AN EXCURSION. 1 7 



this, and partly also to the character of the leaves, which 

 are smooth, oval, acutely pointed, and alternately 

 arranged, it is one of the most elegant and beautiful of 

 trees, and ought to be extensively planted in other parts 

 of the country, where it is likely to thrive as well as it 

 does in Bengal. The trees were all laden with an over- 

 flowing abundance of fruits which resembled teparis, but 

 were of a deeper yellow colour. These attracted a large 

 assemblage of birds of different species, and accounted 

 for the bustle and commotion overhead in pleasing 

 contrast with the general tranquility and repose which 

 prevailed down below. 



A congress of birds. There were the ubiquit- 

 ous crows, fluttering, cawing, and asserting themselves; the 

 fussy mynas chirping incessantly, and the cunning mag- 

 pie gliding noiselessly among the branches. The beau- 

 tiful green doves with bright yellow beak rose now and 

 then fluttering their wings, and after wheeling about for a 

 few seconds settled down again upon the same or a 

 neighbouring tree. All of a sudden, a flock of mynas 

 would leave the grove with a loud whirr, and betake 

 themselves to another. So dense, however, was the foli- 

 age, that it was difficult to see all the birds, but there 

 was no mistake about the presence of the koel and the 

 barbet. Their respective call notes betrayed them. 



The Barbet. ( Cyanops asiatica, Lath). The Crimson- 

 breasted barbet, or the Copper-smith bird of Europeans 

 in India, has for its size, a remarkably loud call-note, 

 which sounds like t-o-o-k, t*o-o-k, t-o-o-k, and which once 



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