abundance of this bird, | may mention that between three and
four hundred flat skins were shown to me on the 10th of March, 1869, by a plumassier of Oxford Street,
which, he said, had just arrived from India, adding that these were only a continuation of former sendings,
and that hundreds more would probably follow. Now it must be a source of regret to all right-minded
persons, as it is to myself, to learn that, under such a course of destruction, the annihilation of this beautiful
bird is almost certain, unless a law be promulgated in India similar to that which we may hope is about
to be passed for the protection of some of our own birds.

I have averred that some of the statements respecting the nidification and colouring of the eggs of the
Indian Roller are erroneous ; in proof of which I may mention that by one writer it is said to make a nest of
twigs and grasses, and to have Antwerp-blue eggs ; while by another they are described as green, profusely
speckled with dark brown spots. But, as every ornithologist would naturally expect, they are, really, pinky
white before being blown, and enamelled white, like the glazed paper upon which I am writing, after the yelk
has been removed, and are deposited in the hollows of trees.

As with all other Rollers, there is but little, if any, difference in the colouring of the sexes. During the
breeding-season the bird is very noisy and garrulous, a circumstance which renders its whereabouts easily
detectable.

«The Indian Roller,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘ is of universal distribution throughout the country. It frequents,
alike, open jungles, groves, avenues, gardens, clumps of trees in the open country, and, except in thick forest,
is to be found everywhere, and is sure to be met with about every village. It generally perches on

the top or outermost branch of a tree; and, on spying an insect on the ground, which it can do at a very
great distance, it flies direct to the spot, seizes it, and returns to its perch to swallow it. A favourite perch
is a bowrie pole or some leafless tree, whence it can see well all around ; also old buildings, a hay-stack, or
other elevated spot ; sometimes a low bush, or a heap of earth, or of stones. When seated it puffs out the
feathers of its head and neck. I have, on several occasions, seen one pursue an insect in the air for some dis-
tance ; and when the winged termites issue from their nest after rain, the Roller, like almost every other bird,
catches them on the wing. It flies, in general, with a slow but continued flapping of its wings, not unlike the
Crow, though more buoyant ; but it has the habit of occasionally making sudden darts in the air in all directions.
Its food is chiefly large insects, grasshoppers, crickets, mantidee, and even beetles, occasionally a small field-
mouse or shrew.

“The Roller has a very harsh, grating cry or scream, which it always utters when disturbed, and often at
other times also. It is frequently selected for the quarry of the Zurwmnti Falcon (Falco checquera) which pursues
it most closely and perseveringly, bat is often baulked by the extraordinary evolutions of the Roller, who
now darts off obliquely, then tumbles down perpendicularly, screaming all the time, and endeavouring to
gain the shelter of the nearest tree or grove. But even here he is not safe, the Falcon follows him from
branch to branch, drives him out again, and, sooner or later, the exhausted quarry falls a victim to the
ruthless bird of prey.

«It breeds towards the end of the hot weather and beginning of the rains, in holes of trees, old walls, old
pagodas, laying three or four round rather pure white eggs. Captain Irby says it breeds in the roofs of
houses in Oudh, as well as in holes of trees, and that it sometimes makes a hole for its nest in the thatch of
bungalows. I have not seen it so familiar in the south of India; but Adams also states that it breeds in the
thatch of bungalows, and in chimneys. It is very pugnacious and quarrelsome in the breeding-season.

“The Milkhant is sacred to Siva, who assumed its form ; and at the feast of the Dasserah, at Nagpore, one
or more used to be liberated by the Rajah, amidst the firmg of cannon and musketry, at a grand parade
attended by all the officers of the station.

‘Buchanan Hamilton also states that before the Durga Puja the Hindoos of Calcutta purchased one of
these birds, and, at the time when they throw the image of Durga into the river, set the Mi/khant at liberty.
It is considered propitious to see it on this day; and those who cannot afford to buy one, discharge their
matchlocks to put it on the wing. The Telugu name of the Roller, signifiying Milk-bird, is given, because
it is supposed that when a cow gives little milk, if a few of the feathers of the bird are chopped up and given
along with grass to the cow, the quantity will greatly increase. It is one of the birds on whose movements
many omens depend. If it cross a traveller, just after starting, it 1s considered a bad omen.”

Mr. Blyth states that it is very ‘‘ common in the vicinity of Calcutta, but for the most part disappears
at the time of the rains. Its flight is buoyant, but sustained by constant flapping ; and I have now and then
seen one or a pair, when seeming about to alight on a tree, make a rapid dive downwards to near the ground,
re-ascend, and perform this manceavre several times successively, as if in play. It sits very upright on its
perch, with the body-feathers appressed and those of the head and neck puffy. Its usual note is harsh ;
but in spring the male utters a very pleasing dissyllabic cry, repeated at intervals.”

~The Rev. J. Philipps, as quoted by Messrs. Horsfield and Moore, says, ‘‘ When attacked by a Hawk it
shows great agility, by twisting itself at the moment of the Hawk’s stoop, and, when caught, often seriously
wounds the legs of its captor with its powerful beak. The natives say that it sometimes breaks the Hawk’s
legs ; and it certainly has done so in the case of the Shikra (Micronisus badius).

“T once observed this bird flying steadily forward, when presently it dived with a sudden twist after an
insect which had attracted its attention some yards beneath, seized it, and pursued its course.”

Crown and nape dull bluish green, passing into bright verditer blue over each eye; forehead tawny
purple, washed with purple above ; back of the neck vinous brown; back, scapularies, interscapularies, and
tertiaries greyish-brown, glossed with green; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts blue ; lesser
wing-coverts deep cobalt blue, middle coverts bluish green; greater coverts bright light blue ; primaries
deep blue at the base, crossed by a band of verditer blue in the middle, with black shafts, tips black, washed
with blue on the outer webs ; under surface of the wing light verditer blue, crossed at the base of the pri-
maries by an oblique band of deep rich blue; two centre tail-feathers green, the remainder deep blue at the
base and tip, the intervening space being verditer blue, with black shafts ; chin, throat, and breast vinaceous
purple, with a stripe of pale fulvous down the centre ; lower part of the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts
light blue ; bill dark brown; legs dull orange-yellow ; irides dark reddish-brown ; eyelids yellow.

The figure is of the natural size.

WH

HTH I

HMA
PAE
THE

HAHAH}
HUTTE
Ni {| i] HHH

HHT}
HAT

i} Wa
PEAT

HUM

told & AC Richter del et lith

CORACIAS AFFINIS, mecuu.

Burmese Roller.

Coracias afinis, McClell. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1839, p. 164.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 62, pl. xxi.Coracias,
sp. 8.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 190, and vol. xix. p. 228.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Asiat. Soc. Caleutta, p. 51—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. il. p. 574.
—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 217.—Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 118.—Gould in Proc. of
Zool. Soc., 1859, pp. 150, 151.—Schomb. Ibis, 1864, p. 246.

——— katnas, F. (B.) Hamilton, MS., vol. ii. p. 123.

Katnas, Gualpara, F. (B.) Hamilton.

Nghet-kha, Arracan, Capt. Abbott.

Boru Mr. Blyth and Mr. Jerdon believe that, where the Coracias Indica and C. afinis inosculate, an inter-
breeding frequently takes place, since specimens partaking of the colouring of both are often met with. We
know that such an intermixture occasionally occurs with some few other species ; but this must be regarded as

quite exceptional, and not the rule. When it does, it is mostly among the Gallinacez, whose hotter blood
renders them more salacious than insessorial birds. On the interbreeding of the C. Indica and C. affinis
Mr. Blyth has published some remarks which I take the liberty of transcribing, as I also do the accounts
given of the latter species by Mr. Jerdon, Dr. Francis Buchanan Hamilton, and Sir Robert Schomburgk.
“The numerous specimens of Rollers from Assam, Arracan, and Tenasserim which I have seen,” says
Mr. Blyth, “ all pertain strictly to this species, having the upper parts greener than in C. Indica, the neck
and breast, devoid of the reddish-brown colour proper to the latter species, being purplish-dusky, varied
with bright purple on the fore neck; and the entire under surface of the wing, except near the tips of the
primaries, is deep purple; but I have obtained several specimens in the vicinity of Calcutta, and some from

Tipperah, which present every gradation of plumage from one to the other of these species, and also some
in the pure C. afinis plumage ; from which I infer that, where found together in the same locality, they not

unfrequently interbreed, and tend to merge into a single blended race. It may be further remarked that I
have never seen an example of the true C. affins with the broad purple terminal band to the tail, which distin-
guishes the adult of C. Indica; but I have seen this imperfectly developed in the mixed race, which latter
has also commonly the fore part of the under surface of the wing intermingled purple and verditer.”

Dr. F. Buchanan Hamilton mentions, in his MS., that “this bird is very common at Gualpara throughout

the year, the natives considering it as distinct from the Mil-khant.”
“This species,” says Mr. Jerdon, “chiefly differs from the Indian one in the upper parts being greener,
the neck and breast without any reddish-brown, being dusky purplish varied with bright purple, and in the

wing being deep purple ; it also wants the broad terminal purple band to the tail.

‘The Burmese Roller is the only one found to the east of the Bay of Bengal, and in Assam, but it spreads
into the Sunderbunds, Tipperah, and even the neighbourhood of Calcutta itself, where it mingles and inter-
breeds with the Indian Roller. Blyth has procured many specimens, which present every gradation of
plumage from one to the other. The same intermingling of affined species takes place in the Green
Pigeons of the south and north of India, and in several other birds. It does not differ in its habits or voice

from the Indian Roller ; those which I saw in Burmah were decidedly more wary and less familiar than the
Indian bird.”

Sir Robert Schomburgk states that ‘“ this handsome bird, the Nook tackah of the Siamese, is dressed in
blues of all shades, azure and smaragdinous included, shading off into green and grey. His greatest
enemies are the Crows. The bird is by no means uncommon in the gardens attached to the houses in
Bangkok; but scarcely have the Crows in the vicinity discovered one before they make a simultaneous
attack upon him. The Roller endeavours to avoid them, now by making gyrations in the air, and then by
alighting upon the branch of a tree, uttering all the time pitiful cries ; nor are his tormentors satisfied until
he leaves the grounds. ‘The beautiful blue wing-feathers of this bird, principally the primaries and scapu-
laries, are exported to China for tiny fans; into which they are also manufactured in Siam, but they are not

so well made as those that come from China.”

The bird figured on the accompanying Plate, from Assam specimens, will be readily recognized as a
distinct species by every ornithologist. It will be seen that there is not the slightest indication of the
terminal band on the tail which is so conspicuous in Coracias Indica; the throat also is more blue, and in

certain positions that colour is also visible on the abdomen, while in others it is inclined to verditer green.

Seka aan eee svt Snares Rs

teeta’

en bao hd Si Desc kt bE AERA OCD SS Na

Crown of the head and nape bluish green, bordered over the upper mandible and along the lores with
buff, and above the eyes with bright verditer; back of the neck, back, and scapularies olive green ; lower
part of the back deep blue, each feather tipped with verditer blue ; upper tail-coverts verditer blue ; lesser
wing-coverts deep blue; greater coverts of the primaries and spurious wing bright verditer blue; coverts
of the secondaries dull greenish blue, becoming of a purer blue at the base; primaries deep rich blue,
crossed towards the tip with a broad band of verditer blue, which is brightest on the external web, beyond
this the tip is blue, shading into dull black at the extremity, shafts black ; secondaries deep blue, with a
band of verditer blue on the middle of the outer web only; tertiaries olive green; lores and throat
purplish brown, passing into fawn-colour on the breast ; the darker feathers of the sides and base of throat
have a stripe of buff, and those in the centre of the throat a line of bright blue down the shaft;
under wing-coverts deep blue; lower part of the abdomen greenish blue, passing into the dull verditer
blue of the vent and under tail-coverts ; two middle tail-feathers dull green; the remainder deep blue,
largely tipped with pale verditer blue; shafts black ; bill black ; legs and feet dusky yellow; irides reddish-
brown.

The sexes present no appreciable difference in their colouring

The figure of this fine species is of the size of life.

HC Richter deb et lith

Uy &

Go

Ji

CORACIAS TEMMINCKL, Wag.

Temminck’s Roller.

Coracias Temmincki, Wag]. Syst. Av., p. 215.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 62, Coracias, sp. 5.—Id. List of
Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part 11. sect. 1. Fissirostres, p. 33.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i.
p. 167, Coracias, sp. 8.—Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 118.—G. R. Gray in Proc. of Zool.
Soc., 1861, p. 433.—Wall. Ibis, 1864, p. 41.

Rolher Temminck, Levaill. Hist. Nat. Prom. et Guep., tom. ill. p. 46, tab. D.

Garrulus (Galgulus) Temminckii, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., tom. xxix. p. 435.

Galgulus Temminckii, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part 11. p. 869.

Coracias Urvillei, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de ]’Astrol. Ois., tab. 16.

———— Papuensis, Quoy et Gaim. ib., p. 220—Sclat. in Journ. of Proc. of Linn. Soc., Zool. vol. ii. p. 155.
pileata, “ Rew.” Bonap. Consp. Vol. Anis., p. 8. Gen. 87. no. 210.
puleata, Reinw.? Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 50.

In reply to an inquiry “ After whom was this very beautiful bird named?” the Professor of Natural History
to future generations will say, ‘‘ Conrad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch gentleman who lived in the latter part
of the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth centuries, who devoted his whole life and much of his
private fortune to the advancement of the science of ornithology, and under whose direction and fostering
care the fine Museum at Leyden was rendered so rich in zoological stores as scarcely to be surpassed, if
equalled, by any other in existence ;” and he may add that ‘‘ whatever was done by Temminck for the
national Museum of his native country, no less a share of merit is due to his German coadjutor and suc-
cessor, the more profoundly learned Dr. Hermann Schlegel, who laboured so assiduously that he rendered
that celebrated collection one of the most perfect extant at the time.”

It rarely happens that one of the finest species of a genus is selected to bear the name of a scientific man
as its specific designation ; but such is the case in the present instance ; for it may be truly said that not a
finer species of Coracias has yet been discovered. Its native countries are the Celebes and Moluccas, whence
fine examples were brought by Mr. Wallace, one of which, now in my own collection, is from Macassar. I regret
to say that, although more than fifty years have elapsed since the discovery of this bird, very little information
has been placed on record respecting its habits, manners, or economy ; in fact, the only reference to them
that I can find is comprised in the following extract from Mr. Wallace’s ‘‘ Remarks on the value of Osteological
Characters in the Classification of Birds,” published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1864 :—“‘For determining the true affini-
ties of isolated groups we must have recourse to those characters which, having no direct dependence upon
habits &c., are often persistent in a remarkable degree. Of these, no doubt the sternum is of the greatest
value; but there are many others of almost equal importance. Such are :—the texture of the plumage ; the
form of the feathers, and their arrangement over the surface of the body; the form of the nostrils; the
scutellation of the tarsi; the mode of nidification, with the form, colour, and texture of the eggs; the
covering of the young bird, and its change of plumage; peculiarities of food, characteristic habits and
peculiar attitudes and actions. As an instance of the value of such apparently trifling characters as the last,
I may mention that the first time I saw a Roller (Coracias Temminck?) alive I was at once satisfied that it
was a fissirostral bird, from a peculiar jerking motion of the head and tail when it alighted, which is common
to Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, and Motmots, but never seen in the typical Passeres.”

I have followed most of my confréres in placing Coracias Papuensis of Quoy and Gaimard among the
synonyms of the present species; but Mr. Sclater, in his paper on the ‘* Zoology of New Guinea,” read at
the meeting of the Linnean Society on the 17th of December, 1857, and published in the Journal of their
Proceedings above referred to, remarks, “ the two species must be accurately examined and compared before
their identity can be considered unquestionable.”

Mr. G. R. Gray in his “ Remarks on, and Descriptions of, new Species of Birds lately sent by Mr. A. R.
Wallace, from Waigiou, Mysol, and Gagie Islands,” published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ’
for 1861, gives New Guinea as the habitat of this species; but this, I presume, is an error, since
Mr. Wallace’s specimens were obtained at Macassar, and Mr. Blyth states emphatically that it is Celebes,
and not New Guinea.

Crown of the head, nape, and upper tail-coverts verditer green; back and scapularies brownish olive-
green; wings, tail, and lower parts of the back deep blue, brightest on the shoulder ; back of the neck and
all the under surface dark greyish blue, approaching to black, the feathers of the throat having a fine line
of blue down the centre ; bill black ; feet brown.

The Plate represents two birds, of the size of life. The frog is the Hyla Reimwardtu, and the plant the

Hoya fraterna.

J

Hd

Wil

AN

i

WRIA

Hi

Hl

Hi}

{|

Hil)

HUA

Ht

EURYLAIMUS JAVANICUS, Hors

Javanese Eurylaime.

Eurylamus Javanecus, Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 170.—Ib. Zool. Res. in Java, pl. 5.—Lath. Gen.
Hlist., vol. iv. p. 96.—Vig. App. to Mem. of Sir S. Raffles, p. 653.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i.
p. 175.—Ib. Traité @Orn., p. 261.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 195.—
Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 168.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 65, Hurylammus, sp. 1.—
List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part ii. sec. 1. p. 36.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp.,
p. 116.

Eurylaimus Horsfieldi, Temm. Pl. Coll. 130, 131.—Swains. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x. Flycatchers, p. 240.
pl. 30.

Platyrhynchos horsfieldi, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. p. 200. pl. 125.

Tamplana Lilin, Malays.

Aurnouen the singularly fine bird figured in the accompanying Plate—the type of Dr. Horsfield’s genus
Eurylamus—has now been known for many years, nothing has yet been recorded respecting its habits
and economy.

The only note respecting it which has come under my observation is the one by Dr. Horsfield in the
13th volume of the Linnzan Transactions, where he remarks, “I discovered this species in one of the
most distant and inaccessible parts of Java, covered with extensive forests, and abounding with rivers and
marshes.”

Independently of Java, it is now known to inhabit the great island of Borneo on the one side, and the
Malayan peninsula, from Singapore to Tenasserim, on the other; future research will probably inform us
that it enjoys a still further range.

Among the specimens at the East India House is an immature one from Tenasserim, presented by
Mr. Helfer, which exhibits a state of plumage quite different from that of the adults: it is described
below.

Fully adult individuals also differ, some being entirely destitute of the black pectoral band. This con-
spicuous band is doubtless a sexual characteristic; in all probability the specimens in which it is wanting
are females.

‘The colourmg of the head and neck,” says Mr. Swainson, “is very peculiar, and is so mixed and
blended as not to admit of an easy definition. |

“« The top and sides of the head are of a chestnut black, graduating into a shade of cinereous on the
nape, and of vinaceous red on the ears and sides of the throat; this changes to dark brown on the lower
part of the neck above and then into deep black, which is the ground colour of the remaining upper
plumage ;” down the centre of the back a series of yellow feathers narrowly edged with black; upper tail-
coverts largely tipped with yellow; lengthened scapularies yellow with black bases; edges of the shoulders
and the under wing-coverts yellow; wings black, the feathers of the secondaries with a lengthened mark of
yellow along their outer web near the tip, forming a broad band when the wing is closed; at the base of
the primaries a mark of yellowish white; tail black, the outer feather on each side crossed near the tip by
a broad band of sulphur-white ; the next four on each side with a large spot of yellowish white on the inner
side near the tip, decreasing in size as the feathers approach the two middle ones, which are entirely black ;
throat vinous red, bounded below by a narrow line of black, posterior to which is a wash of olive; under
surface dark vinaceous blood-red; thighs black ; under tail-coverts dull vinaceous yellow; bill apparently
deep bluish green.

In the young bird above referred to, the general colour is vinous brown, becoming paler on the head and
under surface; all the feathers, particularly those of the back, wings and tail-coverts, conspicuously streaked
with yellow.

The Plate represents a male, a female, and the young of the size of life.

fips

cartel tb Walter

fhadllsr

, del et kath

ter

Z
¢

LS Gould and Hl C lhe

EURYLAIMUS OCHROMALUS, raj:
Hooded. Eurylaime.

Eurylaimus ochromalus, Raff. Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 297.—Vig. App. to Mem. of Sir S. Raffles, p. 653.
—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 195.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i.
p. 65, Eurylaimus, sp. 2.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 168, Eurylaimus, sp. 2.—G. R. Gray, List of
Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part ii. sec. 1. p. 36.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp.,
p. 116.
cucullatus, Temm. Pl. Coll. 261.
Raffesu, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. viii. p. 463

———— capistratus? Mus. Lugd.

Tamplana gilin, Malays.

Turis elegant species, like the Javanicus, is a typical Eurylaime, and moreover inhabits all the countries
mentioned as the native haunts of that bird, namely, Tenasserim, Malacca, Java and Borneo.

As in the . Javanicus, I find some of the adults of this species with and others without a black pectoral
band; the specimens in the latter state in my own Collection are marked as females, it therefore seems
pretty certain that the black chest-mark is a characteristic of the opposite sex. .

The delicate tint which pervades the breast and the contrasted black and yellow of the upper surface
must render this species a most conspicuous object in its native woods. Judging from the form of its bill,
it would appear to feed upon berries and fruits, to which insects and their larvee are doubtless added.

The male has the head and chin, shoulders, collar across the breast, sides of the back, wings and tail
black; around the neck, between the black chin and the black pectoral band, a band, broad in front and
narrow behind, of a very delicate pinky white, the pinky hue increasing on the lower edge ; down the centre
of the back a series of sulphur-yellow feathers occasionally streaked with black; upper tail-coverts mingled
black and yellow; scapularies streaked with black and yellow, the latter colour predominating ; secondaries
margined externally with yellow ; at the bases of the primaries a spot of yellowish white ; all the tail-feathers
with a large spot of white on the inner side near the tip; under wing-coverts yellow, with a spot of black
near the insertion of the primaries; breast vinaceous lilac, becoming gradually deeper on the abdomen;
flanks, vent and under tail-coverts yellow; thighs black; upper mandible very dark green, merging into
blue at the base and inclining to dark brown on the edge; under mandible blue; eye very pale yellowish ;
legs reddish flesh-colour.

The colouring of the soft parts is taken from a drawing at the East India House, which I believe to be
correct ; if so, it appears that the bill changes from green in the living bird to reddish in the preserved
skin.

In the female the black pectoral band is wanting; there is a smaller amount of yellow on the upper sur-
face ; and the spots on the tail-feathers are smaller and of a yellow hue.

The figures are of the size of life.

———

=e. -—= = = = = S S=S Ss Se SS = Ss = = ‘= = _ =r = at = x , —- =
; - = = = = = SS - See ee ee —_F = S = == E = Ss

i

1)

CYMBIRHYNCHUS MACRORHYNCHUS.

Great-billed EKurylaime.

Todus macrorhynchus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 446.

Todus nasutus, Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. i. p. 268.

Cymbirhynchus nasutus, Vigors’s App. to Mem. of Sir S. Raffles, p. 654.—Swains. in Jard. Nat. Lib., vol. x. Fly-
catchers, p. 237, pl. 29.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 1846, p. 311.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus.

As. Soc. Calcutta, p. 195.—G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part 11. sec. 1. p. 38.
Eurylaimus lemniscatus, Raffi. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 296.

Eurylaimus nasutus, 'Temm. Pl. Col. 154.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 175.

Platyrhinchus ornatus, Desm. Hist. Nat. des Tangaras, &c.

Erolla nasica, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 260.

Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 66.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 169.

Great-billed Tody, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 664, pl. 30.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 94, pl. Ixv.—Shaw’s Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 122.

Tuts beautiful species was probably the first of the Hurylaimine sent to Europe; for although apparently
unknown to Linneus, it was described by Gmelin towards the end of the last century ; subsequently Latham
and Shaw may be enumerated among the older writers who have noticed it; when the Leverian Museum
was in existence the specimen contained therein was supposed to be unique; and such is the recorded
history of a species of which specimens are now to be found in every Museum. From its singular structure
and rich colouring few of the birds of Tropical India are more conspicuous and interesting than the
Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus. ts range extends over the rich country of Sumatra, the Malayan Peninsula
and Malacca, few collections being sent from the latter country which do not contain examples; and Mr.
Blyth states that it is also found in the more northern country of Tenasserim, specimens from whence, pro-
cured by Mr. Helfer, grace the collection at the East India Company’s House in Leadenhall Street. Sir T.
Stamford Raffles states that it “is found in the interior of Sumatra, frequenting the banks of rivers and
lakes, and feeding on insects and worms. It builds its nest pendent from the branch of a tree or bush
which overhangs the water, and is said to lay only two eggs.” |

Mr. Blyth says it ‘is common in Tenasserim, in watery situations, and suspends its nearly globular nest,
which is constructed of small twigs, from the branches of trees growing directly out of the water. The eggs
are four in number, and pale spotless blue. The beak and eyes are very beautiful blue, the former fading
within a day or two after death.”

I am indebted to the Honourable East India Company for permission to take notes from a well-executed
drawing of the soft parts of this species, which having been made in India, may, I presume, be depended
upon; the bill is there represented of a beautiful blue, as stated by Mr. Blyth; but the full round eye,
instead of being blue, is of the richest deep grass-green. It is said that these hues fade immediately after
death, and that the colouring of the bills and legs of the specimens which reach this country is altogether
different from those of the living birds; in most instances the upper mandibles have become black, while
the under one is inclined to blood-red; in other examples both mandibles are of a uniform dark hue ; in all
probability the richly coloured bill assumes different tints according to the season and the age of the bird.

Head, upper surface, wings, tail, chin and a band across the breast deep black, obscurely glossed with
green; transverse band across the throat, ear-coverts, all the under surface, rump and upper tail-coverts
deep crimson; the feathers of the throat are rigid and project on the sides below the ear-coverts, where
they are slightly fringed with pearly white ; under wing-coverts straw-yellow ; a line of orange along the
edge of the shoulder ; lengthened lanceolate scapularies white, the longest narrowly edged with white on
their posterior webs; the three lateral tail-feathers on each side have an obliquely placed oblong spot of
white near the tip of their inner web.

The Plate represents two birds of, I believe, the opposite sexes ; if this opinion be correct, it will be seen
that little or no difference occurs in their plumage.

iif}

/

Hiullrrvatde &. Walteornm L117)

hitcr, dc et: lath

y
uc

ould arch H C Lf

Or

Y

y

CYMBIRHYNCHUS AFFINIS, Byrn.
Allied Eurylaime.

Cymbirhynchus afinis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc., vol. xv. p. 312.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta,
p. 195.

Tne discovery of a second species of a form only one of which had been previously known is always
interesting ; hitherto the Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchus stood alone, and it is to Mr. Blyth that we are
indebted for the description, if not for the discovery, of another species of this singular form.

The example from which my figure was taken was obligingly lent to me by H. E. Strickland, Esq., to whom
it had been presented by Mr. Blyth. This latter naturalist has so ably pointed out the characters distin-
guishing the C. afins from the C. macrorhynchus, that I cannot perhaps do better than transcribe the entire
passage from one of the many valuable papers communicated by him to the Journal of the Asiatic Society
of Bengal, with the trifling alteration of substituting the original appellation of macrorhynchus for the more
recent one of nasutus employed by him.

“Tn this, while the general character and colouring are the same as in C. macrorhynchus, the bill is
invariably much smaller and flatter, as in the restricted Euryami, but the nostrils are placed forward as in
the other. The general dimensions are also less, the usual length of wing in C. affinis being three inches
and a half, rarely three and five-eighths, and the middle tail-feathers three inches; in C. macrorhynchus the
wing measures three and seven-eighths to four inches, and the tail three and five-eighths to three and three-
quarters. C. affinis has also, constantly, an oblong red spot margining the tip of the outer web of two of
its tertiaries, and a third margining the inner web of the uppermost tertiary; in what appear to be the
females the latter spot is red, as im the supposed males, while the former are white; these spots do not
occur in C. macrorhynchus. Lastly, the white upon the tail is more developed in C. affints, and placed
nearer the tips of the feathers: a white spot at the base of the inner primaries is also larger and more
conspicuously shown.”

At present Mr. Strickland’s specimen is the only one in this country, consequently examples would be
most welcome to the Collection at the Kast India House from any of the Company’s officers who may have
an opportunity of procuring them. According to Mr. Blyth, Aracan is the natural habitat of the species.

The figures are of the natural size.

JGculdauntk H CRichter, det. et lith

itt)
|

CORYDON SUMATRANUS.
Great Eurylaime.

Coracias Sumatranus, Raff. Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 303.

Eurylaimus Corydon, Temm. Pl. Col. 297.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p- 261.—Atlas, pl. 50. fig. 1.

Eurylammus ? Hay, Journ. As. Soc., vol. x. p. 575.

Corydon Sumatranus, Strickl. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi. p. 417.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. of As. Soc.
Calcutta, p. 195.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 168.

Corydon Temmincku, Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 177.

Eurylaimus Sumatranus, Vig. App. to Mem. of Sir S. Raffles, p. 653.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 65,
Eurylamus, sp. 6.—G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., part ii. sec. 1. p. 37.

Eurylaumus Corydon Sumatranus, Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. in East Ind. Comp., p. 117.

Kung-quait, Malays.

Tue tropical portions of India and the adjacent islands are without question the head quarters of the Ewry-
famine, tor like E. Javanicus and E. ochromalus, the present extraordinary bird is there found, the provinces
it inhabits being Tenasserim, the Malayan peninsula generally, Sumatra, and I believe Borneo. It is the
largest species of the family yet discovered, and also differs from all its congeners in the absence of adorn-
ment in its plumage, the sooty black hue of which is merely relieved by a large blood-coloured patch on
the back and the dingy brownish white patch on the throat.

The female is said so nearly to resemble the male in colour as not to be distinguished.

The extraordinarily broad and strong bill, its greatly dilated margins and other peculiarities naturally
suggested the propriety of separating this bird from the other members of the family, and of making it the
type of a new genus, Corydon, in which at present it stands alone, no other species of the form having
been discovered. The singularly formed mandibles and enormous gape would seem to indicate some great
peculiarity in its mode of life, with which it would be interesting to be made acquainted.

Insects and fruits doubtless constitute the food of this curious bird, but of what kinds is uncertain, for we
have everything yet to learn respecting its habits and economy.

General plumage brownish black ; on the throat a large patch of brownish white, each feather with a
crescent mark of reddish brown at the tip; on the centre of the back a small patch of red feathers with
black tips, and a whitish line down their centres ; lateral tail-feathers crossed near the tip with an oblique
irregular mark of white; orbits and bill fleshy red.

The figure is of the natural size.

Se

yy se ———

SERILOPHUS LUNATUS, Gowa.

Lunated Eurylaime.

Eurylaumus lunatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 133,—Ib. in Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. i. p. 175. pl..25.
—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 65, Eurylaimus, sp. 3.—G. R. Gray, List of Birds in
Brit. Mus. Coll., Part IT. sec. 1. p. 37.

Serilophus lunatus, Swains. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. x. Flycatchers, p. 242.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 196.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 169, Serilophus, sp. 1.

Eurylamus serilophus lunatus, Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., p. 118.

Serilophus lunulatus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 262.

I wap the pleasure of making this beautiful species known to science twenty years ago, in a paper read at
the meeting of the Zoological Society held on the 10th of December 1833, my characters being taken from
specimens which had been shot in the neighbourhood of Rangoon by Major Godfrey. This paper, with
some observations on the other members of the genus, was subsequently published in the first volume of
the Society’s Transactions, on reference to which it will be seen that I pointed out the several characters
in which it differs from them; I did not at the time, however, consider these of sufficient importance to
warrant its separation into a distinct genus; other naturalists have taken a different view of the matter,
and it now stands in all recent works as Serlophus lunatus.

Major Godfrey informed me that it inhabited the thickest jungles, and that its food was found, upon minute
examination, to consist entirely of berries and fruits; he did not ascertain any particulars respecting its
nidification.

‘‘ Dr. Helfer informs us, in his MS. notes,” says Dr. Horsfield, “‘ that he observed these birds in societies
of thirty to forty, upon the loftiest trees of the forests in the Tenasserim provinces, and that they are so
very fearless that the whole flock can be shot down one after the other. They are of rare occurrence, he
having observed them only once.”

Head and crest dull chestnut-brown, beneath which a black band, commencing just above the base of the
bill, passes over the eye and extends to the occiput; cheeks and ear-coverts dull chestnut ; throat greyish
white, passing into the delicate grey of the under surface; on the sides of the neck the grey is interrupted
by a beautiful semilunar mark, consisting of silvery white feathers, elevated above the rest, and abruptly
terminated as if clipped by scissors; upper part of the back bluish grey, passing into the bright chestnut
of the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts and spurious wing black ; primaries and secondaries lazu-
line-blue at the base and along the basal half of the external web; on their inner web, opposite the blue, a
large patch of white; their apical half black; first four primaries tipped with white, the rest of the
primaries and secondaries slightly edged along the tip of outer web with white, and on the inner web
largely with chestnut, which is the colour of the whole of the three last secondaries; tail black, the three
lateral feathers largely tipped with white, narrowly edged with black; thighs black; upper mandible blue ;
under mandible greenish blue, edges greyish white; front of tarsi and toes green, behind fleshy brown ;
eyelash orange-yellow.

In some specimens the first four primaries have the shafts prolonged in the form of slender filaments,
giving them a remarkably pointed appearance ; the remainder of the primaries and all the secondaries have,
on the contrary, a broad indented and abrupt termination.

In some specimens I find no trace of the beautiful lunate mark on the sides of the neck: these I had re-
garded as females ; but as Mr. Blyth states that he believes the mark to be common to both sexes, I presume
those without it must be immature birds.

The habitat of this fine species is Rangoon and the Tenasserim provinces.

The figures are of the size of life.

Se == = = a = = = = =. = = i —— — —— — — Ta —4 3, oe
= = = eS Ss >= =S =. = = sa 22 S22. = 2 = = =| SS SS == E = . £
== = = = = = BS 2-2] 3 =2 | =e eZ f= = LS os

= = & = = = = Ste ee eS = eS SS =s £ = = FZ =

SERILOPHUS RUBROPYGIUS.
Red-backed Eurylaime.

Raya rubropygia, Hodgs. Journ. As. Soc., vol. viii. p. 36.

Eurylamus lunatus, Horsf. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIL. p. 156.

Serilophus rubropygia, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Brit. Mus. As. Soc. Calcutta, p. 196.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 169,
Serilophus, sp. 1.—Cat. of Sp. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodg-
son, Esq., p. 56, and App., p. 150.

Eurylaimus rubropygius, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 65, Eurylaimus, sp. 4. pl. xxiii.

Simorms (Raya) rubropygia, Hodgs.—Gray, Zool. Mise. 1844, p. 82.

Serilophus rubropygius, G. R. Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part II. sec. i. p. 38.

Eurylaimus serilophus rubropygius, Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., p. 119.

Rai Stiga, Nepaulese.

Tue native habitat of this species is said to be the south-eastern Himalayas, Assam, Sylhet and Arracan,
where it doubtless takes the place of the S. Zunatus of Rangoon and Tenasserim. It was first made known
to science by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., who some years since forwarded examples to this country, which with
his drawings of the species may be found in the national collection. Although bearing a general resem-
blance to the S. dunatus, it may at all times be distinguished by the absence of the black stripe above the
eye, by its more grey colouring, by its less developed crest, by its longer and more squarely formed tail, and
by the almost total absence of the lunate mark on the sides of the neck. Like the S. lunatus, it is a rare
bird in the collections of Europe, and as is the case with that species, little or nothing is known respecting
its habits and economy ; it would therefore be a real boon to ornithological science if this blank could be
supplied by some one resident in the native country of these birds paying attention to the subject, and
forwarding the result of his observations to the scientific journals of India or Europe.

The sexes appear to differ but little in their colouring; the lunate mark on the sides of the neck is
obsolete in some individuals, and is not very conspicuous at any time in the adult.

Head, crest, back and scapularies brownish grey, under surface paler grey; on each side of the neck a
small semilunar mark of silvery white elevated feathers as in S. /unatus, but much less developed ; wing-
coverts black ; primaries and secondaries lazuline-blue at the base and along the basal third of the outer
web ; on their inner web opposite the blue a patch of white extending on to the shaft; the remainder of
their length velvety black, passing into blue on the four outer feathers, which are slightly tipped with
white, the remainder blue at the tip, with an intervening oblique mark of white on their outer web and
chestnut on their inner web; the three innermost scapularies, the rump and upper tail-coverts rich chest-
nut; tail black, the outer feather tipped with white, and the two next on each side with a large mark of
white on the inner side near the tip; thighs black; under tail-coverts white; bill blue, bright on the upper
mandible ; under mandible greenish, with greyish white edges; tarsi and toes green in front, fleshy brown
behind ; irides reddish brown.

Habitat. Central and lower regions. Hodgs.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size: the plant is the Hoya cinnamomifolia.

—
=

HTH
HAA

SS
=

Aaah

WIN

=-

ARTA

UAE HAH

SAHA
WANA

Hj

FEET EE

PCR
Will
De TMH
1!

ANH

PSARISOMUS IDAILIIOUSILAE.

Vn uldandlH C Richter obed ct lith hiillpeardea k& Wattorr Trip)

ie

PSARISOMUS DALHOUSI A,

Dalhousie’s Eurylaime.

Eurylaimus Dalhousie, Jameson in Edinb. New Phil. Journ., vol. xviii. p. 389.—Wils. Zool. Ill, pl. 7.—Royle, Il.
Bot. &c. of Himalaya Mountains, vol. i. p. 76, vol. ii. pl. 7. fig. 2.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds,
vol. i. p. 65, Eurylaimus, sp. 5.—Horsf. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 156.

Psarisomus Dalhousie, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p- 261.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 169.—Blyth, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 195.—G. R. Gray, List. of Birds in Brit. Mus. Coll., Part I.
sec. 1. p. 37.—List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson,
Ksq., p. 55.

Eurylaimus (Crossodera) Dalhousie, Gould, Icones Avium, vol. i.

Eurylaimus psittacmus, Miill—Temm. PI. Col., 598.

Raya Nipalensis, Hodgs.

Simornis (Raya) sericeogula, Hodgs.—Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 82.

Raya sericeogula, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. viii. p. 36.

Eurylaimus psarisomus dalhousie, Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., p. 117.

Ra, Nepaulese.

In nearly every group of birds there is one species rendered conspicuously different from its fellows, either
by an excessive development of some part of its plumage, or by the beauty of its colour and markings:
among the Hurylaimine the present species is the one thus distinguished, and certainly bears the palm both
for beauty and elegance from all its congeners. This charming bird is, I believe, confined to the continent of
Asia, where it enjoys the temperate and intertropical climates of Upper India, and those countries which
stretch along the base of the Himalayas from Nepaul to Affghanistan. Dr. Royle procured specimens at
Mussoree at an elevation of 6500 feet, while numerous others have been sent to the National Collection by
Mr. Hodgson from Nepaul.

The first specimen that arrived in this country was brought home by the Countess of Dalhousie, to whom
it was soon after dedicated by Professor Jameson. It is unquestionably the most splendid species of the
family, and differs from all its congeners, not only in the more brilliant colouring of its plumage and greater
elegance of form, but in its lengthened and graduated tail, in the beautiful frill of silky feathers which
nearly surrounds the neck, and in the tuft, which springing from above each eye, gives the bird the appearance
of having horns: these differences induced me to regard it as the type of a new genus, and, unaware that
Mr. Swainson had assigned to it the name of Psarisomus, to propose for it the generic appellation of
Crossodera: Mr. Swainson’s name, however, having the priority, my own sinks into a synonym.

We look in vain for any difference in the colouring of the sexes; but the young are very different, having
none of the contrasted markings of the adult, and only presenting indications of the rich colouring of
maturity.

A large patch on the crown of the head, and a smaller one at the nape glossy light blue ; the remainder
of the head black, with ihe exception of a lengthened tuft on each side of the occiput of a yellowish green ;
throat and projecting frill of feathers on the sides of the neck beautiful yellow, edged with white below, and
with a wash of green on the chin; upper surface fine deep grass-green; primaries black, margined with
metallic blue at the base of the external web, opposite to which on the inner web is a spot of pure white ;
beyond the blue base of the external web the primaries are margined with bluish green; tail greenish blue ;
under surface lively verditer-green, tinged in some specimens with blue ; bill green above inclining to vinous
below with lighter edges; forepart of the tarsi and toes pea-green, their hinder and under parts fleshy.
brown ; irides reddish brown, with a yellowish lash.

The Plate represents two adults and two young birds of the natural size.

itd

=
=
SS

il

Sharpe.

ERM,

as
iis
4

(Sal Ap
x)

DS
KI

Ls
AY ON
MAN CHIE)

aoa RW
I A R \
LA

SARC OPE

Balter. Lirp.

J Could & WHart del et ith

ee

SARCOPHANOPS STEERII, Sharpe.
Steere’s Broadbill.

Eurylemus steerti, Sharpe, Nature, August, 1876, p. 297.
Sarcophanops steer, Sharpe, Transactions of the Linnean Society, 2nd series, Zoology, vol. i. part 5, pl. lii.

Wuen the Marquis of Tweeddale (then Lord Walden) wrote his well-known memoir on the birds of the
Philippine archipelago, the absence of Broadbills was a feature noticed by him, since the predominance of
the family in the Malayan archipelago might have led us to expect to find it represented in these
neighbouring islands. We have this want supplied in the subject of our Plate, which represents
one of the most beautiful of the Eurylemide, a bird discovered by Dr. Steere during his Philippine
expedition. It is a remarkable species in many ways—the diverse colouring of the sexes and the
peculiar arrangement of the colours bemg very striking, while the prominent eye-wattle justifies its
generic separation from the other Broadbills. Its home is apparently the island of Basilan, which lies to
the southward of Mindanao. This island had never been visited bya collector before Dr. Steere went there ;
and it was therefore to be expected that some novelties would be found; but of all the fine new species
discovered by the above-named naturalist in the Philippines, this is undoubtedly the most interesting. He
writes as follows :-—

‘«T only fell in with this species on one single occasion in the island of Basilan, when I found a little
flock of about seven individuals in the thick deep jungle towards the centre of the island. They were
feeding ov fruit, and were very tame, having probably never been disturbed before by a gun, and did not
take flight until I had secured three of their number. Of all the birds I ever saw, this one has the most
beautiful eye. I can only describe it as being of the colour of gold-stone; that is to say, it was like a piece
of clear crystal crowded with specks of gold. All three specimens had the iris exactly the same.”

The following is a transcript of Mr. Sharpe’s description of this bird :—

Adult male.—Above dark grey; the rump and upper tail-coverts shining purplish vinous; tail bright
chestnut; top of the head shining dark purplish brown; a ring round the neck and sides of the latter
white; lores white, tipped with the same colour as the head; sides of face and entire throat black ; rest of
the body underneath lilac, the flanks slightly vinaceous, the lower abdomen whitish; under tail-coverts
buffish ; thighs grey ; axillaries white ; under wing-coverts black ; wings black, the inner secondaries white
at the base, the outer ones externally orange-yellow, showing a transverse alar bar; the first primary
narrowly edged with white towards the base of the outer web; round the eye a large wattle of pale
indigo ; bill and feet pale indigo. Total length 6:8 inches; culmen 0-9, wing 3:45, tail 2°75, tarsus 0:85.

Adult female.—Similar to the male, but distinguished by its white Ganstead of lilac-coloured) breast.

The figures in the Plate represent the typical pair of this species, and are of the size of life.

TRIPENNT

NIG

A

A
.
8

LATE

wo

SPR EET a RE ROSE TN Ry I ESP a Fad oP TS PTE TURTON ME

UPUPA NIGRIPENNIS, Gow.

Indian Hoopoe.

Upupa minor, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 97 (nec Shaw).

Upupa senegalensis, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xiv. p. 189 (nec Swains.).—Id. Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. Beng.
p. 46.—Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. xii. p. 174.

Upupa ngripennis, Gould, MSS. 1853.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. Birds East-India Co. Mus. ii. p:. 725.—Jerdon,
Birds of India, i. p. 392.—Gray, Hand-list Birds, i. p. 102.—Holdsw. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1872, p. 435.—
Hume, Nests and Eggs Indian Birds, p. 163.—Legge, Ibis, 1875, p. 286.—Hume, Stray Feathers,
1876, p. 458.—Legge, Birds of Ceylon, p. 278.

Upupa ceylonensis, Reichenb. Handb. Scansorie, p. 320, tab. 595. fig. 4036.—-David & Oustalet, Ois. de la
Chine, p. 79.

Upupa indica, Bp. Consp. Vol. Zyg. p. 12.—Reich. Handb. Scansorize, p. 320, Taf. 596. fig. 4037.—Finsch &
Hartl. Vog. Ost.-Afr. p. 198.—Sharpe & Dresser, Birds of Europe, art. on U. epops, in pt. vii—Anders.
West-Yunnan Exped. p. 578.

Upupa longirostris, Jerdon, Birds of India, i. p. 578.—Sharpe & Dresser, Birds of Eur. pt. vii.—Blyth & Walden,
Birds of Burma, p. 69.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 89.—Armstrong, Stray Feathers, 1876, p. 315.
—Hume, tom. cit. p. 458.—Id. Stray Feathers, 1878, p. 202.

Ir is now many years since I first noticed the difference existing between the Hoopoe of Southern India and the
Common Hoopoe of Europe; and in the name of 2gripennis, which I admit now to be somewhat inappro-
priate, I desired to point out the absence of a white bar on the crest, which is one of the distinguishing
characters of the species. Another Hoopoe from the Burmese countries also wants the white subterminal
bar on the crest-feathers, and, on account of its long bill, has been called Upupa longirostris by Dr. Jerdon,
who also supposes that the presence of a white spot on the primaries is an additional character for the
Burmese bird. The recent researches of naturalists, however, have tended to prove that it is difficult, if not
impossible, to separate the Burmese Hoopoe from the species of Southern India and Ceylon; and the remarks
of both Captain Legge and Mr. Hume show that this is the case. The latter gentleman writes respecting
U. longirostris :—‘* Whether this species is a good one may be doubtful. In size typical males equal or
exceed Upupa epops, but are more rufous and absolutely want even a trace of white on the crest, which
U. mgripennis, Gould, our commonest Indian Hoopoe, often has, and have bills incomparably larger than
this lattter species. I have seen no specimen of U. epops with a bill of more than 2°3 inches ; the largest
bill of U. nigripennis that I have ever yet noticed was 2:1 inches ; the bill of one specimen of the present
species, sent by Captain Feilden, measures 2°5 inches from forehead to point. The bills of the male Hoopoes
are always longer than those of the females; but, sex for sex, I believe that typical U. dongirostris (a quite
young bird, sent by Mr. Oates, has the bill at front 2°2 inches) will be found always to have a bill conspi-
cuously longer than U. epops, from which, moreover, it is further separated by the entire absence of white
on the crest, while from U. nigripennis its much greater size at once divides it. But then my experience
is that the majority of the birds are not typical, but intermediate forms, which it is very hard to separate
from U. nigripennis.

«As for the presence or absence of the white spot on the first primary, on which Dr. Jerdon lays some
stress, it is worthless as a diagnosis of all three species: specimens of each are before me, exhibiting the
spot on both first primaries, on one of them only, and, lastly, on neither of them.”

Captain Vincent Legge also states that Ceylonese specimens often have bills as long as those of the
Burmese birds.

Dr. Jerdon gives the range of the Indian Hoopoe as throughout Southern India, extending through part
of Central India to the north-west provinces and the Dehra Doon. According to Captain Legge it is an
inhabitant of many of the dry districts in Ceylon, bemg very common both in the north and south-east of the
island, but is not found in the south-west. The Burmese race extends from Pegu, Tenasserim, and
Burmah to Siam, and is also found in the island of Hainan.

The best account of the habits of the present species is contained in Capt. Vincent Legge’s ‘ Birds of
Ceylon,’ from which I make the following extracts: :-—*This charming bird frequents, in the island of Ceylon,
open sparsely-timbered ground, scrub- dotted plains, cultivated fields, dry grazing-land in the jungles of the

interior, and patnas in the Central Province. In its nature it is a tame bird, and when scratching for insects,
with its handsome crest depressed, allows a near approach without taking flight; when flushed it does not
usually fly far, but takes refuge in a neighbouring tree, where it will sit quietly, giving out its soft and
melodious call, 400-poo, ho0-poo, accompanied by a movement of its handsome crest and an oscillation to and
fro of its head at each note. In Jaffna it may be seen close to the houses of the English residents ; and I
have known it breed in the garden of a bungalow within a few yards of the verandah. It feeds entirely on
the ground, strutting about with an easy gait, and scratching vigorously for insects in dry soil. It often
scrutinizes the ordure of cattle, beneath which it finds an abundance of food..... There is something very
striking in the soft tones of this bird’s note when heard amidst the chatter and chirping of the numerous
Passerine birds which inbabit the Ceylon coast-jungles. Though perhaps uttered tolerably close to the
listener, it seems to be wafted on the wild sea-breezes from afar off, and tends to rivet the sportsman’s
attention as he is returning to his bivouac beneath the already burning rays of an 8-o’clock sun, after a
long morning’s shooting. in the parched-up scrabs of the northern coast. The flight of this Hoopoe is
buoyant but undulating; and when pressed it is able to show considerable powers of wing ; for in India a
trained Hawk is said generally to fail in seizing it.

“The breeding-season in the north of Ceylon lasts from November until April; and possibly a second
brood may be reared later on in the year, as Layard mentions the shooting of young birds in August. It
breeds in holes of trees, showing in this respect, as well as in its anatomy, its affinity to the Hornbills. It
sometimes, however, chooses a hole in a wall, in which I have known it to nest in the garden of an English
residence in the Jaffna fort. Burgess writes, with reference to its habit of building in walls in India, that
‘it breeds in the middle of April and May, constructing its nest in holes in the mud walls which surround
the towns and villages in the Deccan.’ The nest is composed of grass, hemp, and feathers. In the same
district a nest made of soft pieces of hemp was found in a fort-wall. Miss Cockburn, again, tells us that at
Kotagherry it selects holes in stone walls and in earthern banks to build in, making a mere apology for a
nest of a few hairs and leaves, which in a short time has a most offensive smell. This, it is asserted, arises
from the oily matter secreted by the sebaceous gland on the tail-bone, which, in the female, at the breeding-
time assumes an intolerable stench, whence obtains the idea, according to Jerdon, that the bird constructs
its nest of cow-dung.”

The eggs of the present species are generally five or six in number; but they vary from three to seven.
Mr. Hume states that they are of a pale greyish blue tint; but many are of a pale olive-brown or dingy
olive-green, and every intermediate shade of colour is observable.

In the Plate I have figured a specimen from Southern India, and another from Burmah, to show the
difference in the length of the bill. Both figures are of the natural size, and are drawn from specimens in
my own collection.

Ma

TU. LY

Huilmandd & Watt

Md und HC Fiuhior di. & lth

AOU

Tr

HARPACTES DUVAUCELI.

Duvaucel’s Trogon.

Trogon Duvauceli, Temm. Pl. Col. 291.—Gould, Mon. of Trogons, pl. 32.
——— rutilus, Vieill. 2nde édit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. vili. p. 313.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., part iii.
p. 1358.—LeVaill. Hist. Nat. des Courouc., pl. 14.
: —— fasciatus, var. 8, Lath. Gen. Hist. of Birds, vol. iii. p- 213.
——— eimnamomeus, Temm. Mon. of Trog. in Pl. Col.
-— (Harpactes) Duvaucelii, Gould, Mon. of Trogons, List of Plates, sp. 32.
Harpactes Duvaucelit, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 337.
\ ———— rutilus, Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 44.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i.
p. 71, Harpactes, sp. 5.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.—Bonap. Consp.

Gen. Av., p. 150, Harpactes, sp. 1.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. ii.
(Os 7

—_——— Duvawceli, Gould, Mon. of Trogons, 2nd edit. pl.
Ramguba of the Natives of Malacca.

By most ornithologists the present species is considered identical with the bird figured by LeVaillant in his
‘Histoire Naturelle des Couroucous” under the name of Trogon rutilus; but as that figure does not
agree with any member of the family, and must have been coloured after the artist’s fancy, I consider
M. Temminck perfectly justified in giving a new specific name to the bird here represented. Vieillot’s
description is equally as faulty as LeVaillant’s figure: for he commences his description by stating that the
head of the bird is of a sombre green; the back, scapularies, rump, and upper tail-coverts of a lively red,
and the six middle tail-feathers of the same hue ;—whereas the head is jet-black, the back and scapularies

of a light cinnamon-brown, the upper tail-coverts fine scarlet, and the two middle tail-feathers only of a
cinnamon-brown. LeVaillant’s artist doubtless had this or some nearly allied species in view; but the
colouring could not have been copied from a real specimen ; and Vieillot’s description was probably taken
from the defective drawing. Not wishing to increase the specific names of the family, I have figured in the
following Plate a species which I believe to be distinct from the bird under consideration ; and as it has a
uniformly-coloured back, and more nearly approaches to LeVaillant’s figure, I have retained the name of
rutilus for it, trusting that ornithologists will in future adopt this view of the subject. Had I given a new
name, I might have been excused, and even commended for so doing.

For brilliancy of colouring nothing can surpass the tints that adorn the plumage of this little Trogon,
which, unlike every other species of the family that has come under my notice, has the rump and lower
portion of the back of a scarlet colour, vying in every respect with the rich and fiery hue of the breast.
The admiration with which these birds must be viewed even when seen in preserved collections will enable
us to form some idea of their still greater beauty in a state of nature, when darting meteor-like through the
dark recesses of the dense and gloomy parts of the forests; when so seen, they cannot fail to call forth
the admiration and increase the enthusiasm of the naturalist who has ventured to seek their haunts in those

primitive districts.

I believe the true habitat of the present species, which is perhaps the most highly and beautifully coloured
member of the group of birds to which it belongs, is Sumatra and Borneo, while the other (vud2dus) is from
Malasia.

The sexes of the 7. Duvaucel present the usual difference in the less brilliant colouring of the female,
as may be clearly perceived by consulting the above description, or more readily by glancing at the
accompanying Plate, where both are figured of the natural size.

The male has the head and throat jet-black; breast, under surface, rump, and upper tail-coverts of the
finest scarlet ; back reddish cinnamon-brown ; wings black, the coverts and secondaries crossed by numerous
fine lines of white ; primaries margined at the base of their external webs with white ; two centre tail-feathers
dark cinnamon-brown, tipped with black ; the two next on each side blackish brown; the three outer ones on
each side blackish brown at the base, and largely tipped with white ; bill, gape, and a naked space over the
eye ultramarine blue; irides reddish brown ; feet blue.

The female has the head dark brown; back dark cinnamon-brown, becoming lighter and washed with
scarlet on the lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts 5 wing-coverts and secondaries alternately barred
with ochreous and black; primaries dull black, margined externally with greyish white; under surface
orange-brown, becoming lighter and washed with scarlet on the lower part of the abdomen and under
tail-coverts ; two centre tail-feathers light cinnamon-brown throughout their entire length ; the remainder as

in the male.

VW

lbory, [yp

Z

Hiudtrrvarude. & W

J Gould und H.C. Teichter deb & (ih

+h

=

HARPACTES RUTILUS.

Malacca Trogon.

Harpactes rutilus, Gould, Mon. of Trogons, 2nd edit. pl.

Enovex has been said in my description of Harpactes Duvauceli respecting my reasons for applying the
term rutius as a distinctive appellation for this bird, which is a native of the Malayan Peninsula, and which,
so far as I am able to judge from an examination of a vast number of specimens, never has the fine scarlet
mark on the rump and upper tail-coverts; independently of this difference, the present species is a larger
and more robust bird than the A. Duvauceh; it moreover has a thicker bill, and the whole of the upper
plumage much more dense. Specimens frequently occur in collections sent from Singapore, but which I
believe are generally made in Malacca; at this moment I have several of both sexes before me which I am
sure are fully adult, and yet there is not the slightest trace of the scarlet on the rump of either of them ;
neither have I seen any indications of it in the specimens contained in the Collection at the British Museum,
nor in those in the Museum of the East India Company, and in those in the possession of T. C. Eyton, Esq.,
and others. In a letter transmitted to me by A. R. Wallace, Esq., that gentleman says, “I think there are
four species of Trogons in Malacca; but as I only obtained males of two of them, I cannot be certain; two
of them are of the average size, and the other two smaller. Of the smallest I have only a female in a bad
state of plumage; I believe it is AH. rutilus. ‘The bill and the skin of the gape are deep cobalt-blue; the
culmen broadly, and the margins narrowly bordered with black or horn-colour. The bare skin above the
eye is pale sky-blue ; the irides dark brown, and the feet dusky blue.” The bird referred to by Mr. Wallace
is the bird here figured, and not the H. Duvauceli.

The usual difference is observable in the colouring of the sexes, which are correctly represented on the
accompanying Plate, of the natural size.

‘The male has the head and neck black ; all the upper surface rich reddish cinnamon ; wings black, the
coverts and secondaries crossed by numerous fine, irregular, wavy lines of white; primaries margined
externally with white; breast, all the under surface, and under tail-coverts fine rosy scarlet; two centre
tail-feathers cinnamon-brown, slightly tipped with black ; the two next black; the three outer ones on each
side blackish brown, largely tipped with white; bill and gape deep cobalt-blue; the culmen broadly, and the
margins narrowly bordered with black or horn-colour ; bare skin above the eye pale sky-blue; irides dark
brown ; feet dusky blue.

The female has the head and throat reddish brown; upper surface as in the male, but darker; breast
cinnamon-brown; abdomen and under tail-coverts very light cinnamon-brown, washed with a rosy hue;
primaries and secondaries black, crossed by narrow ochreous bands; two centre tail-feathers cinnamon-

brown, the remainder as in the male.

|

HARPACTES HODGSONI, Gowa.

Hodgson’s Trogon.

Trogon Hodgsonit, Gould, Mon. Trog., pl. 34.

Harpactes Hodgsonit, Gould, Mon. Trog., syn. spec. Harpactes, sp. 6.—McClell. Proc. Zool. Soc., part vii. p. 166.
Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Harpactes, sp. 3.—lid. Cat. of Spec., and Draw. of Mamm.
and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p- 56.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 151, Harpactes, sp. 3.—Horsf. and Moore,
Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. ii. p. 713.

Hodgsont, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 202.

Trogon (Harpactes) Hodgsonii, Gould, Mon. Trog., List of Plates, no. 34.

Harpactes erythrocephalus, Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Brit. Mus., part ii. sect. i. p. 45.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds
in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, app. p. 322.

Pyrotrogon Hodgson, Bonap. Consp., vol. Zygod. p. 14. gen. 5 e. 39.—Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 160.

Trogon dilectus, F. B. Hamilton’s MSS., vol. i. p. 63.

Suda sohaghin, Bengalese (male), Dr. Hamilton.

Hummesha Peeara (‘‘ always thirsty ’”), Hindoos (male), Hamilton.

Cuchcuchea, Bengalese (female), Hamilton.

Sakvor pho, Lepchas, Jerdon.

Mr. Jerpon and some other ornithologists are of opinion that the Trogons to which I have assigned the
specific appellations of erythrocephalus and Hodgsonii are identical; but, as I have poimted out in my
‘Monograph of the Trogonidz,’ they differ considerably in size, and somewhat in their colouring ; and, until
I have further evidence than has yet been adduced of their identity, I shall continue to regard them as con-

stituting two species. However this may be, the accompanying figures were taken from specimens killed in

the great Himalayan range, and consequently represent the two sexes of the true Harpactes Hodgsone.

The following interesting extract from Mr. Jerdon’s valuable work the ‘Birds of India’ comprises
nearly all that has been recorded respecting the history of this fine bird :—

“This handsome Trogon,” says Mr. Jerdon, “is found in the Himalayas, from Nepaul eastward, in
Assam, Sylhet, Arrakan, and Tenasserim. It prefers hilly places at from 2000 to 4500 feet. At Darjeeling
I found it chiefly at about 4000 feet, frequenting dark-shaded valleys and flying from tree to tree at no great
elevation, or a few of them together, keeping near the same spot, making sallies every now and then, and
seizing insects on the wing. It feeds on Coleoptera chiefly. Tickell, who lately observed it on the
Tenasserim bills, about 3000 feet and upwards, says that it flies in small troops, is active and vociferous in
the morning, solitary and quiet during the heat of the day. I had the eggs of the Trogon brought me at
Darjeeling: they were said to have been taken from a hole in a tree ; and were two in number, white and
somewhat round. There was no nest, it was stated; only some soft scrapings of decayed wood.”

The male has the head, neck, and breast deep blood-red, separated from the rich scarlet of the under
surface by a narrow line of white ; back and upper tail-coverts cinnamon-brown, brightest on the rump ; wing-
coverts and tertiaries striated with fine wavy lines of black and white ; primaries black, margined on their
outer webs with white ; two centre tail-feathers rich chestnut-brown, tipped with black; the next on each
side black, with two thirds, from the base, of the outer web, and a fine line down the shaft on the inner web,
rich chestnut-brown ; the next on each side black, with the basal half of the outer web rich chestnut-brown ;
the three lateral feathers on each side black, largely tipped with white, which extends some length down the
outer web; ‘bill deep smalt-blue, becoming black along the culmen and at the tip; irides chestnut-brown ;
orbital skin deep lavender-blue; legs and feet pale lavender ” (Jerdon).

The female differs in having the head, neck, breast, and upper surface cinnamon-brown, palest on the
rump and upper tail-coverts ; under surface pale crimson, separated from the cinnamon of the throat, as in
the male, by a narrow crescent of white; and the undulations on the wing black and brown instead of black

and white.
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size. The plant is the Benthama fragifera.

rn

ee

$$$

ARPACTES DIARDI.

AN
A

J

ter del & kth,

Ji
Cl

and tl.

bd,

74

S60:

HARPACTES DIARDI.
Diard’s ‘Trogon.

Trogon Diardw, Temm. Pl. Col. 541.—Gould, Mon. Trog., pl. 30.

Harpactes Diardit, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 337.—Gould, Mon. Trog., syn. spec. gen. Harpactes, sp. 2.—
Gray & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Harpactes, sp. 6.—lid. List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit.
Mus., part ii. sect. i. p. 44.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.—Bonap. Consp.
Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 151, Harpactes, sp. 5.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp.
vol. 1. p. 716.

Trogon (Harpactes) Diardii, Gould, Mon. of Trog., List of Plates, no. 30.

Pyrotrogon Diardi, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 156.

Tuts is one of the most magnificent of the Trogons inhabiting the Old World, and is distinguished from
all its congeners by the freckled markings of the outer tail-feathers—a character in which it assimilates to
some of the American members of the family.

_ The Harpactes Diardi must be a most conspicuous object among the leafy branches of the trees in the
parts of the Old World wherein it is destined to dwell. These are Malacca, where it was obtained by
Mr. Wallace; the island of Sumatra, specimens from whence, formerly in the collection of the Baron
Laugier, are now in the British Museum; and Borneo, where it appears to be very numerous—that is, if
we may conclude so from the many examples which are sent to Europe, either direct or by way of
Singapore. Some slight differences occur in the colouring of specimens from the various localities above
mentioned, but are not of sufficient importance to entitle them to be regarded as distinct. Some have
the crown of the head of a deep red, while the same part in others is reddish black; some have a faintly
indicated crescent of white separating the black of the throat from the scarlet of the abdomen, while in
others the black and scarlet meet abruptly. I at one time considered that the Malacca birds could be
at all times recognized by the lighter colouring of the upper part of the breast; but I have a specimen
from Borneo in which it is as apparent as in those from the Malayan peninsula.

The female, as will be seen on reference to the Plate, has the head and chest brown, in lieu of the deep
black colouring of the opposite sex, and freckles of brown and yellow on the shoulders and wing-coverts,
instead of black and white ; in other respects her colouring is very similar.

I am indebted to Mr. Wallace for a knowledge of the colouring of the soft parts of this species, the parti-
culars of which he kindly transmitted to me in a letter dated Singapore, September 30, 1854; unfortunately
he did not at the same time furnish me with any account of the bird’s habits and economy, which will
doubtless, when known, prove highly interesting.

The male has the crown of the head deep blood-red in some specimens, reddish black in others; throat
and chest black; on the nape a band of rose-pink; back and upper tail-coverts dark sandy brown; wings
minutely barred with wavy lines of black and white ; primaries black; breast and under surface carmine-red,
separated in some specimens from the black of the throat by an obscure crescent of white; two middle tail-
feathers rich chestnut-brown, with a bar of black at the tip, the next on each side black, the remainder
black at the base, and freckled for the remainder of their length with black and white; bill blue, with the
culmen’and tips of the mandibles black ; gape and orbits purplish violet.

The differences of the female have been pointed out above.
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life. The plant is the Hoya coriacea.

i

lr

HARPACTES ORESKIOS.

§

ss

AU Richter, del. et.

7

WMA UA

eset |

HARPACTES ORESKIOS.

Mountain Trogon.

Trogon oreskios, Temm. Pl. Col. 181.—Id. Gen. Courouc., sp. 8.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv.
part 1, p. 220.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 121—Gould, Mon. Trog., pl. 36.

Harpactes Gouldu, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 337.

oreskios, Gould, Mon. Trog., syn. spec. Harpactes, sp. 8.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. Pandas

Harpactes, sp. 8.—hid. List. of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part ii. sect. i. p. 45.—Blyth, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 151, Harpactes,
sp. 8.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. ii. p. 716.

Trogon (Harpactes) oreskios, Gould, Mon. Trog., List of Plates, no. 36.

Oreskios Gouldi, Bonap. Consp., vol. Zygod. p. 14, gen. 5 d. 41.

Orescius Gouldi, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 161.

Ir is somewhat singular that neither Sir Stamford Raffles nor Dr. Horsfield has furnished us with any
particulars respecting this species of Trogon, since it is an inhabitant of the island of Java, to which the
researches of both those departed gentlemen were principally directed. I believe that the East-India
Museum, which is so rich in many other birds from that island, does not contain a single example of the
present one. That it is tolerably common there, is certain ; for a large number of skins have been from time
to time transmitted thence to Europe; and at the present moment I have four very fine skins from that island
lying before me, and it is from these that my figures in the accompanying Plate have been taken. I mention
this because Mr. Blyth, in a note to me, says the specimens of ‘“‘ HZ. oreskios in Mr. Wallace’s collection

from Java are distinct from the Burmah specimens figured in your Monograph of the Trogonide ”; I think,

however, that Mr. Blyth must in this instance be mistaken; for if a comparison be instituted between the
figures alluded to and those in the opposite Plate, it will be seen that they do not differ. Java is certainly
the country of the bird here represented: if the bird from the Malayan peninsula should, after a careful
comparison, prove to be sufficiently different to warrant its being considered specifically distinct, a figure
of it will be found in the present work.

The Harpactes oreskios differs from all its congeners in the absence of any naked skin round the eyes ;
it is also markedly different in its colouring, orange taking the place of scarlet in the other members of the
genus, particularly on the breast and under surface. On the whole it is a richly coloured bird, and must
be very beautiful in a state of nature; but with the departure of life the glory of its plumage disappears,
never again to be seen in dried skins.

The sexes offer the usual differences, the female being less brilliant, and having the wings barred with
yellow and brown instead of black and white.

When treating of this species in the ‘ Planches Coloriées,’ Temminck states that science is indebted to
MM. Diard and Reinwardt for the first knowledge of its existence; and Kuhl informs us that it inhabits
woods and mountains, and subsists on msects.

The male has the crown of the head, throat, and chest greenish yellow; back and upper tail-coverts rich
deep chestnut; wings black, their centres rayed with strong bars of white; primaries margined externally
with white; two centre tail-feathers rich deep chestnut, crossed at the tip with a narrow band of black,
the two next on each side black; three outer feathers black at the base and white at the tip; breast and
flanks rich orange, becoming paler on the belly and vent ; thighs black ; bill black at the tip, yellow at the
base ; legs and feet flesh-colour.

The female has the head, chest, and all the upper surface dull brown, becoming richer on the lower part
of the back and the two middle tail-feathers ; the transverse marks on the centre of the wings yellow instead
of white, and the under surface yellow, inclining to orange only on the flanks.

The figures represent the two sexes, of the size of life. The plant is the Hoya (Otostemma) lacunosa.

a

ns
8
<
SS
rs
8
INS

TE LIED TWh Ws BID

———— —

HARPACTES REINWARDTI.

Reinwardt’s Trogon.

Trogon Reinwardti, Temm. Pl. Col. 124.—Id. Gen. Courouc., sp. 5.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 122.—Gould, Mon.
Trog., pl. 27.

——— Retnwardivi, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. part ap. 221:
Apaloderma Reinwardii, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 337.
Reinwardti, Gould, Mon. Trog., syn. spec. Apaloderma, sp. 2.
Trogon (Apaloderma) Reinwardtii, Gould, Mon. Trog., List of Plates, no. 27.
Harpactes Reinwardtu, Hartl. Verz. Mus. Brem., p. 12. —Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Harpactes,

sp. 9.—lid. List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., pt. ii. sect. i. p. 45. —Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.,
tom. 1. p. 151, Harpactes, sp. 9.

Apalharpactes Reimwardiu, Bonap. Consp., vol. Zygod. p. 14. gen. 5e. 43.
Trogon sulphureus, Begbie, Bonap. ibid.
Hapalarpactes Remwardti, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 162.

Ir gives me great pleasure to assist in perpetuating the names of two of the scientific travellers of Holland,
by directing attention to very interesting species of Trogons which have been named after them, Harpactes
Reinwardti and H. Mackloti. With Professor Reinwardt (to whom the present species has been dedicated) I
enjoyed a long personal acquaintance ; with Macklot, however, such was not the case, for I never saw him.

It would seem at first sight that these two island species offer a very close alliance to the Hapaloderma
narina of South Africa, and to a certain extent they do, but it is more in the general similarity of the
colouring of their upper surface, than in structure; the whole of the Asiatic, continental and insular Trogons
cannot in fact be separated, for they are all very similar in their form. Some differences are observable in
the colouring of the sexes of the green-backed species ; but they are all of a trivial character.

The native country of this fine bird is Java, where it was discovered by Professor Reinwardt, and where
Mr. Wallace informs me it mhabits the western parts of the country, up to an altitude of 6000 feet above
the sea.

In the account of the H. Reinwardti given in my ‘Monograph of the Trogonide,’ I stated that I was in-
debted to my late valued friend Temminck for an example of the young, a figure of which is given in the
accompanying Plate, and, as illustrating the change the bird undergoes between youth and maturity, will
not be uninteresting. It will be seen that although, in this immature state, it exhibits a similarity to the
adult, particularly in the colours of the back and tail, it differs in the markings of the wmgs and in the
rufous-brown tint of the breast.

I am indebted to the trustees of the Derby Museum at Liverpool for the loan of the examples from which
the accompanying figures were taken.

The male has the crown of the head, back, wing-, and upper tail-coverts dark shining green; centre of the
wing dark green, crossed by numerous narrow wavy lines of dull yellow ; primaries greyish black, margined
externally with white; six middle tail-feathers dark glossy green; the three lateral feathers on each side of
the same hue at the base of the outer web, and greenish slate-colour on the inner, the outer feather mar-
gined with white throughout the entire length of its outer web, the next on each side from near the base to
the tip, and the third for about half its length from the tip, all three tipped with white; throat pale orange-

yellow; across the breast a broad band of yellowish olive-brown ; breast and all the under surface rich

orange-yellow; ‘bill deep red; orbits cobalt-blue; space between the orbits and bill pea-green; feet
orange.”

For a knowledge of the colouring of the soft parts, as given above, I am indebted to the celebrated
traveller, A. R. Wallace, Esq.

The female has a similar arrangement of colouring ; but the green of the head is duller; the throat iS
pale yellowish white; the band across the breast is greyish brown, without any of the yellow suffusion seen
in the male; the orange of the abdomen is much paler; and the wavy lines of yellow on the centre of the
wing are broader, paler, and more conspicuous.

The Plate represents a male and a young bird, of the size of life. The plant is the Medinilla Javensis.

?

3f

Walta LNG

Le

°
|
a
iont
am)

L¢

l

—
Ly IA

(1)
(

MLA.

rex
ES

J

So a SE NA RE SETS AST CPTOMSANY MRIS TT

SS ————a ——————— tio

HARPACTES MACKLOTI.

Macklot’s Trogon.

Trogon Macklot., Mill. Tijdschr. Nat. Gesch., 1835, p. 336. tab. 8. fig. 1.

Harpactes Mackloti, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. App. p. 4.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 151,
Harpactes, sp. 10.

Apatharpactes Mackloti, Bonap. Consp., vol. Zygod. p. 17. gen. 5e. 44.

Hapalarpactes Mackloti, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil iv. p. 163.

“JT wave named this species,” says Dr. Miller, ‘‘in memory of my unfortunate friend and companion for
many years, Macklot. It is smaller than the Zrogon Reinwardti of Temminck, but very much resembles it.
The chin, the throat, the whole of the belly, and the under tail-coverts are yellow, on a white ground; the
remainder of the head and neck, and a broad band across the chest, olive green; the back has a beautiful
metallic lustre of bottle-green, with a large rust-coloured spot on the uropygium. ‘The middle and larger
upper wing-coverts, the tertiaries, and the outer margins of the secondaries are adorned with fine transverse
golden-yellow stripes; tail dark green, with a steel-blue tint ; the six middle feathers equal in length, and
uniformly-coloured; the three outer on each side have white terminal points, and each has a white margin
along the outer edge; toes and nails red; eye blackish brown; naked orbits beautiful blue; space
immediately behind the angle of the mouth light green ; lower eyelids with a yellowish-white spot.

Total length 10 4 in., French measure; tail 5;; the coral-red bill, from the angle of the mouth to the
point, 9: lines long, 7 lines broad at the base; expanse of the wings 1 foot 2 inches and 9 lines.

«The female is much the same as to colour, but has not the rusty-brown spot on the uropygium, and the
yellow stripes on her wings are smaller and fainter.

‘‘The bird was found in the woods on the southern side of the mountains of Singallang in Sumatra.”

Thus much has been written respecting this bird by Dr. Miller, with whose opinion in considering it
distinct from H. Reinwardti, 1 fully concur ; as yet, however, I have never met with an example bearing
the rusty-brown mark on the uropygium. Can this be a mark of immaturity, and Dr. Muller uncon-
sciously have taken his description from a specimen which had not yet completed its second moult ?

The H. Mackloti is much inferior in size to the H. Reimwardti. By some they might be considered races
of the same species; but I have never seen races differing in size to such an extent. That they represent
each other in the respective islands they inhabit is certain, and that we are right in considering them

distinct species there can be no doubt.
As in the case of the H. Reinwardti, I have been obliged by the trustees of the Derby Museum at

Liverpool with the loan of examples of this species, in furtherance of the present work.
The figures are of the size of life. The plant is the Plectocomia Assamica.

dhe 7h (Za lith

Cr

LiLCH

MHC.

T Gould. w

ee ae a 0

HARPACTES KASUMBA.

Kasumba Trogon.

Trogon Kasumba, Raffi. in Linn. Trans. vol. xiii. p. 282.

fasciatus, Temm. Pl. Col. 321.—Less. Traité d’Orn. ps l2t

Temmincku, Gould, Mon. of Trog. pl. 29.

——— flagrans, Kuhl, Tydsch. Nat. Gesch. 1835, p- 336.

Harpactes Kasumba, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.

Temminckui, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. xi. p. 337.—Gray, List of Birds in Brit. Mus. part i. sec. i.

p. 44. —Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Harpactes, sp. 4, and vol. iii. App. p. 4. App. to
Do JAl

Kasumba, of the Sumatrans.

Grear confusion respecting the name of this species has existed from the days of the lamented Raffles to
the present time, and instead of its being cleared up, it would seem to have been added to by every writer
who has had occasion to mention the bird; I myself, among others, have fallen into error on the subject ;
and even Mr. Blyth, after enumerating it under the name of ‘Kasuméa in his “ Catalogue of the Birds in the
Museum of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta,” states in an appendix that perhaps that name ought to give
place to that of Aondea, which name, I may remark, would seem not to be a scientific appellation, but merely
a trivial one applied to specimens in the Paris Museum. It will be seen that I have retained that of
Kasumba, which I think it likely was the one first assigned to it.

The countries inhabited by this species are Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, from all of which I have
specimens in my own collection.

In a letter lately received from Mr. Wallace, now (1856) engaged in exploring the Islands of the Indian
Archipelago, that gentleman, writing from Singapore, says, ‘‘ You will think I have forgotten to write to you
about the Trogons, but I have not neglected the subject. I remained two months on this island, where the
Jungle is now only to be found in small patches, but did not meet with any, and I doubt if there be a Trogon
in the island. At Malacca, however, from whence I have just returned, I met with them. I think there
are four species, but as I only obtained males of three, I cannot be certain. Two are of an ordinary size, and
two are smaller. One of the larger I take to be Harpactes Kasumba: 1 send you a coloured sketch of the
soft parts that you may make a correct drawing for your work. The habits and economy of the Indian
Trogons assimilate closely to those of the American.”

As nothing can exceed the beauty of this noble bird, the appearance the males must present in their
native forests cannot fail to be attractive in the extreme, especially when the rich scarlet colouring of their
breasts is contrasted with the equally brilliant green of the luxuriant vegetation of Malacca.

The sexes present a marked difference in the colouring of their plumage, as will be seen on reference to
the opposite Plate, where they are accurately depicted.

I believe that the habits of the Harpactes Kasumba are somewhat solitary, and that the bird seldom quits
the secluded parts of the forests which are its favourite place of resort.

The male has the head, throat and chest jet-black ; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts deep rose-red,
separated from the black of the chest by a crescentic band of white; from below the eye round the back of
the neck a narrow band of red; back and upper tail-coverts yellowish brown ; wings black, the coverts
and tertiaries transversely rayed with fine irregular lines of white, and the shafts of the primaries white at
the base; two middle tail-feathers chestnut-brown, tipped with black; the two rest on each side wholly
black, the remainder black at the base, and white for the rest of their length, with dark shafts ; orbits light
violet-blue, becoming of a more fleshy hue near the eyes; bill blue; gape light violet-blue; irides dark
brown; feet brown.

The female differs in having the head and throat greyish brown instead of black; in the white band on
the breast being much less conspicuous, the under surface sandy brown; and the markings of the wings
bolder, and ofa sandy hue, instead of pure white ; in other respects she is very similar, but the colours are
less brilliant.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life.

Tadlmandd & Walton Lap

wane
Vem

SGould and HC Richter del. & bith

LS A a a eT TET

Se

HARPACTES FASCIATUS.

Fasciated Trogon.

ra

Trogon fasciatus, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. par. i. p. 405.—Lath. Ind. Orn. tom. i. p. 200.—Ib. Gen.
Syn. vol. ii. p. 492.—Penn. Ind. Zool. p. 35. pl. iv.

Trogon Ceylonensis, Briss. Orn. 8vo, vol. ii. p. 91.

Malabaricus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part iv. p. 26.—Ib. Mon. of Trog. pl. 31.—Gray and Mitch. Gen.

of Birds, vol. i. p. 71, Trogon, sp. 1.—Jerdon, Mad. Journ. of Sci. vol. xi. p. 233.
Harpactes Malabaricus, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 337._Ib. List of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus. part ii. p. 44.
fasciatus, Blyth, Drafts of a Fauna Indica (third tribe of the Picz), p. 8.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus.

Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 80.

Kufm Churi, of some Hindoos.

Kurna, of the Mahrattas.

Kakernt Hukki, of the Canarese.

Rantvan Kondea, of the Cingalese, Blyth.

Tax island of Ceylon and the southern part of the Peninsula of India are the true habitat of the Flarpactes
Jasciatus ; it there represents the H. Kasumba of the opposite peninsula of Malacca. It has been long
known to writers on natural history ; a description of it being included in Gmelin’s «“ Systema Nature ” and a
figure in Pennant’s “ Indian Zoology,” published in 1790. It is, however, to more recent observers that we
are indebted for the little that is even now known of its habits and economy. Mr. E. L. Layard informs
me that m Ceylon “ it inhabits the high tree-jungle which the natives call Mookoolaney ; it there frequents
the summits of the loftiest trees, and feeds on spiders, Mantide and Coleoptera; it sits across a branch
with the head drawn down between the shoulders ; it is by no means a solitary bird, being found in small
parties of three or four in number, which always follow each other when one takes wing. It does not
appear to extend its range beyond Kandy. Dr. Kelaart says it is sometimes very numerous at Newera Elia ;
he likewise states that the Cingalese call it Ratwon Kondea, but the natives in the neighbourhood of the
localities in which I found it were ignorant of its existence and had no name for it.”

So much for the bird in Ceylon. I now proceed to give the interesting note respecting it included in
Mr. Jerdon’s ‘“ Catalogue of the Birds of the Peninsula of India” :— .

‘This very richly-plumaged Trogon is of rare occurrence in Southern India, and I have only found it in
the densest portions of the jungle in Malabar and the Wynaad. It is usually seen seated motionless on
the branch of a tree, occasionally flying off to capture an insect, and sometimes, though rarely, returning to
the same perch, generally taking up a new position, and wandering much about from tree to tree. I almost
always observed it solitary, occasionally in pairs, and on one occasion four or five were seen together. In
the stomach I have always found fragments of large Coleopterous insects. The Hindoostanee name Koofnee
chooree is given (says Mr. Elliott) ‘from the bird sitting with its head sunk in the shoulders, as if it had
no neck, or as if dressed in a faqueer’s koofnee.’” )

Mr. Blyth remarks that this species is enumerated in Mr. Elliott’s ‘‘ Catalogue of Birds inhabiting the
South Mahratta country,” and no doubt it is the species obtained by Captain Tickell at Dampara in
Dholbhum, which would give it an extensive range in the Indian peninsula.

The male has the head, neck and breast sooty black, bounded below by a narrow crescent of white,
separating the sooty black of the breast from the rich carmine-red of the under surface ; upper surface orange-
brown, becoming paler and brighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts; wings black, the coverts and
secondaries crossed by numerous fine irregular bars of white, and the primaries narrowly edged externally
with the same hue; two centre tail-feathers chestnut, narrowly tipped with black, the next on each side
chestnut at the base and black at the tip, the chestnut advancing in a bifurcated form towards the tip of the
outer web; the next on each side entirely black; the three lateral feathers on each side black at the base,
largely tipped with white, the white advancing on the margin of the outer web nearly to the base, and the
black along the shaft to the tip; irides deep brown; bill and orbits fine deep cobalt-blue; legs light blue.

The female differs in having the head and neck’ brown, with a yellowish tinge on the chest; the under
surface rich ochraceous; and the bars on the wings ochraceous brown instead of white.

The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.

SS

HARPACTES ARDENS.

Rosy-breasted Trogon.

Trogon ardens, Temm. Pl. Col. 404.—Gould, Mon. of Trog., pl. 35.

——— (Harpactes) ardens, Gould, Mon. of Trog., List of Plates.

Harpactes ardens, Gray, List of Spec. of Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., part iii. sec. i. p. 44.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of
Birds, vol.i. p. 70, Harpactes sp. 7.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p- 151, Harpactes, sp. 7.—Cassin,
Unit. States Expl. Exp., Mamm. and Orn., 1858, p. 229.

Pyrotrogon ardens, Bonap. Consp. Vol. zygod. in Ateneo Italiano, no. 8, Maggio, 1854.

Harpactes rodiosternus, Peale, Zool. Unit. States Expl. Exp., Birds, Ist edit. 1848, p. 166.

cease

SINCE 1838, when I published the first edition of my ‘ Monograph of the Trogonide,’ wherein I stated that
my late friend M. Temminck’s figure of the female, published in his ‘ Planches coloriées des Oiseaux,’ was
taken from the then unique individual in Baron Laugier’s collection, and my own from a specimen of each
sex transmitted to the Zoological Society by H. Cuming, Esq., numerous examples of both sexes have
reached this country; and I have also personally examined the specimens in the Museum at Washington,
which had been obtained by the United States Exploring Expedition in the Island of Mindanao —the locality
whence came Baron Laugier’s specimen.

The researches of the American naturalists enable me to give a more correct representation of this beautiful
bird than I could when my Monograph was published, since they have carefully noted the colouring of the
soft parts. The information respecting this species of Trogon is still, however, extremely meagre, the
following short note, transcribed from the < Mammalogy and Ornithology of the United States Exploring
Expedition, 1858,’ being all that has been recorded :—* Both Dr. Pickering and Mr. Peale mention the
occurrence of this fine species on the Island of Mindanao, one of the Philippines. The latter remarks,
‘Our specimen was killed on the 31st of January, near Sambuanga, in the Island of Mindanao. It sits
crosswise on the small branches of trees and bushes, and is very active in taking insects on the wing. The
clear sunlight, at three o’clock in the afternoon, did not appear to incommode it, or others observed at the
same time.’ ”

The male has the head, back of the neck and ear-coverts dark blood-red, approaching to black on the
forehead and ear-coverts; throat black ; back and upper tail-coverts cinnamon; wing-coverts and secon-
daries black, crossed with fine irregular lines of white ; primaries black, margined externally with white ;
two centre tail-feathers reddish chestnut, tipped with black; the two next on each side wholly black ; the
three outer ones blackish brown at base, largely tipped with white ; the shafts and a series of tooth-like
markings on the inner webs blackish brown ; chest delicate rose-colour, the remainder of the undersurface
scarlet ; “bill bright yellow, the base green; ophthalmic region ultramarine blue; inside of the mouth
yellow ; feet olive-green ; the palms and claws yellow; irides brown.”

The female has the crown of the head, cheeks, and upper surface dark cinnamon-brown; throat
clouded with blackish brown; breast and all the under surface light sandy brown, becoming of a yellower
hue on the under tail-coverts ; wing-coverts and secondaries blackish brown, crossed with lines of sandy
brown; tail as in the male.

The Plate represents two sexes, of the size of life. The plant is the Hoya cinnamomifolia.

ue

|
|
|
|
|

-~

aes

|] poveone caaneerareoenpnareacersipeaart ant antanaetsrovnroanrimnesanrteansqanrfapeeaonSgvovopssrseorosestaeamenteenreosinees

a
3
4

ie SS me

ES

TITUTION LIBRARI

SMITHSONIAN INS

18 9 bA a maa aH Aa 0 DOA Aa o crmel eisiat au axeruringt

AS c 3 e by! @ ce
a a LS a < sad BS» = j WN — = > = 4 ve o_O S RT =x ——
ii ee | LS = ———— i a 4 ————— ——————————SS—————— I : i 4% —————— Se
y

GAS ARI Sa TSE IR SE ETS EE AoE OT

Ee a Ae

See paiiimnnmetinies ace SRR SARE ET HO CATT

ou ed bounuscunabeveerveeoeoeyeneconeee ene our sowon Dy rnoceprecuesoceeoteterceeoreeseeeoeeoeraceenunen oseyobeonceceheaoseccedenneenenereneeoare face

F
TECH ECHECLOOSOR HNO L>OCOO LODE HOH CoH OHH 6O0 0H PORE CE ObOeDebodLdSUevEOL LEboeoreOLooCsbadnoecedoees

e2trezeseedeectesrrseeescenesess :

VES
nee
Ha
1

= a ae ec Ae EA a NOR a YE ,
taeatacaaaooovee9cpaanv9asocsouneeuaagasaacsavegeonen7% ed2aq000000nedanaeusdasaan—e Sdbedsocsdounabsceengueedes os pomseseaoveasenqunstechnetinsenesevoansesuverecnes estou ponovsqubsnetovoraqqed apedsevecusssoneeaes

Pesecberecersesere

ececeesscedsereoseeeserveccc=