418 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



pings of its wings. Its flesh is eaten and esteemed by some of the 

 natives. I once obtained its nest and eggs. The nest was built in a 

 lofty Casuarina tree, close to my house at Tcllicherry ; it was 

 composed of small twigs and roots merely, of moderate size, 

 and rather deeply cup-shaped ; and contained three eggs, of a 

 greenish-fawn colour with large blotches of purplish-brown. 



Several other species of Grauculus are found in Malayana and 

 Australia, among others are G. Papuensis, from New Guinea, 

 long considered the same as our bird; G. Javensis from Java; 

 G. fasciatus from Sumatra ; and there is one in Ceylon like ours, 

 but a rather smaller race, which has been named G. pusillus by 

 Blyth. 



Gen. Pericrocotus, Boie. 



Sj/n. — PhcBnicornis, Swainson : Acis, Lesson. 



Char. — Bill shorter than the head, moderately broad at base, 

 rather high ; culmen slightly curved ; nostrils partially concealed 

 by the frontal plumes ; rictal bristles few and feeble ; wings 

 moderate, 4th and 5th quills sub-equal and longest ; tail long, with 

 the three outer feathers on each side graduated, and the four 

 middle ones nearly equal ; tarsi and feet short, rather feeble ; 

 claws well curved. 



This genus is placed next to Campephaga by most authors. 

 Horsileld, however, ])laces it among the Flycatchers. Although 

 its gay colours would appear to separate it from the quakerish 

 Campephagce, yet some of these approach it in brightness of 

 plumage, e. g. Cercotrichas phceniceus, and some of the present 

 genus, as P. roseus, are grey with only a faint tinge of the 

 rich color of the others of the tribe, and one from China has no 

 trace of red at all. The Red Shrikes, or Mmivets (as Mr. Blyth has 

 called them in the Museum Asiatic Society), form a group of 

 species very similar to each other in the mode of coloration, the 

 males being generally black and red, and the females grey and 

 yellow, but the tints differing according to the species. They are 

 all inhabitants of India and Malayana, live in small parties, are 

 active and lively, feeding on insects, and usually keeping up a 

 continual chirping. 



