32 Indian 3Iiiseum Notes. [ Vol, IIL 



TilUars, who, unable to drive tlieTi back to tbeir prison in the hills, slay 

 them wholesale. 



The orig'in of this lej^-end is supposed to be the fact that the locusts 

 and Tilliars g-enerally arrive in Gujranwala from tlie direction of the 

 hills at about the same time in the spring. It has been noticed also 

 that when the locusts enter a grain field the Tilliars do not pursue them 

 into it, hut station themselves all round its borders and kill the locusts :s 

 they issue forth. 



The following are abstracts of the information that has been received 

 upon the subject of this bird : — 



The locusts in pjirts of ISind in 1889-90 were reported to have been exteriuiiirtted 

 hyjoioari birds, which did not attempt to eat the hicu.sts, but snipped them in two 

 and left them. In Khandesh also, in 1883, the jowari bird or rose pastor was men 

 tioned by Mr. Ommanney as a great enemy of the hicusts.* (Annual Keport, Di- 

 rector of Land Records and Agriculture, Bombay, 1S89-90). 



In the Civil and Military Gazette o£ 24t!i July 1891 it is reported tliat a bird 

 known by the Afghans as Sa»ch has appeared in vast numbers in the provinces of 

 Jellalabad and Lataband, and done much good in destroying hicusts. 



Major H. P.Leigh, Uepmy Commissioner, Kohat, writes (27th August 1891), 

 tliat all the natives he has questioned ajxree in describing the Sanch bird, said to have 

 appeared in such large numbers in Afglianistan, as a Tdiar (starling or rosy pas- 

 tor). Tliis bird appears in Kohat in large numbers, mixed up with large flocks of Kabu! 

 s|)arro\vs, when the mulberries are ripe, and migrates down coun'ry, re-appearing in 

 the autumn on its way north. The flocks cb;itter tremendously and dish from tree to 

 tree, but have not been noticed on the ground. Tlie bird is known in Koliat as Kan- 

 gira, and it preys (m the locust, thou<,'h curiously' enouirh it has been almost astrany:er 

 in Kohat during the past year, perhaps because it found such abundant food among the 

 locust swarms in Afghanistan and adjacent countries. It is said that the Jra«(?«>« 

 if iu small numbers, will not face a dense flight of locusts. 



In a letter, dated 29th August 1891, Major H. P. Leh^'h, Deputy Commis- 

 sioner, Kohat, recorded the alleged destruction of a flight of locusts by the rosy pastor. 

 Specimens of the bird were at tbe same time forwarded to the Indinn Museum and 

 identified by .Mr. W. L. Sclater. The Tebsildar, wlio was sent from Kohat to arrange 

 for tbe destruction of some locusts which has appeared in the neighbourhood, reported 

 that tbe swarm had been destroyed by the starling. He watched them for some time, 

 and noticed that, after killing a dozen or so of insects, the bird would fly oil: to water, 

 cleanse its bill, and begin again, appearing rather to kill the locusts for amusement 

 than for food, as it left them in the most mutilated condith)n. 



The Deputy Commissioner, Dera Ghazi Khan, wrote (26th August 1891) that the 

 common Tilliar or starling (rosy pastor) eats locusts greedily. On one occasion in 

 July, when flights of Iccusts invaded the station of Dera Ghazi Khan, tiie Tilliars were 

 said to have flown out in a swarm to meet them and attacked them fiercely. Tiie 

 locusts tried to avoid them but did not succeed in doing so, and were beaten ofl". The 

 damage dons iu the station was consequently very slight. The Tilliars are most numer- 

 ous in Dera Ghazi Khan from about the middle of July to the end of August. 



' The locusts referred to by Mr. Ommanney probably belonged to the species Acri- 

 dium sucainctum Linn., which invaded the whole of the BoMibay, Ueccui and Koukau iu the 

 years 1S82-83. 



