Himalayan and Kashmiri Birds 



Barbets 



Barbets are stout-billed, fruit-eating, tree- 

 haunting birds. They have monotonous calls 

 of two or three notes, which they utter fre- 

 quently. They lay their eggs in holes which 

 they excavate in trees. 



123. Megalcema marsh allorum : The Great 

 Himalayan Barbet. F. 1006, J. 191, +III. 

 E. W. 



A fine bird. Head and neck violet-blue. 

 Upper back olive-brown, streaked longitudin- 

 ally with pale green. Lower back and tail 

 bright green. Wings green, with splashes of 

 blue, brown and yellow. Upper breast brown. 

 Red patch under tail. Rest of lower parts 

 yellow, with median blue band. The massive 

 bill is yellow. 



This bird sometimes goes about in small 

 flocks. Its call, which is a loud, plaintive 

 Pee-you, fee-you^ resounds on the hill-sides and 

 in the valleys. 



Common at Murree, Dharmsala, Mussoorie 

 and Naini Tal ; less so at Dalhousie, Simla 

 and Darjeeling. 



124. Cyanops franklini. The Golden- 

 throated Barbet. F. 1017, J. 196, II. E. 



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