REVIEW. 319 



in the forests of the same neighbourhood. Something very like it has 

 been seen there, but not brought to bag. It has been reliably reported 

 from the next district — Ratnagiri. Mr. Blanford has well sealed the 

 rejection of the specific name malabaricus for another Anthracoceros^ihe 

 Bengal pied hornbill, which is not found in Western India, but seems 

 to represent ours in the North-East and Burma. 



Next come the hoopoes, a small sub-order closely allied to the 

 hornbills, having only two families — one confined to Africa and one 

 spread over the warmer parts of the Old World, though it has only one 

 genus, Upupa. We have two species — the Indian hoopoe in all our 

 districts out of Sind, and the European bird, a cold weather visitor to 

 all but (perhaps) Kanara. The latter has white marks on its crest ; the 

 former none. A good many at least of our native members must be 

 well acquainted with the amusing Semitic legends which connect this 

 northern hoopoe with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Queen 

 Balkis), whose name Mr. Browning makes to rhyme with " just one 

 small kiss " — a false quantity bad enough to make her turn in her 

 grave. 



Leaving these pretty and attractive birds, we follow our author to 

 his next order : VI, Macrochires, swifts and " goat-suckers " (who do 

 not suck goats). Of the former, our commonest is perhaps the Alpine 

 Cypselus melha, " probably, with the exception of the larger species 

 of Chcetura, the swiftest and most powerful flyer amongst birds." 

 But near Bombay the little palmswifts {Tachornis) are more common, 

 and although Mr. Blanford does not report any of the genus Chcetura 

 (spine-tailed swifts), from our province, we shall probably hear of 

 them in it sooner or later. These wonderful birds are not very easy 

 to observe when in a hurry, nor to catch and identify. Our most 

 talked-of bird in this order is the Edible-nest Swift {Collocalia 

 fuciphaga). It is a pity that the chance of getting rid of the specific 

 name has not been taken. It implies that the bird eats sea-weed — 

 which it does not — and so misleading a term was entitled to no more 

 mercy than the specific names embodying errors as to distribution, 

 from several of which Mr. Blanford has delivered us. The nests of 

 this species, by the way, are recorded as inferior to those of C. 

 innominata, " second sort nests " in short. Amongst the goat-suckers 

 or night-jars we have several species of Caprimulgus ; none, as yet 



