Birds of Luchnow, 541 
about its ornitliology. By the aid of '' Jerdon " I made 
them out as belonging to this species^ but unfortunately 
never preserved them. I have never actually handled a 
Lucknow specimen since. Though possibly the bird may 
be overlooked^ on account of being mistaken for its smaller 
cousin, P. brevirostris , I think that it is but a rare winter 
visitor from Kumaun. E/cid has written : '^ Rare it un- 
doubtedly is, but small parties, chiefly females, may be 
met with occasionally, from November to the end of 
February, in mango-topes all over the Division, while I 
have frequently seen it in the Horticultural Gardens at 
Lucknow. It is strange that, though this species visits us, 
P. roseus /does not.^"* 
No. 495. Pericrocotus brevirostris. Short-billed Mi- 
nivet. 
Sat suki kapi [H., teste Reid]. Large Raja Lai [Anglo- 
Indian boys] . 
A fairly common winter visitor, frequenting gardens and 
mango-groves in large and small parties, the females pre- 
dominating. The birds generally keep near the tops of the 
trees, and are constantly on the move, flitting from twig to 
twig eagerly searching for insects. They first put in an 
appearance about November, though sometimes as early as 
October, and depart for the hills in February. 
No. 500. Pericrocotus peregrinus. Small Minivet. 
Raja Lai [Anglo-Indian boys]. 
Tliis pretty little bird is a common and permanent 
resident. Like other Minivets, it goes about in small parties, 
except in the breeding-season, searching the trees for insects. 
The nest is a most lovely little cup of vegetable fibres, 
lichens, bark, and cobwebs, while it is so small and so like 
a knot on a branch that it is almost impossible to find it, 
except by carefully watching the birds. I have taken it on 
the sheshum, but principally on the mango and babool, at 
all heights from six to forty feet. A most curious fact in 
connexion with this bird is that — with, I think, only one 
or two exceptions at the most — I have always found nests, 
