THE GREAT INDIAN BARBET. 129 



Family CAPITONIDJE. 

 Genus MEGALJSMA, G. R. Gray. 



511. MEGAL^MA MARSHALLORUM. 

 THE GREAT INDIAN BARBET. 



Bucco grandis, Gould, Cent. Him. Birds, pi. 46. Megalaema grandis, Hume, 

 Nests and Eggs, p. 128 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi. p. 150. Megalaema virens 

 (Bodd.), apud Jerd. B. Ind. i. p. 309 ; Marsh. Mon. Capit. pi. xvi. (part.). 

 Megalaema marshallorum, Swinhoe, Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vi. p. 348 ; Bl. $ 

 Wald. B. Burm. p. 73 ; Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 457 ; Hume, S. F. viii. 

 p. 88 ; Scully, S. F. viii. p. 250. 



Description. Male and female. The whole head, neck, chin, throat and 

 fore neck violet-blue ; a yellow collar on the hind neck next the violet-blue, 

 the shafts brighter; breast, wing- coverts, back and scapulars coppery brown; 

 rump and upper tail-coverts green ; primary-coverts and primaries black, 

 broadly edged with blue ; the other quills brown on the inner webs, green 

 on the outer with more or less of a coppery tinge ; tail bluish green; 

 abdomen bluish, turning to green towards the vent ; sides of the body 

 streaked with yellow and green ; under tail- coverts crimson. 



Bill yellow, pale in front, dusky at the edge of the upper mandible ; 

 irides brown ; legs greenish horny (Jerdon) . Iris hair-brown ; bill dull 

 yellow, tinged with green; culmen blackish; legs dusky green (Wardlaw 

 Ramsay) . 



Length 12 inches, tail 4' 5, wing 5 '5, tarsus 1*25, bill from gape 2*3. 



The Great Indian Barbet was observed to be very common on the Karin 

 hills east of Tonghoo by Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay ; and Mr. Blyth states 

 that it occurs in Arrakan. I can find no other record of its occurrence 

 in British Burmah. 



According to Dr. Jerdon it is found throughout the Himalayas ; and 

 Col. Godwin-Austen procured it in the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal. 



All the Barbets have certain habits in common. They are arboreal, 

 frequenting forests and tree-jungle ; they have a very loud monotonous 

 call, which they utter throughout the whole day ; they are found singly or 

 in pairs ; their flight is strong ; they feed entirely on fruits ; and they lay 

 two or three white eggs in a hole in a tree, which they generally excavate 

 for themselves. 



The present species, one of the largest of the family, breeds in the 

 Himalayas from Bhootan to Cashmeer from May to July. 



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