1890-91.] 171 tlie Central Himalayas. 407 



natives " dhobins " or " washerwomen," are fairly common up 

 to 4000 feet. They are apparently anxious about what they 

 are to have for dinner, as their cry has been syllabicated, 

 " Aj to nahin rasil ? " — " Is it enough cooked to-day ? " Of the 

 tits, the most conspicuous is the white-eyed tit {Zosterops 

 IxdiJcbramtm), found everywhere in Kumaon. Equally common 

 is the Parus monticola, distinguished by its wearing a Gladstone 

 collar. The common crows are Corvus culminatus and Corvus 

 splendens. The latter, as before mentioned, is the favourite 

 victim of the " koil," though the crow is perhaps the wisest bird 

 in India. This is not to be wondered at. Among the human 

 race, the wise and good are the favourite prey of charlatans, 

 and why should it not be so among birds ? 



I pass over the many jays, mentioning only the Indian 

 magpie, which is very common, dressed in black hat, brown 

 coat, and grey trousers, with a cry like the scraping of a pan. 

 Hearing this bird cry is an omen that you will soon have a 

 visit from a beggar, wanting food or money from you. The 

 hill mina {^Eulabes intermedia), the most articulate speaker of 

 all birds, far excelling even the parrots, is unfortunately not a 

 Kumaon bird ; but it is abundant in the neighbouring province 

 of ISTepal, on the other bank of the river Surjoo. It is caught 

 there, and sent all over India. In Naini Tal in 1881 I had a 

 mina in a cage. It had been taught to say " Pray to Eama." 

 A poor blind woman had come to beg. When she heard 

 the bird shouting out " Pray to Ptama ! " she stopped, and, 

 turning her sightless eyes to where the sound came from, she 

 said, " great king, I have prayed to Piama." The bird, hearing 

 her voice and footsteps, got more and more excited, and kept 

 shouting out louder and louder, "Pray to Eama! pray to Rama!" 

 while every now and then the poor old woman said, in a soft 

 low voice, " king, I have prayed to Eama." We gave the 

 old woman a small coin and sent her away. I do not believe 

 she had the least idea it was a bird that had been speaking to 

 her, yet I do not know whether she supposed it to be a human 

 or a supernatural voice, — probably she thought it was the 

 latter. Of the larks, the only one common in Kumaon is the 

 Alauda gulgula, almost identical with the British skylark. I 

 have already alluded to the plaintive wail of the green wood- 

 pigeon {Sphenoccrcus sphcnurus). To my ear this is the most 



