154 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



The Indian list also includes numerous buntings, five of winch are 

 resident, the most widely distributed being the streaked bunting 

 (Emberiza striolata), which ranges from Palestine and Arabia through Sind 

 and the Punjab into the United Provinces. The crested bunting (Melophus 

 melanicterus), on the other hand, is very local in distribution, its range extending 

 from Kashmir to Bhutan, from Sind to Mahableshwar, and from Assam to 

 Tenasserim. It is distinguished by both sexes being crested, though differently 

 coloured, as well as by the tail being nearly square at the end. The male is black 

 and the female dark brown, both showing a certain amount of red on the wings 

 and tail. 



Finches and Among the finches may be mentioned the universal house- 



stariings. sparrow, which in India is much whiter about the cheeks and 

 blacker on the edges f the white than the western race. The weaver-birds 

 include eight Indian species, but the group is more abundantly represented in south- 

 eastern Asia. Six species of starlings are found in India, two of which are 

 resident. 



„ . , , The orioles, known in India as mango-birds, are represented by 



Orioles and Jays. . . . ° . . 



nine species, eight of which are mainly yellow in coloration and 

 have the tail black and yellow or green, while the ninth, Oriolus trailli, has a red 

 tail and in plumage is black and maroon. The raven, the carrion-crow, the rook, 

 the hooded crow, and the jackdaw are all found in India, and in addition there are 

 the more characteristic brown-necked raven (Corvus umbrinus), the jungle-crow 

 (G. macrorhynchus), and the house-crow (G. splendens). The handsome green magpie 

 (Cissa chinensis) ranges from the valley of the Jumna into south-eastern Asia, but the 

 Ceylonese magpie (C. ornata) is confined to Ceylon. The tree-pies are represented 

 by four species, one of which, Dendrocitta rufa, the Indian magpie, ranges from the 

 Himalaya to Travancore. The lanceolated or black-throated jay (Garrulus 

 lanceolatus) ranges from Hazara to Nepal and is frequent in Kashmir, where it is 

 found in summer up to 8000 feet. It derives its popular names from its chin and 

 throat being black with white shaft-streaks, the black ending in a patch of iron grey. 

 It has a blue tail barred with black, and not a black one like G. bispecularis, the 

 Himalayan jay, which is also distinguished by having the forehead and crown 

 purplish instead of black. The Indian shrikes include a dozen species ; and of 

 cuckoo-shrikes there are three, the most generally distributed being the black- 

 headed cuckoo-shrike (Campophaga sykesi). Sixteen different kinds of bulbul are 

 likewise natives of the country, 

 swallows and Of swallows and martins about twenty species are found within 



swifts. the area, including the European sand-martin and the Indian sand- 

 martin (Cotile sinensis) which ranges from the Himalaya to the Philippines. There 

 are two kinds of swift (Cypselus melanocephalus and G. cinereiventris) in which 

 the head is black, as well as a third kind (C. phceocepltalus) in which it is grey ; the 

 distribution of all three is curiously local. 



Roller, Bee-Eater, Among other noteworthy picarian birds of India, reference may 

 Kingfishers, and be made to the Indian blue roller (Coracias indica), and also to the 



Indian hoopoe ( Upupa indica), both of which are very close indeed to 

 the European forms. The long-tailed bee-eaters are strikingly represented by the 



