152 THE FOOD OP BIRDS IN INDIA. 



on the plains and some of these not on the plains proper. A 

 large number are confined to Burma and the Malayan region. 



Picumnince. The Piculets are entirely hill birds. 



lyngince. The Wryneck is a winter visitor to the plains and 

 apparently an uncertain one. possibly its migration only occurs 

 to localities with a suitable food supply. This is especially notice- 

 able at Pusa. In 1906-7 there was a considerable cotton crop and 

 the birds were fairly numerous. In 1907-8 the cotton was less in 

 area and few birds were heard or seen, one specimen only was ob- 

 tained. Few specimens were seen or heard in 1908-9 ; the cotton 

 crop had been abandoned, and it is possible that either its food 

 is more abundant in the neighbourhood of cotton, or that the cotton 

 plant forms good cover for the bird. 



The family Pici feeds very largely on ants, and judging 

 from the stomach records by no means so much on boring insects 

 as is thought to be the case. They may be regarded as beneficial. 

 The economic importance of at any rate the common plains spe- 

 cies of Pici depends almost entirely on the economic importance 

 we attach to ants. 



ZYGODACTYLI. 



Jndicatoridce. Honey-guides. Said to disclose locality of 

 bees' nests to share in spoil, and are sometimes found in bees' 

 nests (dead). Jer.d. B. L, 1,306. Bees, grubs, and honey. E. B. C. 

 N. H., 452. Afford assistance in discovery of bees' nests. Imp. 

 Gaz., I, 247. 



1004. /. xanihonotus. Yellow-backed Honey-guide. In the 

 stomach were several predatory wasps and a small quantity of 

 green vegetable matter. F. I., Ill, 82. On bees swarming 

 round a hole in a tree. B. N. H. S. J., XIX, 153. 



Capitonidce. Barbets. Indian species are occasionally in- 

 sectivorous, but none except Calorhamphus feed much on insect 

 food. F. I., Ill, 83. Barbets feed almost exclusively on fruits and 

 berries. Jerd. B. L, II, 308. Chiefly fruit. Jerd. B. I., II, 309, 



