Capt. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 315 



Dr. Jerdon is somewhat in error when he speaks of the fe- 

 male's "spots on wings/' They rather form a wing-band; and 

 in the next line his statement, " the pair next the middle feathers 

 slightly edged with yellow," resolves itself after careful compa- 

 rison into — the outer tail-feathers with more or less yellow, and 

 most so on the outermost pair of the lengthened ones. At least 

 this seems to be the most accurate way of describing the plumage 

 of this very handsome bird. I may also remark that the Eng- 

 lish name used by the Doctor is rather a misnomer, as this species 

 has not a proportionally shorter bill than others. At Simla it 

 goes by the popular name of the " Scarlet Cardinal." 



276. Pericrocotus peregrinus. Small Minivet. 



On the JiOth of November, 1865, at Barrackpore, I observed 

 a large flock of this species, consisting of dull-breasted indivi- 

 duals, females and young of the year, I presume, which were 

 carefully questing for insects in the bark and on tlie leaves 

 of a large mango growing by the side of the main road to 

 Calcutta. They were very tame, and allowed me to approach 

 quite closely. One would occasionally cling to the bark of the 

 trunk and pick off an insect. I saw but one scarlet-breasted 

 male in this flock ; and this was the only time that I have ever 

 observed the species in Lower Bengal — although it was the com- 

 mon species about Umballah, where 1 procured several examples, 

 the first on the 30th of October, 1866; but they were much more 

 plentiful after an interval of a few days, since I find that on the 

 3rd of November I obtained three specimens, and on the 9th no 

 less than six. The length of a male killed by me in Maunbhoom 

 on the 2nd of January, 1865, is only 5'5 in. — much less than 

 is stated by Dr. Jerdon. 



278. DiCRURUs MACROCERCUS. Common Drongo-Shrike. 



I procured the nest of this bird in the Maunbhoom district, 

 and forwarded two of its eggs to the Zoological Society (P. Z. S. 

 1864, p. 375). The species occurs also frequently about Um- 

 ballah, where Dr. Scott recorded (Ibis, 1867, p. 136) a very 

 peculiar circumstance with regard to it, which has, I believe, 

 never been observed before. At Barrackpore, in the autumn of 

 1864 (c/. P. Z. S. 1865, pp. 692, 693), I found that this was 



