BAEBETS. 



trated account of these birds in The Avicttltural Mar/a- 

 zhie, Socond Series. Vol. III., pp. 323-330. He fed them 

 " almost oxjhisively on fruits and vegetable matter, in- 

 cluding cut-up raisins." 



Common Greek or Jungle B.irbex (Cyanops caniceiis). 



Briglit green, streaked and spotted 'vvith yellowdsh 

 above ; Tring-covertfi s-lightly browner green ; primaries 

 dusky, green externally ; iimer secojidaries greon Tvitli 

 yellowish spots; lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 <ovei-te witliout stripes ; tail green above, bluer below ; 

 head, neck, throat, and breast brown streaked with 

 wliitisli, excepting on the throat; lores, front of cheeks, 

 and chin dai'k grey ; body from breast backwards 

 emerald-green, slightly brownish on abdomen ; under 

 ■wing-ooverts and inner lining of flights yellowisli ; bill 

 brownish-flesh : feet dull chrome-yellow, claws brown ; 

 irides clear brown ; naked orbital ring orange-yellow. 

 Female smaller than the male, witli shorter ^vings and 

 tail. Hab., India. 



Jerdon ("Birds of India," Vol. I., p. 311) says: "Its 

 loud cry is familial' to every sportsman, wherever its 

 range extends, and is often quite startling. Like the 

 call of the others of tliie group, it is something like the 

 word hiitur, hliliir. l-ofiir, preceded by a harsh sort of 

 laugh. They continue to call for eome minutes at a 

 time, and aa-.o liea.rd at all hours, frequently indeed at 

 night, €s|iecially when there is moonlight; hence several 

 ■ if the native names. Its usual food is fruit and berries, 

 'ii'casionally ineects. Mr. Elliot, in his remarks, notes 

 "one was shot pecking at the flowers of a tree." He 

 further states that on eacJi side of the tliroat there is 

 a naked spot with the skin wrinkled, which the bird 

 probably contracts and expands when calling." 



In Hume's " Xests and Eggs," Vol. II., pp. 322, 323, 

 and 324, we read : '" Franklin's Green Barbet breeds in 

 richly-wooded, well-watered districts, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of hilly ground or hills, finding its way 

 up into the valleys of these to an elevation of some 

 2,000 or 3,000 feet, at any rate, all over Continental, 

 as opiX)sed to Peninsular India. It lays in March and 

 .\pril. At Bareilly I obtained' fully-fledged young ones 

 b.v May 20, and Dr. King, writing from Mount Aboo, 

 .•ays he obtained them on the 25th of that month. 



" Three or four is the usual niunber of eggs found, 

 and these appear to be laid very irregularly, as quite 

 hard-set and almost fresh ones are found in the eame' 

 nest^hole. These latter, so far as I know, are always; 

 excavated by the birds themselves in th« trunk or one 

 of the larger branches of some soft-wooded tree, eucli 

 as the siris. In Bareilly we foumi no nest -hole at a less 

 height than 20ft., and"one was at least 50ft. from the 

 ground. 



" There is, of coui-se, no real nest, the eggs being 

 laid' on the bottom of the hole amongst a few chips. The 

 liole is comparatively small, not above 5in. in diaaneter 

 at bottom, from 6in. to 2ft. deep, and the passage, •which 

 is ver.v neatly cut and rounded, and nicel.v bevelled off 

 at the entrance, is only about 2^-in. in diameter." 



" The eggs are somewhat elongated, ver.v regular ovals, 

 dull white, and slichtlv glossy. Thev vary from 1.1 

 to 1.3 in length, and from 0.84 to 0,95 in breadth ; but 

 the average of a dozen eggs ■was 1.21 nearly by 0.88 

 nearly." 



Russ says that this bird has only once an-ived living 

 in Europe, Mi.^^s Cliristiane Hagenbeck having in 1875 

 brought it to the " Cypria " Exhibition, at Berlin, Of 

 course, a common and widely-distributed Indian bird 

 like this might arrive in the English bird market at any 

 time. 



Hodgson's Barbet (Cyanops lincata). 



Above grass-green, feathers of mantle and upper back 

 with yellowish- white centres; outer ■webs of primaries 

 olive-yellow toward's the tips ; tail gi-een above, bluish 

 below; feathers of crown ashy- whitish edged with 

 brown, more pronounced on hind neck ; sides of head 

 whitish, the ear-coverts, hind cheeks, and sides of neck 

 ■with browii edges to tlie feathers ; throat not at all or 

 very slightly streaked ; feathers of fore-neck and breast 

 whitish broa'd'ly edged with brown ; sides of breast, 

 flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts pale emerald-gi'een 

 with darker edges to the feathers ; imder wing-coverts 

 yellowish-white edged -with brown; flights below dark 

 brown, yellowish along inner web ; bill horn-yellow ; 

 feet fleshy yellow, base of claws dusky brown ; irides 

 deep brown and i-eddish-brown ; orbital ring deep yel- 

 low. Female with a broader bill. Hab., "Himalayas 

 to Assam and the Burmese countries, and reoccuiring 

 in Java," (Shelley.) 



All th.at Jerdon tells us about this Barbet is that "its 

 voice is very loud," l>ut in Hume's "Kests and Eggs of 

 Indian Birds," Vol. II., p, 525, we get some informa- 

 tion: "According to ilr. Hodgson's notes, this species 

 (the Lineated Barbet) breeds in the valleys of the lower 

 regions of Nepal. It begins to lay about April, and the 

 young are ready to fly by June or July. It excavates 

 a deep hole, some 16in. in depth, in the trunk of sonne 

 decayed tree, and lays three or four pure white eggs, 

 wliich are figured as brcKid ovals, considei'ably pointed 

 towards one end, and measuring 1.3in. by 0.98in." 



Major C. T. Bingham infomiB us that in Tenasserim 

 " this Barbet was excessively common, but I succeeded 

 in finding onlv two ne.=t.=, one on Maroh 25, and the 

 ether on April 13. This latter contained four young 

 ones barely fledged. Out of the former, which was a 

 mere hole leading to a shallow hollow in a dried bough 

 of a teak-tree, which, having been cut down years ago, 

 la.v projjped in a slanting position against a neighbour, 

 I took three fresh eggs, which I fouird lying on the bare 

 wood. Tlie entrance-hole was irregular and e-vidently 

 not a recently cut one." 



"Some eggs ai'e rather elongated ovals, the shells fine, 

 smooth, and rather fragile, but with scarcely any appre- 

 ciable gloss. Other eggs are regular ovals, sometimes 

 having a pyriform or even slightly cylindrical tendency ; 

 pure white and fairly, but not conspicuously, glossy. 



" An egg of this species, sent me from Sylhet by Mr. 

 Cripps, measures 1.25 by 0.95. Other eggs measure 

 from 1.16 to 1.38 in length, by 0.83 to 0.91 in breadth." 



This species reached the London Zoological Gardens 

 in 1877; in 1881 Jamrach imported it. as also in 1894. 

 and in about 1896 or 1897 it appears to have arrived 

 at the Berlin Gardens. 



Small Green Barbet (Cyanops viriclis). 



-ibove grass-green, primaries blackish internally, yel- 

 lowish towards tips of outer webs ; inner secondaries 

 bluish ; head, hind neck and under-surface ashy-whitish 

 with pale brown edges to the feathers, darker on head, 

 throat, and breast; hind neck slightly greenish and 

 distinctly streaked ■with bro-wn ; sides and flanks bright 

 green -with darker edges ; thighs and under tail-coverts 

 uniform green ; under wing-coverts yello-wish-buft ; 

 flights below dusky, yellowish along inner ■wclbs; bill 

 pale brown, darker at tip 0(f upper mandiiible ; feet 

 greenish-leiaden ; irides dark brown. Feraaie smattlcr 

 than male. Hab., Southei-n India. 



Jerdon eavs ("Birds of India," Vol. I., p. 312): 

 '■'J'his is the common Green Barbet of the M'alabar 



