442 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
much declamation and prevarication he suddenly, as if by a sudden 
inspiration, turned half about, and lifted a couple of the boards 
forming the floor of the hut :—“ Look sir, where the cursed rats 
have taken your birds.” There they were sure enough, about a 
dozen in number, laid out in accurate line one beside another, 
without a feather ruffled. Mr. Gomez for some time lied stoutly, 
and denied all knowledge as to how the birds had come there, 
unless walked off by the rats; but doubtless he had put them 
there himself to escape the trouble of preparing them, and 
was fool enough to persuade himself that I would believe his 
story; of course he ended the drama by weeping. I let him off 
the beating he deserved, but locked him into the hut, and did not 
release him till all the specimens had been preserved. ‘The rat 
referred to is not the common M. decumanus, but M. nivewwenter 
(of Hodgson, I think); at all events it is the Common House Rat 
of these parts; rather a pretty creature, and not an horresco 
referrens brute, like its brown cousin. It is said to live entirely 
on grain, and to eschew flesh. I fancy, however, it goes in for 
anything it can lay hands on. 
In consequence of this little episode with my follower, I did 
not go out till after breakfast. I was surprised to get an example 
of the beautiful Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Alcemerops Athertoni. 
It is common in the sub-Himalayan forests, but I never before 
saw it in the mountains. I met with no other kind of Bee-eater 
during this trip; and I only saw one Roller, Coracias Indica, and 
that was near Sabathoo, at an elevation of 4000 feet. Shot a pair 
of the Great Barbet, Megalaima virens. This fine species, the 
largest of its kind in India, is of common occurrence in the 
mountains, but does not, as far as I have observed, go below 
4000 feet. I once got its nest at Mussoorie, the end of May, in 
a hole in the main trunk of a rhododendron, about twelve feet up, 
containing three glossless white eggs. A pair of these birds, 
which were brought to me from the nest, became perfectly tame, 
and lived with me several months. I used to let them out of their 
cage, taking the precaution of closing doors and windows. They 
used to perch on the tines of a stag’s head on the wall, whence 
they held forth their loud and monotonous three-syllabled call. 
There is no difference in the plumage of the sexes. I fed them 
entirely on fruit, and over-fed them I doubt not. They used to 
eat till they could literally hold no more; and when they got to 
