368 Capt. R. C. Tytler on the Fauna of Barrackpoore, 



welcome the first rays of light by their wild attractive note ; they 

 call also during the day^ and not unf requently at night ; in cloudy 

 and rainy weather they make a clamorous noise ; natives often 

 keep them in cages expressly for their wild cheerful note. As 

 the rainy season sets in, the Oxylophus melanoleucus begin to ap- 

 pear, and their call is heard in every direction ; this is a fine 

 black and white species with a crest : the handsome Oxylophus 

 coromandus is also found, but is very rare. I now come to a very 

 common bird, and the last species of this group I have found at 

 Barrackpoore, the Centropus philippensis, or large Crow Phea- 

 sant of Europeans. I obtained only two species of the genus 

 CaprimulguSj viz C. asiaticus and C. albonotatus, the former is 

 more common than the latter. The Swifts are limited to two, 

 the Cypselus affinis and C. balassiensis -, the latter is a most delicate, 

 slight species, frequenting palm-trees and building their nests in 

 the fronds of the Borassus ; the former species build in houses, &c. 



One of the most common birds in India is the Corvus splen- 

 dens or common Crow, which occurs in abundance everywhere, 

 both in country and town, and is mischievous to a degree ; it 

 is the nest of this bird that the Coel generally selects for her 

 eggs : the only other Crow found here is the Corvus culminatus ; 

 these birds are common, and are called Ravens in India. After 

 leaving the Crows, the next bird to be mentioned is the Dendro- 

 citta rufa ; they are common and soon attract attention by their 

 constant call of Ckugul Khore, or tell-tale ; these birds are called 

 Brown Magpies. We now come to the Minas ; the first and most 

 common is the Acridotheres tristis, or Dassee mina of the natives ; 

 they are very numerous and are often kept in cages, as they soon 

 learn to imitate sounds and become docile. Th^ Acridotheres griseus 

 is also found, but rarely ; this bird is known by its peculiar crest 

 and yellow eye ; it is not such a favourite cage-bird as the last- 

 mentioned species. The Sturnus contra is very plentiful ; I have 

 seen some tame ones which could imitate sounds very well ; they 

 become very tame and are often kept by natives. The last of this 

 group w^hich I have seen in this part of Bengal is Sturnia mala- 

 barica; they are common, and build in the hollows of trees, 

 keeping together in large flocks. 



That interesting bird the Ploceus philippensis, is the only spe- 

 cies of the Weaver-bird that I have seen at Barrackpoore ; the 

 long bottle-shape nest of this bird, hanging in numbers to the 

 leaves of the palm and other trees, cannot fail to attract the 

 notice of the most unobservant individual. The Ploceus manyar 

 and Ploceus bengalensis have both been obtained in this neigh- 

 bourhood, but I have never seen them. Amongst the little 

 Munias are M. rubronigra^ M. undulata, and M. malabarica, all 

 equally common. The Passer indicus, or common House Sparrow, 



