414 NOTES ON BIRDS OBSERVED IN THE REGION BETWEEN 



I am almost sure that I have seen the larger species H. spar- 

 veroides in Sambalpur and Orissa, and Mr. Blanford, I observe, 

 obtained it at Raipur. 



During" April I not imfrequently heard a Cuckoo in Jaipur 

 and Raipur which by the note must have been C. canorus. 



208 — Ololygon passerinus, Vahl. 



I found this bird again in Orissa* where it is not uncommon ; 

 but after leaving that district I neither saw nor heard it again 

 till I reached the western part of Raipur on the road to Nag- 

 pur. Its distribution seems to be somewhat peculiar. 



271.— Pericrocotus speciosus, Lath. 



The statement in Vol. II. , p. 208, of this journal, that this 

 species is a winter visitant in Raipur is, I think, incorrect. f 

 As a matter of fact these birds appear to be more abundant in 

 the jungles of Raipur, and the surrounding districts in the 

 hot than in the cold Weather. This, I am inclined, however, to 

 attribute rather to the clearness of the jungles, and increased 

 facilities for seeing the birds than to actual immigration at that 

 time of year. 



During the present year I shot specimens towards the end of 

 April in the Raipur District, and my rather extensive series of 

 examples from the Orissa, Chutia Nagpur and Central Provinces 

 jungles includes examples shot in every month from November 

 to May, inclusive. I am inclined to believe that these birds 

 breed and remain all the year in these jungles. However, I 

 do not know anything certainly regarding their movements 

 after May, and have never taken a nest. 



Three voung males shot in Sambalpur in February and one 

 shot in Sirguja at the end of the March, shew incipient 

 stages in the transition from the yellow and grey plumage 

 of the female to the scarlet and black of the male. This 

 shews itself by a general darkening of the greys, and by the 

 appearance of patches of scarlet on the forehead, chin, throat 

 and tail feathers. In one of the Sambalpur specimens the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts, from the blending of scarlet and 

 yellow exhibit a bright ferruginous tinge. By the breeding 

 season, which is said to be in June, these birds of the previous 

 year, in all probability, have assumed the full plumage of the 

 adult male. It is a curious fact that the chin and throat become 



* S., F, Vol.- IV., p. 235. 



f Mr. Ball may be right, but my belief is that this species leaves this neighbour- 

 hood early in May. In all the years that Mr. Blewitt collected in Raipur, Sambal- 

 pur, Boad and Athmullick, he never obtained a single specimen between the middle 

 of May and the middle of October ; and in the same way, whilst stationed in the 

 Doon, I never saw this species there between June and October. — Ed., S. F. 



