98 



in the garb of a Hindoo female, and closely veiling his face and beard 

 with the " Chadir," issue forth with a Thaler loaded with sweet rice 

 in his hand to invite Crows to a (supposed) feast ! This invitation 

 consists of throwing a few grains of the rice to every Crow met on 

 the way, and thus a flock is soon collected round the supposed woman, 

 when the bird-catcher proceeds to his net, still throwing out a few 

 grains of rice now and then to the Crows, who now follow him close. 

 Reaching his net— which, by-the-bye, must be set at night and care- 

 fully concealed under dust and sand, otherwise the whole plan would 

 fail, — he heaps the rice on a spot surrounded by the hidden net, walks 

 to the end of a string attached to the net, and as all the Crows are 

 now very busy at devouring the feast, he suddenly draws the net over 

 his victims. I need hardly remark that in the manner of laying the 

 net, and in concealing his person, the bird-catcher must be exceed- 

 ingly cautious, for should the least suspicion be created by any dis- 

 covery, the farce would be at an end. The very arms and feet of 

 the man must be concealed, and the sight of a beard would most cer- 

 tainly send all the Crows flying in a moment. There are several 

 other ways of catching these birds. 



49. Corvus culminatus, Sykes. Native name, Pahari-kawa. 

 The habits of this are tolerably well known. 



50. Dendrocitta rufa, Scopoli. Native name, Dhanes or 

 Maha Lat. 



The Maha Lat is a sociable, bold bird, found in all extensive 

 groves and forests. It has several curious notes. They are generally 

 found in pairs. Sometimes two or three pairs assemble on the same 

 tree and begin to talk and quarrel, with a very singular sound of two 

 syllables, thus — Kahak or Kekekek several times repeated in a gut- 

 tural tone. It is not much unlike the sound of the peacock, but not 

 so loud. When not quarreling it has another note more agreeable. 

 Perhaps this is a note of love ? This too is a compound sound, and 

 is generally uttered when there is only one pair on a tree. One of 

 the birds utters the note and the other responds with a low purring 

 sound. To utter the full sound the bird lifts up its body from the 

 tree, or shoots it forward, without rising from its legs. The Malta 

 Lat takes very short flights from tree to tree, and does not often 

 alight on the ground. 



51. Coracias indicus, Linn. Native name, Suhuk and Nil- 

 khant. 



" Though gifted with so brilliant a plumage, much cannot be said 

 in praise of its shape. Its appearance on the wing is lovely, yet 

 when perched we observe a large head, thick neck, prominent breast, 

 and a pinched body, which is rendered more conspicuous by a long 

 tail. It is a very common bird, is little afraid of man's approach, 

 and is pugnacious, driving away the crow without much effort ; it is 

 a very noisy screaming bird, and in this respect is frequently very 



