THE


Hvncultural dlbagasme,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VIII.—No. 11. All rights reserved. SEPT., 1902.



THE BLUE-WINGED SIVA.


Siva cyanuroptera.


By E. W. Harper, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.


For the benefit of those who may never have studied

Hindu mythology, it may perhaps not be ont of place to mention

that Siva is the name of one of the gods of the Hindu Trinity ; that

lie swallowed a quantity of poison, which produced a blue

colouration upon his throat, and that he thereby became immune

to poison ever after. Although the bird now under discussion

has no blue upon its throat, the colour is evident on its wings

and tail. The Indian Roller, which may be said to glow with

both Oxford and Cambridge blue, is in great demand amongst

many castes of natives in India during certain religious festivals,

when it is liberated with due solemnity by the people who

purchase it for the purpose.


The plumage of the Blue-winged Siva has already been

described by our two esteemed members, Mr. F. Finn and Mr.

W. T. Page, in the Feathered World and the Avicultural

Magazine respectively ; and the excellent plate which, I am told,

is to appear in our Magazine will give a good idea of the beauty

of the bird. Speaking generally, the bird may be said to be

fawn-coloured on the upper parts ; light grey below ; the head

is blue, streaked with grey, blue also predominating on the

wings and tail. Oates, quoting Scully, says : “ Bill grey-horny,

brown about the nostrils, and the base of the lower mandible

yellow : iris brown ; feet fleshy ; claws horny-brown.” Oates’

measurements are : “ Length about 6 ; tail 2‘6 ; wing 2-4 ”

(inches). The sexes are alike in size and plumage. A peculiarity

about the tail of the Blue-winged Siva is that the two outer pairs

of feathers are graduated, whilst the remaining ones are all

equal in length. Jerdon called the bird the Blue-winged Hill

Tit ; but it is evidently more nearly related to the Babblers than

the Tits. I11 a state of nature it is arboreal in its habits, going



