Private Importation of Indian Birds in roi6. (',7 



brown; iris ruddy brown; bare skin round eye pale oranj^e; 

 legs and feet pale brownish-yellow. Total length loi in., 

 tail 3', in. 



Range. — According to Jerdon this species is found 

 throughout the greater part of the Peninsula of India. 



Habits. — Its call is loud and startling, somewhat similar 

 to a sort of laugh. The call is heard at all hours, very fre- 

 quently on moonlight nights. Its food in a state of nature 

 is fruit, berries, and insects. 



In captivity they take freely of fruit and insects, also 

 milk sop and a little insectile mixture. In a cage I found 

 them somewhat lethargic, but that was probably owing to my 

 specimens not being fit. When the ban on the importation 

 of birds is remo\ 'd 1 hope to obtain and test a pair of 

 these striking birds in the aviary. 



Coppersmith or Crimson-breasted Barbet (Xan- 

 tholoentct indica Lath). Neither of the two specimens shipped 

 arrived alivp, but this species has been exhibited on more than 

 one ()( (asion by our member, Mr. C. T. Maxwell. It is a 

 beautiful and small species, but only a very few specimens 

 have reached this country alive. 



Description, "(irccn above, the feathers of the back 

 and wing covers more or less margined with yellowishi'; 

 beneath yellowish or greenish white, streaked with green ; the 

 whitish predominating on the middle of the belly; broad 

 frontal space, and wide pectoral gorget crimson; throat and 

 around the eye pale sulphur-yellow; below the crimson gorget 

 is a narrow crescent of golden-yellow, a band across the 

 crown, continued round to the yeKow throat, and a moustachial 

 streak, black; a bluish tinge on the occiput and sides of the 

 neck, where the black gradually passes into the green of the 

 back, and also on the margins of the great alars and tail. 

 Luteous varieties of this species occur occasionally. Bill 

 black; irides dark-hazel; nude obitar skin dull crimson; feet 

 coral-red; claws black. Total length 6\ in., tail \^ in." 

 Jerdon. 



Range and Habits.— This species is found throughout 



