LIST OF BIRDS FOUND IN AND ABOUT MADRAS. 491 



on to the tree by the owners of the garden, and the Sun-birds went on 

 incubating as though nothing had happened. 



933. Pitta braehyura. — The Indian Pitta. — This interesting bird 

 may almost be said to be common in Madras. Wherever there is cover, 

 such as shrubs or brushwood of any magnitude, there will this bird 

 almost certainly be found. 



Jerdon writes of the Pitta : " In the Carnatic, it chiefly occurs at the 

 beginning of the hot weather, when the winds first begin to blow with 

 violence from the west, and the birds in many instances appear to have 

 been blown by the strong wind from the Eastern Ghauts ; for, being birds 

 of feeble flight, they are unable to contend against the strength of the 

 wind. At this time they take refuge in huts, out-houses, or any building 

 that will afford them shelter. The first bird of the kind that I saw, had 

 taken refuge in the General Hospital at Madras and subsequently at 

 Nellore. I obtained many alive under the same circumstances." 



Some birds certainly reside in Madras all the year round, for 

 there is not a month in the year in which I have not seen Pittas. They 

 do not appear to be less abundant in the cold than in the hot weather. 



They feed chiefly upon the ground, hopping about and rummaging 

 among the dried leaves much as Babblers do. They are shy birds, 

 making for cover directly they see a human being. 



Crows, for some mysterious reason, appear to have a deep-rooted 

 antipathy to Pittas ; this perhaps accounts for the wariness of the latter. 

 Mr. D. G. Hatchell once picked up a dead Pitta in his verandah, which 

 had presumably been killed by crows. Dr. J. R. Henderson relates a 

 similar incident. "I was playing tennis at a friend's house here in Madras 

 when I saw a bird being chased by a mob of crows. It took refuge in the 

 drawing-room of the house, where I caught it and found that it was an 

 uninjured, but very much terrified, Pitta." " My impression is," he 

 adds, "that I have seen crows chasing a Pitta more than once in Madras." 

 I have never yet had the good fortune to come across a Pitta's nest. 



986. Brachypternus aurantius. — The Golden-backed Woodpecker.— 

 This noisy bird is very common about Madras, where it seems to be 

 very partial to toddy palm trees. 



1003. lynx torquilla. — The Common Wryneck. — This bird is not 

 at all common about Madras. 



1008. There iceryx zeijlonkus. — The Common Indian Green 

 Barbet. — I have neither seen nor heard this bird in Madras, but it has 



