19G BIRDS. 



than a bird. It breeds in hollows of lofty trees, and when the female 

 enters to lay, she plasters herself in and remains in the hollow till the 

 eggs are hatched, merely leaving a long slit wide enough to protrude 

 her bill for the reception of the food which the male has to provide. 

 The second and only other sort of horubill in Sikhim is Aceros 

 nipalensis, a hardly less remarkable bird. It is of similar habits, but 

 of a rather smaller size and without the casque on the bill. It 

 frequents higher elevations, and is considered good eating. The neck 

 of the male is red and of the female black. 



Amongst the birds of prey are vultures, eagles, falcons, hawks, 

 owls, kestril, and kite. The lammergeyer is only found at high 

 elevations, and other vultures are rather frequent visitors than per- 

 manent residents. The kestril is common in the cold weather, and 

 the kite passes through, in immense numbers, towards the end of 

 September, on its way to the plains, but a few remain permanently. 

 The pigmy falcon, Ilicrax entolmas, a permanent resident of Sikhim, 

 is an interesting little bird. It is prettily coloured on the upper parts 

 being marked with black glossed with green, and streaked about the 

 head and collared with white, and the lower parts reddish. It is only 

 about half a foot in length, but has courage enough for ten times its 

 size. It keeps mostly to the lowest valleys, but occasionally ascends 

 to over 4,000 feet. Of all the birds of prey in Sikhim the black eagle, 

 Neopiis malaiensis, is oftenest seen, not that it is the commonest by 

 any means, but because of its habit of continually soaring about, at no 

 great height from the ground, the livelong day. Jerdon found that 

 it fed chiefly on birds' eggs and nestlings. It also feeds on reptiles. 

 The spotted hawk-eagle, Spisactus nipalensis, is a handsome bird of 

 2^ feet long, and mostly found below 4,000 feet. The crested serpent 

 eagle, Spilornis chcela, is common at low elevations. It is also a 

 handsome bird, but its note, which it sometimes keeps calling for hours 

 together, is a disagreeably loud and harsh squeal. The European 

 sparrow-hawk and a crested goshawk are also fairly common. Of 

 the owl tribe there are seven or eight species, varying in size from 

 the brown wood-owl, Si/mium nipalensis, which measures 3 feet in 

 length, to the pigmy owlet, Glanciditim hrodicci, measui'ing but 6 

 inches. There are two Scops horned-owls. 



There are nine or ten species of pigeons and doves. In the lower 

 valleys, up to 4,000 feet, are to be found the Imperial pigeon, 

 Cmpophar/a insignis ; a pin-tailed green pigeon, Spenocerciis apicaudus ; 

 a tree-dove, Macropyrjia tusalia ; a spotted-dove, Turtur siiratensis ; 

 and a bronze-winged dove, ChalcopJiaps indicus. At higher ele- 

 vations are two wood-pigeons, Alsoconms Hodgsonii and Palumbus 

 pulchricollis ; a green-pigeon, Spenocercns sphenuruSj which has the 

 most musical note of all the Sikhim pigeons, and one or two 

 others. The imperial pigeon is the largest, and grows to over a 



