1888-89.] Notes on Natural History in India. 207 



innumerable. They, too, go to breed in summer in Thibet. 

 Then in every pool there are storks, herons, and egrets, the 

 characteristic birds of India. It is hardly possible to walk a 

 mile in Banda, and indeed in any part of India, without see- 

 ing vultures feeding on carrion, especially dead cows, eagles 

 on the outlook for hares or lizards or mice, and black-eyed 

 falcons or yellow-eyed hawks on the outlook for small birds. 

 I do not know if it is the case in Britain, but in India the 

 dark-eyed falcons generally decapitate their prey, while the 

 light-eyed hawks strangle it — in both cases, of course, catch- 

 ing it first with their feet. Of all the raptorial birds, the one 

 I noticed oftenest in Banda was the harrier {Circus Sivain- 

 sonii), with the solitary exception of the kite {Milmis govinda), 

 which, however, is hardly a true bird of prey. It is named 

 in India the scavenger kite, as it has taken to frequenting 

 towns and living on refuse and offal. It is assisted in this 

 useful employment by the scavenger vulture {Neophron perc- 

 nopterus). The latter, also, is one of the commonest birds in 

 India. After these, I think the most common raptorial bird 

 is the white-eyed buzzard {Poliornis Tccsa). The song-birds 

 of Banda are not equ.al to those of the Himalayas, or those 

 found south of the Nerbudda. The best singing-birds I 

 heard in Banda were the Leucocerca albofrontata, a fly- 

 catcher, which whistles very distinctly a descending diatonic 

 scale, but only six notes, not seven ; and three warblers, the 

 Copsychus saularis, the Thamnobia cambaiensis, and the 

 Carpotacus erythrinus — which last says very distinctly, "!N'ubbi 

 ji bhejo," meaning in Hindostanee, " Send the holy prophet." 

 Larks are also very common, especially the Alauda gulgula, 

 which has a note exactly like our British lark. Other larks 

 found are the Mirafra cantillans, very common in Banda ; 

 and the Galerida cristata, a crested lark which is a splendid 

 mimic, but its own natural note is not nearly so fine as that 

 of the common lark. In the early May mornings I some- 

 times heard a beautiful note, which I believed to be the 

 breeding note of the king-crow (Dicrurus macrocercus), which, 

 as its ordinary note, repeats every now and then, all day and 

 often all night, a somewhat monotonous " thakur ji," mean- 

 ing " Eespected sir." This bird, though only twelve inches 

 long, is exceedingly combative, and often attacks crows 



