324 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 2 



tropical States of the Union. Many authorities rank the cherimoyer 

 with the pineapple and the mangosteen, and believe it to be far 

 superior to its near relative, the A^iona reticulata, which it most re- 

 sembles. There are several cultivated races of this custard-apple, 

 among them the quotemoyer and atemoyer, that differ from A. cheri- 

 molia chiefly in size and shape. 



A subtropical fruit richly deserving of extensive cultivation in 

 the United States is the passion fruit or sweet-cup, from Pmsifiora 

 edulis. Originally from southern Brazil the passion flower has 

 gradually spread over the tropical world, being met with frequently 

 in Indian gardens and growing wild in the jungle. It is a peren- 

 nial climber, flourishing at all elevations up to 5,000 feet. The 

 fruit, of the shape and size of a hen's egg, is purple when ripe, 

 the skm afterwards shrinking, like our wild perisimmon. It con- 

 tains in its hollow center a quantity of fragrant, juicy, sweet pulp 

 surrounding a number of small seeds. It bears transportation well, 

 and Its adoption as an edible fruit should be a domestic and com- 

 mercial success. A delicious drinlc may be made from the soft parts 

 by beatmg them up with water, a pinch of soda bicarbonate and 

 sugar. This plant should be trained over a sheltered trellis or fence 

 and grown in rich and moist humous soil. The appearance of the 

 beautiful flower is said to recall the crucifixion— hence the name. 



Although there is at my disposal not sufficient space even for a 

 list of Himalayan birds (100 of them are figured in the first of the 

 famous folios of John Gould, entitled "A Century of Birds from 

 the Himalaya Mountains"), I can not pass by a few of these at- 

 tractive species, all of them (or their close relatives) to be found 

 throughout India. 



Molyneux noticed among the birds of north India golden orioles 

 wagtails (white and yellow), kingfishers, herons, water-robins bunt- 

 ings, gray tits, wren warblers, paradise flycatchers, bulbuls, thrushes 

 redstarts, pigeons, doves, and shrikes. He observed that the 

 first golden oriole appeared on the 26th April— the same date as that on which it 

 arrived the year before. Golden orioles have a glorious deep, liquid, flutelike 

 note which thrills through the whole garden. Two or three pairs alwavs settle 

 there, and all day long their brilliant yellow plumage is seen flashing from 

 tree to tree. Three days later another brilliant visitant appears, the paradise 

 flycatcher. He has n<.t the beautiful note of the golden oriole, nor such 

 striking plumage. But he has exceedingly graceful form and movements He 

 has a very long, wavy, ribbony tail, like a paradise bird, and the two or three 

 pairs of them which yearly settle in the garden may be seen at any hour 

 undulating through the foliage or darting swiftly cut to catch their prey. 



It may be added to these observations that it is the black-naped 

 oriole {Oriolus indicus indicus) that is seen in the Indian northwest, 

 the black-headed variety {O. luteolus lideolus) being rarely found 

 in that locality, although it is common enough throughout the rest 



