No, 1. ] Miscellaneous Notes. 31 



liiiii- or Rosy pastor) is taken from Jerdon's liirds of India, Volume 11, 

 p;ige 33o : — 



" It ns'.ially maizes its appearance in the Deccan and Carnatic about November, 

 associating in vast flocks, and committing ^reat devastations on the <,nain fields, more 

 Specially on those of the clioluin or jowaree {Andropogon so}\ghus), -whence its 

 familiar name in the south. Mr. Elliot, in his manuscript notes quoted in mj catalogue, 

 says : ' Is very voracious and injurious to the crops of white jowaree,' in the fields of 

 which the farmer is obliged to station numerous watchers, who, with, slings and a long 

 rope or thong, which they crack dexterously, making a loud report, endeavour to drive 

 the depredators awaj'. The moment the sun appears above the horizon they are on 

 the wing, and at the same instant shouts, cries, and tlie cracking of, the long whips 

 resound from every side. The Tilliaeis, however, are so active that if they are iible to 

 alight on the stalks for an instant, they Crin pick out several grains. About 9 or 10 

 o'clock A.M. the exertions of the watchmen cease, and the Tilliaers do not renew their 

 plundering till evening. After sunset they are seen in flocks of many thousands re- 

 tiring to the trees and jungles for the night. They prefer the half-ripe jowaree, whilst 

 the farinaceous matter is still soft and milky. When they can no longer get grain, 

 they feed on various giass and other seeds, flower-buds, fruit, and also on insects, seek- 

 ing them on the ground, but they are rarely seen with cattle in India. The Telugu 

 name is derived from the nsme of a plant whose fruit they are particularly fond of. 

 Mr. Blyth remarks that ' they visit the neigbbonrhood of Calcutta only at the end of 

 the cool season, when flocks of tht-m are not unfrequently observed upon the arboreal 

 cotton tree then in bloom.' 



" Bm-gess states tliat he has seen them busily feeding on the flowers of tlie leafless 

 caper, a slirub very common in the Deccan, on the banks of tlie larger rivers. Dr. 

 Adams says that ' it is very abundant in the Punjab, committing great havoc on the 

 grain there.' In the noith-west of India, and in Afijhanistan, they devour larue 

 quantities of mulberries in spring, hence called the ' Mulheny-bird' \\\ the north- 

 west; disappearing afterwards. Tbey at times, however, feed much on insects, and a'e 

 called the ' locust-eater' in Persia, according to Chesney. Tbey do not breed in this 

 country, quirting the south of India in March, but lingering in the north a month or 

 so longer. It is ascertained that they breed in vast numbers iu Syria and other parts 

 of 'vVe>stern Asia, in rocky clifis. Burgess states his belief that they breed in India 

 somewhere, and was informed by a native that they do breed in the Ghats. This how- 

 ever is, doubtless, totally without foundation. Mr. Layard states that one year be saw 

 large flocks of these birds in July, that they remained only a week, and th^n disappeared. 

 Tbey were entirely unknown to the Natives. Burgess also states that in 1850, to- 

 wards the end of August, he saw a large flock of the rose-colouied sterlings feeding on 

 insects in an open field. These instances of their appearing so early ar<- very unusual, 

 and more especially tlieir occurrence in Ceylon in July, by which time the young could 

 only have been just fairly fledged." 



Mr, M. F. O'Dwyer, Settlement Collector of Gtijranwala, quotes an 

 interesting Hindoo le,i,-end, to the effect that in response to the prayers of 

 the people, the locusts have been imprisoned in a deep valley, surrounded 

 by impenetrable mountains in the west of the Himalayas. The exits 

 from thiri valley are guarded by TdUars (rosy pastors), commissioned by 

 heaven for the purpose. Now and then, when the sentinels fail in their 

 duty ui watch and ward, the locusts escape and arc hotly pursued by the 



