1866.] CAPT. BULGER ON INDIAN BIRDS. 569 



13. Taccocua leschenaultit, Lesson. Southern Sirkee. 



I only met with three of these birds, on one of the slopes of the 

 Dodabetta range of hills, about 6500 feet above the sea-level. 



14. Arachnechthra asiatica, Latham. Purple Honeysucker. 



A common bird at Wellington, and constantly about the gardens. 

 It has a feeble little song, which it frequently entertained us with. 



15. Dictum concolor, Jerdon. Neilgherry Flowerpecker. 



This bird did not appear to be very plentiful, notwithstanding its 

 English name. 



16. Upupa nigripennis, Gould. Indian Hoopoe. 



A pair of these were daily visitants of our garden ; I saw no others. 



17. Lanius erythronotus, Vigors. Rufous-backed Shrike. 



One of these Shrikes resided constantly in our garden, and he was 

 very rarely silent. From the earliest dawn to sunset his curious voice 

 was to be heard, uttering every variety of sound within his power. 

 He generally sat on one of the highest branches of an acacia tree, 

 twittering, and screaming, and chattering away until his harsh tones 

 became positively annoying. His chief note was like " cover-it-up,'" 

 pronounced very quickly ; this was repeated several times, and then 

 he usually followed it with " kee-up," laying a great emphasis on the 

 first syllable, and ruuning the second rather short. He was also 

 fond of another note, which sounded remarkably like " ffive-us-a-bit," 

 uttered with great rapidity. Occasionally he warbled like a Canary; 

 but it was not often that he condescended to anything so musical, 

 or varied his usual harsh utterances. He was an excellent mimic, 

 and amongst the calls of other birds which he imitated to perfection 

 was the " did-he-do-it" of the Red-wattled Lapwing (Lobivanellus 

 ffoe?isis). All this time the female, for whose pleasure he doubtless 

 exerted his powers of making a noise so incessantly and successfully, 

 was the occupant of a nest which hung from one of the pendulous 

 branches of an acacia tree close by, completely inaccessible to me ; 

 otherwise I might have been tempted to appropriate the eggs. 



18. Dicrurus macrocercus, Vieillot. Common Drongo-Shrike. 

 The King Crow did not appear to be plentiful. 



19. Leucocerca pectoralis, Jerdon. White-spotted Fantail. 



This little bird, to my fancy, sings most melodiously and softly, 

 especially in the early morning, soon after sunrise. One paid our 

 garden at Wellington constant visits, and on such occasions he was 

 seldom silent, but continued to chaunt his sweet little song at inter- 

 vals of about a minute. His stay was never very lengthened, rarely 

 extending over half an hour or thereabouts. He was a busy, rest- 

 less little creature, hopping and flitting about amongst the branches 

 without intermission, and spreading out his tail like a fan repeatedly. 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1866, No. XXXVII. 



