144 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII. 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 
No, I.—THE HABITS OF THE COPPERSMITH. 
Since Jerdon’s time it has been sometimes matter of doubt whether the 
Coppersmith Barbet (Xantholema indica) climbs and taps like a woodpecker, 
Some eighteen years ago I shot a Barbet which I saw so employed ona banyan 
tree in the Thana District, but had no books with me then and lost the specimen. 
Long afterwards at Rohe, with a fresh specimen and books before me, I made 
sure of the species to my own satisfaction, and had ample opportunity of 
watching these birds feeding in the large wild fig tree before the Travellers’ 
Bungalow at Poladpur, then in full fruit. But neither the Rohe specimen 
nor the Poladpur birds tapped the tree. The former was singing when shot, 
and the others were eating the fruit with very much the action of green 
pigeons similarly employed. 
On the 15th March, 1893, in the Thana District, I heard a tapping in an old 
mango tree, less powerful than a woodpecker’s, and less like the roll of a drum 
in rhythm. After a few minutes’ dodging around the tree, I was able to see the 
Coppersmith climbing up a limb, in woodpecker fashion, only a few yards from 
me. The green streaks on the breast were distinctly visible. Another, 
probably its mate, had just flown out of the tree disturbed by my move- 
ments, and was uttering the usual note on the next tree. 
W. F. SENCLATR, 1.C.8. 
THANA District, 12th March, 1893. 
Since writing to you about the tapping and climbing habits of the Copper- 
smith, I have again heard the same tapping in the same tree, and upon 
examination and disturbance of the tree, found no bird in it but the Copper- 
smith, who flew from the spot where the tapping seemed to be, and allowed 
me to identify him at pretty close quarters with a powerful field glass. 
Thave long had no doubt about the habit myself, and I think that I 
have given evidence enough of it. But I am tempted to make another obsery- 
ation which I should not have hazarded on my own account. Many of our 
readers know Mr. Wallace’s theory that brilliance of colour is (or may be) a 
result of high vitality in the animal, and especially in the organ. This Barbet 
and some woodpeckers show very brilliant colour on the head and neck, which 
must be highly vitalized for such an effort as their tammering on the trees. 
Is there any other reason for this curious resemblance of their coloration ? 
WTEETS: 
Tana Disrrict, 15th March, 1893. 
