M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 309 



while, and betake themselves at intervals to their destined habi- 

 tation, but never once settle on the ground or even approach the 

 plants. The nest itself was not visible, nor would it have been 

 easy to ascend to it up a perfectly smooth stem fifteen or sixteen 

 ells in height. Gray, in the work above-quoted, represents such 

 a nest resting upon the leaf itself of a palm. In the stomach of 

 this species were found small hard insects. 



42. Picus bengalensis, L. etauct. — P. nuchalis, Wagl. Syst. no. 64. 

 Crista coccinea, dorso luteo, corpore nigro alboque longitudinaliter 



vario ; alis antice nigricantibus, albo-maculatis ; cauda nuchaque ni- 

 gris immaculatis ; pollice minuto ; naribus nudis. 



$ capillitio toto rubro. ? fronte verticeque nigris, albo-guttatis 

 (Febr. — Aprili). In $ adulta (Martio) plumse dorsi anterioris apice 

 rubro-aurese. Ala 144 millim., tars. 21. Iris obscure rubra. Rostrum 

 longit. capitis, angulis obsoletis. 



This handsome "Woodpecker was the only one which occurred 

 commonly near Calcutta. It has most affinity with our Green 

 Woodpecker, the mode of flight is exactly the same, and the note 

 is merely a little more shrill, as the bird is considerably smaller. 

 It was named khort-gutturie by a Hindoo whom I made to pro- 

 nounce the word very distinctly; other persons called it com- 

 monly ghulghutti or kolkotti. The Woodpeckers form the richest 

 in species, the most uniform and the most widely extended group 

 of all genera of birds. They are found in all the regions of the 

 earth [except Australia] where trees grow, and they everywhere 

 exhibit the same mode of life. The Pigeons are almost equally 

 extended and numerous, but they show considerable diversities 

 of form, which may justify the adoption of many distinct genera. 



43. Picus macei, Vieill., Temm., Wagl. Syst. no. 26. 



Supra nigro alboque fasciatus, subtus sordide albus lateribus pec- 

 toris nigro striolatis ; crisso definite rubro ; rectricibus nigris latera-* 

 libus fasciis integris albis. Rostrum longitudine cranii. 



Capillitium : $ rubrum ; $ nigrum. Longit. 7 poll. Ala 100 

 millim. (E subdiv. Pici majoris.) 



This species has so much resemblance to our Little Woodpecker 

 (P. minor) that one might easily regard it as a variety of the 

 latter, which in a warmer climate has attained a somewhat purer 

 and more definite coloration. I only saw the bird twice, ia the 

 month of March. The Bengalese name was said to heghotghotta, 

 which in fact is merely a slightly different pronunciation of the 

 fore-mentioned name, or a diminutive of it. 



[To be continued.] 



