MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 2M 



every Sportsman is that of the Florican. Others, hardly ever noticed, but more 

 curious, are at our doors. I will mention a few. 



The familiar green Bee-eater (Merops viridis), which is not generally 

 regarded as a migrant, disappears from Bombay about the beginning of April, 

 and does not return till the end of the rains. On the coast of Canara it stays 

 later and breeds, but disappears before the rains commence. I do not know 

 where it goes. 



The Bedbacked Shrike {Lanius erythronotus) also disappears from Bombay 

 and I think from Poona too, during the hot season and monsoon. I never 

 found a nest in either place. In Canara it is not generally a common bird, and 

 I cannot say with certainty whether it goes away for the monsoon, but it stays 

 till May at least and breeds. 



The common Kite disappears from Karwar entirely from the middle of May 

 till about the end of September, and allows us to rear our chickens inr>eace. In 

 1889 one ragged, loaferish individual (probably an invalid) tried to stay; but 

 it has not repeated the experiment. I believe that the majority of Bombay 

 Kites also retire to some drier region during the monsoon, but many remain. 

 The White-headed, or Brahminy Kite, being half a waterfowl, braves the rain. 

 Of the seven kinds of Drongos which are found in Canara, six breed on the 

 coast. The Hair-crested Drongo, or Hairy Hottentot {Ohibia hottentota), 

 disappears during the breeding season. I have no idea where it goes. 



On the other hand, some birds which are supposed to be migratory are not 

 truly so, though they may wander a good deal, and attract more attention at 

 one season than another. The little green Lovebird (Loriculus vernalis), which 

 Barnes speaks of as a "cold weather visitant," may be found in the monsoon 

 not ten miles from Bombay. On the coast of Canara it is very common at all 

 seasons, but owing to its small size, green colour, and pecubar habits, it easily 

 escapes notice. In December and January it gets noisy, and I suspect that at 

 that season it is breeding ; but no one appears ever to have found its nest, and 

 I can get no information from natives about it. 



All lovers of birds would Hke to know more about their periodical movements, 

 and the reasons for them, but very little information can be collected by any 

 single individual, however observant. What is required is that observers in all 

 parts of the country should combine to take notes and compare them. No 

 great knowledge of ornithology is required. For example, everybody knows 

 the common Kite. The only bird which can be confounded with it is a young 

 Brahminy Kite, and to distinguish these two at a glance you have only to 

 remember that the tail of the Pariah is always forked and the tail of the Brah- 

 miny rounded. 



Now I can assert with some confidence that there is not, at present, one 

 Pariah Kite in Karwar or its neighbourhood. Two months ago there were 

 hundreds. If one or two men in Bombay, one in Belgaum, Dharwar, or 

 Sattara, one or two in the Nasik district, one or two in Guzerat, and so on, 



