The Zoologist — August, 1866. 347 



feeds chiefly on grain, committing great havoc in the wheat fields, and in rice fields in 

 Bengal, but it also eats shoots of plants and flowers, and occasionally, it is said, 

 insects and reptiles. On one occasion I found that the flowers of Ciirtbamas tinclorius 

 had been the only food partaken of; it is staled in China to devour sweet potatoes. It 

 feeds chiefly in the morning, and rests during the day in some river or banij, returning 

 to the fields for a short time in the afternoon. It has a fine loud trumpet-like call, 

 chiefly heard during its flight. It leaves this country early, generally before the end 

 of March, and breeds in Northern Asia and Europe, in marshy ground generally, occa- 

 sionally, ii is said, on the roofs of deserted houses. The eggs are two in number, of a 

 greenish colour, with some brownish spots.-—' Birds of India,' ii. p. 665. 



The Demoiselle Crane in India.— Th]s beautiful crane is found throughout the 

 greater part of India, is more rare in the extre.me south, is never seen in Malabar, nor 

 in lower Bengal ; one writer says that it is never met with below Dinapore. It is a cold 

 weather visitor generally, only coming in late October, and its arrival, like that of the 

 last, is hailed with joy as a sure sign that the cold weather has indeed come. It 

 associates in large flocks, from fifty to five hundred, and chiefly frequents the 

 vicinity of rivers, as it invariably, according to my own experience, betakes itself 

 during the heat of the day to rivers to drink and rest, and never to tanks or jheels, as 

 the Sarus and common crane do. One writer, however, states that he has seen and 

 shot them in a jheel. Ii is very destructive to grain fields, especially to wheat in 

 Central India, and to chenna {Cicer arietinum) in the Deccan. They fly with great 

 regularity, either in a long continuous line, or in a double wedge-shaped line, and then 

 utter their fine clanging note frequently. The demoiselle crane breeds on the ground 

 in Northern Asia, laying two olive-gray eggs speckled with rufous. The male bird 

 watches while the female is incubating, and fights boldly if attacked. They are said 

 to dance among themselves, and will often seize hold of any small article, loss it up 

 in the air and catch it as it descends. It is also stated thai they occasionally eat mice, 

 snakes, See, lifting them up and dashing them down on the ground till quite dead.' 

 The Karkarra makes a fine flight with a Bhyri, occasionally two or three miles; it 

 never uses its beak in self-defence, but is very apt to injure the falcon with iis sharp 

 inner claw. A well-trained Bhyri therefore always strikes this crane on the back and 

 never on the head. The mate of the stricken quarry often turns and comes to the 

 rescue of its companion. It is shy and difiicult to approach when resting, but less so " 

 when feeding, and ii is well worth a lilile trouble, as it is one of the best birds in India 

 for the table, and the praises of " roast coolen'' are sung by many sportsmen. The 

 name Kllung, transformed into Coolen, is wrongly applied to this species by many 

 sporting writers, it being always used fur the common crane by falconers and the best 

 shikarees. The name Karkarra appears to be nearly the same word as is used by the 

 Mongols of Central Asia, according to Pallas, viz. Karkarror, and is evidently an 

 imitation of its call. This is common iu Northern Africa, and is occasionally killed in 

 the South of Europe. — Id. ii, p. 667. 



Ornithological Notes from Barnard Ca.s</e.— Seeing a notice in the ' Zoologist ' of 

 a pied blackbird changing colour, I thought it might be interesting to you to know 

 that we have had one here with two white wings for the last seven years at least, 

 without any variation : he has only been once seen this spring. I saw a woodcock ou 

 the 23rd of May, and from the short distance it flew when flushed (only a few yards), and 

 the way it ran about afterwards, I thought it had a nest, but have been unable to find 



