NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THANDIANI. 295 



through my glasses. It was the bird I expected, namely the Black-naped 

 Green Woodpecker. This woodpecker breeds about the same time as the last 

 species but at lower elevations. 



(960). Hypopicus hyperithrus. — Only once have I seen the Rufous-bellied 

 Pied Woodpecker, when I came across a pair at about 7,000 feet. It is strange 

 to see the two colours rufous and crimson contiguous in a bird's plumage. 



(961). Dendrocopus himalayensis. — One of the commonest and noisiest birds 

 on the hill is the Himalayan Pied Woodpecker. It occurs all over the 

 ridge, from 6,000 feet up, in summer. The nest is usually in a hole in a wild 

 cherry tree at about 15 or 20 feet from the ground. The male I believe takes 

 his turn at incubating the eggs, as I distinctly saw a female feeding what 

 appeared to be an adult male, who popped his head out of the hole to receive 

 the food. When the young are hatched, both parents are indefatigable in their 

 search for food for them, the female perhaps the more so, and make much 

 noise over the process. Arriving at the nest with the bill from point to gape 

 festooned with " poochies " they apparently feed all the clamouring young at 

 each visit. The young of the first broods leave the nests about the middle of 

 June. 



(1066). Upupa epops. — The European Hoopoe is rather rare. A bird, which 

 had arrived at the top of the hill on 4th June, sat in a cherry tree within 50 

 yards of my verandah and repeated his call of " hoop-hoop-hoop-hoop " for 

 quite half an hour. Since then I have neither heard nor seen a hoopoe, though 

 they probably occur lower down the hill. 



(1069). Cypselus apus. — A big colony of European Swifts nested somewhere 

 on the ridge, but I never discovered where. From 80 to 100 of these birds 

 wheeling and dashing in their grand flight movements was an ordinary but 

 always inspiring sight in the mornings and evenings above James' hill and out 

 over the valleys. 



(1072). Cypselus leuconyx. — Among the flocks of the last species a White- 

 rumped Swift was occasionally to be seen, of about the same size as apus, 

 which was most probably Blyth's. 



(1077). Chatura nudipes. — On two or three occasions I saw the White- 

 necked Spine-tail, " swiftest of living birds," displaying his powers of flight 

 above the hill top. 



(1095). Caprimulgus indicus. — The Jungle Nightjar is rare. One settled 

 on a pine just outside the house I was living in, one evening, and kept up its 

 rapidly repeated note of " chuck-chug-chuck-chuck " for fully ten minutes. 



(1104). Cuculus canorus. — The common Cuckoo is quite a feature of Than- 

 diani in May and June. It is easily observed and still more easily heard, the 

 familiar call sounding all the day long in May. The male is often seen high up 

 on the bare branch of a pine, with head down, tail elevated, drooping wings and 

 body swaying from side to side, as he utters his repeated "cuck coo." There 

 are several variations of the call. It generally begins with a deep " kokcoo" 

 followed by a hoarse chuckle (a throat clearer possibly, the bird sometimes 



