Capt. R. C. Tytler on the Fauna of Barrackpoore. 367 



called. The Eurystomus orientalis is also found, but is very 

 rare. 



Amongst the Bee-eaters I can only mention two species, the 

 very common little green Merops viridis, and the less common 

 large species Merops philippensis ; this latter is a well-known 

 cold-weather visitor. One of the most common Woodpeckers is 

 the gay-coloured Brachypternus aurantius ; it is very abundant ; 

 the male is easily distinguished from the female by its com- 

 plete scarlet head, whilst the head of the female is speckled with 

 white on the forehead. Another very common species is the small 

 black and white Picus macei ; in the male of this species the head 

 is red, in the female black. The next species, MicropterniLS phaio- 

 ceps, which is a brown Woodpecker, is not c6mmon ; the males 

 have red on their cheeks. I now conclude the Woodpeckers by 

 mentioning my good fortune in obtaining a male and female of 

 Gecinus chloropus ; they are green and very rare. During the cold 

 season numbers of the English Wryneck, Yunx torquilla, are 

 found about orchards and gardens. There are only two species of 

 Barbets found about Barrackpoore, the Megalaima asiatica and 

 the small Megalaima philippensis, both very abundant ; they are 

 easily distinguished from each other, when concealed by the 

 thick foliage of the trees they frequent, by their totally different 

 constant call ; the note of the M. asiatica sounds like kootur, 

 kootur, kootur, constantly repeated, but the note of the M, phi- 

 lippensis is a simple koot, koot, koot ; they are not easily distin- 

 guished from the leaves of trees, their colour being somewhat of 

 the same hue. 



I shall next mention the Cuckoos, and begin with a very com- 

 mon species, the Cuculus varius ; it is found in gardens and 

 orchards, as also the Cuculus striatus, or Bhow kuttah kho of 

 the Bengalees : this latter is a rare bird ; its call is very like the 

 note of the Pomatorhinus erythrogenys of the Himalayas. Bhow 

 kuttah kho signifies in Bengalee — Daughter-in-law tell a tale', the 

 note sounds very like a double cuckoo, thus cuckoo, cuckoo* The 

 Cuculus tenuirostris is also found, but is rather uncommon, and I 

 obtained but few specimens. I now come to one of the most 

 common species, the Eudynamys orientalis, or Coel of India ; the 

 male is black and the female brown, speckled with white ; both 

 have scarlet eyes; the young male though black is speckled with 

 white, and the young of both sexes have dark eyes : the contrast 

 in the colour of male and female has frequently misled people 

 to suppose them to be different birds : this Eudynamys deposits 

 its eggs in the nest of the common crow, Corvus splendens. 

 The eggs of both species are very similar, with the exception that 

 the Crow's is more pointed at one end; otherwise the similarity 

 is great. The call of the Coel is well known : at daybreak they 



