414 Capt. R. C. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 



232. Taccocua affinis. Central Indian Sirkeer. 



I think that my Maunbhoom specimens are referable to this 

 species. Dr. Jerdou^s descriptions, however, of all the members 

 of the genus are very short and unsatisfactory. In Maunbhoom 

 they frequent the most hilly and jungly places, and, from their 

 quiet, unobtrusive manners, are seldom seen except when beating 

 for large game. On such occasions to fire for the sake of a speci- 

 men is to incur the certain wrath of the rest of the party, who, 

 roused up by the report, look out with eager eyes for the ex- 

 pected bear, and bless the ornithologist afterwards for causing a 

 false alarm. 



223. Arachnothera magna. Large Spider-hunter. 

 Darjeeling collection, 1862. 



228. jEthopyga ignicauda. Fire-tailed Honey-sucker. 

 Darjeeling collection, 1862. 



229. tEthopyga nipalensis. Maroon-backed Honey- 

 sucker. 



Collected at Darjeeling in 1862. Frequents the low bushes 

 close to the station on the new cart-road. 



231. ^THOPYGA SATURATA. Black- breasted Honey-sucker. 

 Darjeeling collection, 1862. 



232. Leptocoma zeylonica. Amethystine Honey-sucker. 

 Tolerably common in the neighbourhood of Barrackpore, but 



more so in Maunbhoom, where it breeds in March and April, 

 and is known by the name " Ungatoonee." Two nests were 

 brought to me on the 27th March, from which I take 

 the following description : — Bottle-shaped, the entrance from 

 one side near the top, its aperture circular, with a dome over 

 it. Composed outside of bits of bark and fibres, firmly agglu- 

 tinated with spiders' web ; the top of the nest attached firmly 

 to a small twig, from which it hangs suspended and exposed 

 to every breeze, which must shake the nest severely and cause 

 it to swing, but without damaging the eggs, owing to the pecu- 

 liar elasticity of the silky webs employed. Extreme length of 



