1 66 Capt. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 



smaller, and has a proportionally longer tail. In habits the 

 two are much alike ; but the Hill-Crow has a peculiarity (which 

 I have not noticed in any other species) of soaring high in air 

 of an evening, generally in circles, like the Kites and Vultures. 

 Its croak, too, is quite distinct from that of C.culminatus in the 

 plains. According to Col. Tytler, this species breeds at Simla 

 in July and August, on the tops of the Deodars, making a nest 

 of sticks, in which it lays two eggs ; these resemble those of 

 the allied species, but are elongated, and perhaps more longitu- 

 dinally spotted. Two specimens measure respectively 1"875 by 

 1-1875, and 1-8125 by !•] 875. 



663. CoRvus SPLENDENS. Commou Indian Crow. 



Abundant everywhere. Extends as far as Akyab certainly 

 (J. A. S. B. 1863, p. 76). In Burmah proper (that is, lower 

 down) it is replaced by a form which wants the grey neck [cf. 

 Ibis, 1867, p. 35). The dimensions of a "specimen killed at 

 Moulmein in September 1865 are as follows : — Length 17 ; 

 wing 10-375 ; tail 675 ; tarsus 1-875 ; bill from front 2-125 ; 

 irides dark brown. At Umballah I have observed Crows in large 

 numbers flying along the grand trunk-road over twenty miles 

 of an evening for the sake of roosting in the station, returning 

 in the morning the same distance, — a fact corroborated by Dr. 

 Jerdon and the late Dr. Scott. This, however, only occurred 

 in the cold weather, when the trees of a night were black 

 with their numbers, and the odour of so many thousands 

 close to one's sleeping-room was not pleasant. I have not ob- 

 served them congregating in this way in any other part of the 

 country that I have visited ; and it is difficult to account for the 

 object the birds may have in doing so, unless it be the warmth 

 they mutually afford each other, which must be a consideration 

 to these tropical birds in the eai'ly mornings of December and 

 January, with the thermometer below the freezing-point. 



The dimensions of four birds are as follows : — 



Length. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. Height of. Spread ft. Extent. 



-9.375 3-25 34- 



•875 3-5 34-5 



