II IK WOODPECKER AND THE COPPERSMITH. 6 1 



dark but rich and shiny green, while the under-parts fl^ ^ <y 

 are whitish, coarsely streaked with green. Its fore- < / 

 head and a sort of collar under the throat are bright , 

 crimson, but the throat itself and a patch on each !j 

 side of the face, round the eye, are pale yellow. The b^< 

 bird is gaudy rather than neat, and its figure and "' 

 gait are clumsy. It flies very straight and rather 

 swiftly, but may generally be recognised by its 

 figure. Its favourite food is the fig of the banian tree. 

 When a banian tree is in full fruit, crowded with 

 crows and mynas, you will not look in vain for the 

 Coppersmith, less conspicuous and obtrusive than 

 the others, but holding its own and repelling interfer- 

 ence with open beak and curious, snarling noises. It 

 lays its three white eggs about the beginning of the 

 hot season, in a hole in a tree, as I have already said. 



Every one who has visited Matheran, or Khandalla, 

 during April or May, must know the " Kootroo, " 

 which "tires the echoes" of every valley with its 

 ringing repetition of its own name, Koor-r-r, kootroo, 

 kootroo, kootroo. It is also a species of Barbet, much 

 larger than the Coppersmith, and of a bright, grass- 

 green colour. It abounds on the ghauts everywhere, 

 and further down the coast it may be met with even 

 at the level of the sea, but only where there are well- 

 wooded valleys. It will not live in Bombay. 



