192 ON THE GENUS AllTAMUS 



It is not until one begins to study the distribution of Indian birds that one 

 becomes sensible of the great work which is being done in ' Stray Feathers ' 

 by Mr. Hume and his coadjutors. 



Mr. Jerdon writes : — "This Swallow-Shrike is spread throughout the 

 whole of India and Ceylon, being very numerous in some localities, but 

 locally distributed ; for you may pass over large tracts of country, apparently 

 well suited for them, and not see one. It extends into Assam and Burmah. 

 It is most abundant in wooded districts, especially where palm trees abound, 

 more particularly the Palmyra palm, from which, indeed, it takes several of 

 its native names. Where they are numerous several may be seen seated on 

 the same branch ; but they fly off independently of each other, and after a 

 flight of some few minutes return either again to the same perch or to another 

 tree. At times I have seen an immense flock in the air all together, hunting 

 for insects, and remaining on the wing for a much longer period. A small 

 party may occasionally be seen skimming over the surface of a tank, picking 

 up an insect now and then, and returning to a high bough of a tree over- 

 hanging the water. They live entirely on insects of various kinds. I have 

 found them most abundant in the Carnatic, the Malabar coast, the Northern 

 Circars, and Bengal, very rare in the Deccan and Central India. To my 

 great surprise I found them on the sides of hills at Darjeeling, on cleared 

 spots, up to above 4000 feet of elevation." 



Captain Beavan also met with it in the last-named place ; and Hodgson 

 obtained many examples in Nepal. 



Mr. Ball observes, in 1874 : — " The Ashy Swallow-Shrike is rather rare 

 in Chota Nagpur. My only specimen from the division was found in 

 in Sirguja. This bird also occurs in the Rajmehal hills, where it is, I think, 

 less rare. I have recently met with it in the Satpuras." In a later paper 

 (1875) he writes: — "It is perhaps not so rare as I stated. In November 

 last I came across a large flock in Singbhum, out of which I shot some 

 specimens. From Mr. Levin I hear that he got a bird of the year in 1873, 

 and subsequently both nest and eggs, in Palamar." 



