110 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



more attractive bird, for the colouring of its 

 plumage, although quite as brilliant as that of 

 the coppersmith, is free from any crude vulgarity, 

 and the call, whilst certainly not musical, is not 

 irksome in its persistence ; and, as it may often be 

 heard at a considerable elevation in the hills, it is 

 not necessarily associated with ideas of heat and 

 blazing sunshine. 1 The call is very unlike that of 

 any of the other common barbets, and consists of 

 a long series of thrilling notes that are ordinarily 

 syllabled as " kurrawuk, kiirrawuk, etc., " but are 

 frequently more like " kukarruk, kukarruk, etc." 

 They are usually preluded by a number of low, 

 clucking notes, which often also fill up the pauses 

 between successive volleys of vociferation. After 

 the prelude they usually utter one or two half- 

 hearted calls, and then go off in full cry, as though 

 worked by machinery, their throats swelling, their 

 wings quivering, and their tails vibrating with the 

 successive impulses of thrilling sound. When call- 

 ing, the birds prefer dense coverts to the con- 

 spicuous sites chosen by the coppersmiths, and, 

 unlike the latter, they do not turn their heads 

 from side to side. They are to be heard during 

 the whole course of the year, and continue to call 

 vigorously in the coldest weather. During the 

 nesting period they are not so noisy as at other 



1 It is a much larger bird than the coppersmith, and is not so awkwardly 

 shaped as the latter is. 



