1890-91.] in tJie Central Himalayas. 403 



presented by the goshawk ; and the small ones, represented by 

 the sparrow-hawk. The goshawk is the best of all birds in 

 falconry. It is trained to strike bustards, ducks, cormorants, 

 and herons ; and, above all, it is used for catching hares. Of 

 sparrow-hawks there are three kinds: (1), the "shikra," with 

 sliort tarsus and toes; (2), the "besra," with long tarsus and 

 toes ; and (3), the " basha," the European sparrow-hawk. Of 

 eagles, the golden eagle, one of the dark-eyed section, is also 

 trained by the Tartars to catch antelopes. The price of a 

 trained bird is said to be two camels. Besides the golden 

 eagle, twenty-seven other species of eagles are found in India, 

 as well as six species of buzzard and five species of harriers. 

 Of all these I will only allude to one, a species of eagle — the 

 ring-tailed fish eagle {Halicctus fulvimnter). A pair of these 

 birds have established themselves on each of the Kumaon lakes, 

 feeding chiefly on fish, but they are fond of carrying off a 

 wounded duck shot by a sportsman. Dividing the owls in the 

 same fashion, there are in India seven species of dark-eyed 

 owls and fourteen species of light-eyed owls. They are all birds 

 of ill omen, though the cries of many of them are exceedingly 

 beautiful. Of the Fissirostral birds, Hirundo erythropygia is 

 the most conspicuous, and the wire -tailed Hirundo filifera. 

 Of the swifts, the most common is Cypselus affinis, called by 

 Europeans the "pagoda swift," because it often builds in 

 temples ; but in Kumaon it builds in verandahs, making a 

 nest of straw, feathers, and bits of paper, glued together by 

 its saliva. An allied bird is the goatsucker, whose cry, heard 

 chiefly at night, is like the sound of a stone scudding over 

 ice. This bird causes as much terror to the hill-men of 

 Kumaon as its congener causes to the Highlanders of Scot- 

 land. The next group of birds is the hornbills, remarkable 

 for the appendage on their upper mandibles, and for the fact 

 that the male builds the female into her nest, leaving only 

 a tiny opening, and feeds her with fruits, while she is sitting 

 on eggs. The cry of this bird is said by the natives to be a 

 sure sign of rain. They think that, owing to the appendage 

 on its bill, it cannot drink from streams, and can only swallow 

 rain-drops. It is therefore often very thirsty, and cries out 

 for joy when rain is coming. The green parrots of India are 

 well known. They were the only parrots known to the 



