458 Zoological Society : — 



food. After it is cut and housed, I have observed them busily feed- 

 ing on the flowers of the leafless Caper, a shrub very common in 

 many parts of the Deccan, especially on the banks of the larger 

 rivers. I have made many, but hitherto inefi^ectual attempts, to 

 ascertain where these birds breed ; that they do breed somewhere on 

 the continent of India, there can be no doubt, as the young birds 

 which I saw on the 24th of August 1850, were in brown plumage, 

 and appeared as if they had not long left the nest. I was informed 

 by a clever and well-informed Mharatta, who seemed to have con- 

 siderable knowledge of the habits of various birds, that the Rose 

 Starling retires to the Ghauts to breed. On visiting those mountains 

 in 1849, I made many inquiries of the hill people, but was unsuc- 

 cessful in getting any information from them. However, I think 

 it very probable that these birds, after leaving the Deccan in March 

 and April, break up into pairs, and retire to the ravines and forests 

 in the Ghauts to breed. Like the common Starling, these birds con- 

 gregate in immense flocks before going to roost, and it is a curious 

 sight to watch their movements as they fly in clouds over their night 

 haunts. Towards sunset they begin to collect from the grain-fields, 

 and fly off in detached parties, at first containing only a few indivi- 

 duals. These soon amalgamate, and form large masses, which, as 

 they dash, now upwards and now downwards, now in circles, at 

 one time almost disappear, at another look like a rapidly passing 

 cloud. As soon as the sun is down, they retire to the babool 

 brakes that clothe the banks of the streams and rivers. These birds 

 collect in such numbers on the small bushes and trees on the out- 

 skirts of the grain-fields, as to make them appear as if loaded with 

 rich, rosy blossoms, and to make one wonder that the tree is not 

 broken down with their weight. 



Family Fringillid^. 



Subfamily Coccothraustin^, Swain. 



Genus Euplectes, Swain. 



EUPLECTES (BeNGALENSIS?). 



I forwarded a paper on the nidification, habits, &c. of this little 

 bird, together with specimens of the skins, nests and eggs, in the 

 year 1852. The paper was read, and the specimens exhibited at the 

 meeting of the Society on July 27th, 1852. Repetition therefore is 

 needless. 



Genus Amadina, Swain. 



Subgenus Spermestes. 



Sperm estes Cheet, Sykes. 



This is a very common little bird, living in flocks, to be found in 

 hedges and low bushes, and is, I believe, partial to those of the leaf- 

 less Caper. It breeds, I conclude, twice in the year, as I have found 

 its nest in the months of November and March. The nest in two 



