Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



not noticed the bird at any of the hill stations 

 except Almora. As has already been stated, 

 the avifauna of Almora, a little station in the 

 inner hills nearly forty miles from the plains, is 

 a very curious one. I have not only heard the 

 koel calling there, but have seen a young koel 

 being fed by crows. Now, at Almora alone of 

 the hill stations does Corvus splendent, the 

 Indian house-crow, occur, and this is the usual 

 victim of the koel. I would therefore attribute 

 the presence of the koel at Almora and its 

 absence from other hill stations to the fact that 

 at Almora alone the koel's dupe occurs. 



THE PSITTACID^E OR PARROT FAMILY 



The parrots are not strongly represented in 

 the Himalayas. Only one species is commonly 

 seen at the various hill stations. This is the 

 slaty-headed paroquet {Palceornis sckisticeps). 

 In appearance it closely resembles the common 

 green parrot of the plains (P. torquatus), differ- 

 ing chiefly in having the head slate coloured 

 instead of green. The cock, moreover, has a 

 red patch on the shoulder. The habits of the 

 slaty-headed paroquet are those of the common 

 green parrot : its cries, however, are less harsh, 



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