514 Messrs. E. L. & E. L. C. Layard on the 



the berries of the banian are ripe they feed eagerly on them, 

 in common with most of our native birds. 



The native name o£ this species in the Bourail dialect is 

 " Tigo." Bill dark horn^ approaching to black, paler at base 

 of lower mandible ; legs and feet black, with a grey powder 

 between the scales. Iris pale yellow. 



31. Graucalus analis, Verr. & Des Murs. 



The range of this species is strictly confined to the high 

 forests of the mountains of the centre of the island. Here 

 our young friends, MM. Boyer, having the species pointed 

 out to them, find them not uncommon, but difficult to pro- 

 cure, owing to their frequenting the summits of the highest 

 trees, where a gun will scarcely reach, and their incessant 

 restlessness. 



They feed greatly on berries, which we found mingled in 

 their stomachs with insects. We fancy, from dissection and 

 from the plumage of a young bird shot in October, that they 

 breed about June. This young bird is in the phase of plu- 

 mage described by MM. Verreaux and Des Murs when indi- 

 cating the species, and we are not aware if an adult has, as 

 yet, reached Europe. Bill^ legs, and feet black ; iris dark 

 brown. Length 11", wing 5" 3'", tail 5" 4'", tarse 1" 3'", 

 biU 1". 



In a recent excursion M. Lucien Boyer saw one scratching 

 on the ground like a Blackbird, turning over the leaves and 

 picking up fallen berries. There is no mistake as to iden- 

 tification, as he shot the bird, and was not a little surprised 

 when he secured it. 



This is the only instance in which either our young friends 

 or ourselves have seen a " Siffleur " of either species on the 

 ground. 



The present bird, though included by M. Marie in his list, 

 had never been seen by him, and it may be esteemed one of 

 our rarest species, or, at least, most local and difficult to 

 procure. Our young friends, first-rate bushmen and sports- 

 men, never visited the high forest without securing us one or 

 two specimens, to which they told us they were usually led 



