78 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA. 



bushes, and so he has to make use of such opportunities as are 

 given him during ploughing operations, &c., for obtaining such 

 food. To supplement these opportunities he often makes very 

 good use of his fighting powers, and he generally selects the Hoopoe 

 to rob. As a rule a Hoopoe eats a caterpillar whole, but should the 

 caterpillar (or the earth-worm) happen to be a large one, or again 

 if the Hoopoe has young and is making a collection of insects to take 

 to the nest, the caterpillar is not eaten immediately. The King- 

 crow will then swoop down on the Hoopoe and almost invariably 

 steal the caterpillar. Hoopoe? and King-crows often seem to have 

 ittle quarrels, probably on this account alone. 



The King-crow is a very pugnacious bird and attacks kites, 

 crows, mynahs, &c., with great vigour. I once saw a King-crow 7 

 settle on the back of a common kite. A similar event is also on 

 record. He is particularly pugnacious during the breeding season 

 and keeps all birds at a proper distance at that time and especially 

 crows. In a fight he does not always get the best of it. I have 

 seen him hustled by an Oriolus melanocephalus, and he has been 

 "bustled by Chloropsis aurifrons." (B. N. H. S. J., VIII, 10). 

 Again " numbers squat on the ground with mynahs and wag- 

 tails (M. borealis) constantly chasing the latter." (B. N. H. S. J., 

 XVI, 486). As a rule, however, he gets on very well with Mynahs 

 and does not attack or worry smaller birds than himself. The King- 

 crow will often have a tussle with a Mynah over an insect, and this 

 occurs when the King Crow is waiting near the Mynahs and picking 

 up any insects that may be disturbed from the grass. I once saw a 

 Magpie-robin playing with a mole cricket. A Mynah (A. tristis) 

 suddenly fleW down and captured the cricket, and began to peck at 

 it. A King-crow then appeared and went for the Mynah, which 

 skulked under a bush and then began to run round and round it. 

 The noise made by these two birds soon brought another King- 

 crow on the scene, and these two King-crows soon stopped the 

 manoeuvres of the Mynah, which dropped the cricket and flew off. 

 The fight had attracted thirteen Hoopoes to the spot. Worms are 

 often robbed from Mynahs, 



