292 cassell's book OK eirds. 



bare table-land of Central India, and is not recorded from the North-western Provinces nor the 

 Himalayas. It extends to Arracan, Burmah, Malacca, and some of the Malayan islands, where it 

 is much more common than in continental India. I have only procured it myself in my own 

 garden and on the Malabar coast. It appears not uncommonly about Calcutta, and, according 

 to Blyth, at all seasons. It is quite a wood-loving species, never being found in the open plains, 

 nor, that I have seen, about rivers, being chiefly found in shady gardens and orchards, and in roads in 

 the forests. It is usually solitary, and feeds on various insects. It has no seasonal change of colouring, 

 and appears to be found, at all events in the more northern parts of India, all the year round." 



The SWALLOW WAGTAILS (Enicurus) are large and powerfully-built birds, inhabiting 

 India and the Malay Islands ; they are easily distinguished from their European congeners, by their 

 comparatively strong beak, more rounded wing, in which the secondary quills are not prolonged, and 

 their robust feet. The beak is of moderate size, strong, straight, broad at its base, furnished with a 

 keel at its culmen, and gently curved at its extremity, which is slightly incised; the toes are armed 

 with very hooked claws, the fourth and fifth, sometimes the fifth and sixth, exceed the rest in length. 

 The extremity of the tail is so deeply forked that the centre feather is not more than one-third as 

 long as those at the exterior. 



All the species of Swallow Wagtails with which we are acquainted inhabit mountain regions, and 

 are numerously met with in their favourite resorts among the rocks. They are always found in the 

 vicinity of streamlets or waterfalls, into which they frequently wade. In their habits they resemble 

 other members of their family, and, except after the breeding season, live alone or in pairs. 



THE MENINTING. 

 The Meninting (Enicurus Lescheiihaulti, or Enicurus coronatus) is black upon the upper part of 

 the body, neck, and breast, and white upon the crest and under side ; the black wings are decorated 

 with a broad white stripe, the outer tail-feathers are pure white, the rest black, broadly tipped with 

 white ; the beak is black, and the foot yellow. The length of the body is about ten or eleven inches. 

 The Meninting is an inhabitant of the Malay Islands, where it frequents the mountain regions, and is 

 usually met with near shallow lakes or streams, at an elevation of from sixteen hundred to four 

 thousand feet above the sea. Bernstein tells us that he saw one of these birds on the Pangerango, 

 at an altitude of ten thousand feet, but this must be regarded as a very unusual occurrence. In 

 disposition this species is gentle and timid, but, if unmolested, will allow a stranger to approach 

 without testifying any alarm, merely flitting a few paces farther off should the intruder come too near 

 the .spot on which it is perched. When excited the Meninting raises its crest, repeatedly jerks its 

 closed tail upwards, and then, spreading it like a fan, slowly lowers it. Its voice resembles that of 

 the White Wagtail. The nest, which is invariably placed upon the ground at no great distance from 

 water, is frequently made in a small hollow in the earth, this being lined with moss, upon which a 

 layer of half-decayed leaves is arranged to form an elastic bed for the young family. The eggs are of 

 a dull greenish or yellowish white, thickly marked with faint red, yellow, or light brown spots ; these 

 often form a wreath at the broad end. We have never found more than two eggs in a nest. The 

 young are tended with great devotion by their parents, who, should danger be at hand, frequently 

 betray the presence of their brood by uttering a gentle, long-sustained note of distress. The 

 Meninting subsists upon worms and insects, seeking its food amongst the plants that border its 

 favourite streams. It is very partial to water, and frequently wades therein when pursuing its prey. 



The ACCENTORS (Accentoi'es) may be regarded as forming the connecting link between the 



