1834.] Insessorial Order in the Dukhun. 541 



The irides are red brown, and remarkable for being studded on the external margin 

 ■with regularly arranged yellowish-white specks. Sexes alike : omnivorous : quar- 

 relsome, noisy. Length 11.9 inches, inclusive of tail of 3.5. 



114. Pastor Mahrattensis. Past, supra griseo-niger, remigibus cauddque satura- 



tioribus ; capite genisque atris ; corpore subtus subrufesce7iti-griseo ; crisso palli- 



diori, plumis aibo marginatis. Rostrum pedesqwe flavi. Irides, pallide grisese. 



Longitudo corporis 9.6 unc. Cauda 2.9. 



Sexes alike. Found only in the Ghauts. Stony fruit in the stomachs of three birds. 



Resembles Past, tristis, but is a size less, possesses no crest, and has gray irides. 



115. Pastor roseus, Temrn. Turdus 7-oseus, Linn. 



Irides, intense red brown. Tongue bifid and fringed : not quite so much so as Hypsi- 

 petes Guneesa. These biras darken the air by their numbers at the period of the 

 ripening of the bread grains, Andropogon Sorghum, and Panicum spicatum, in 

 Dukhun, in December. Colonel Sykes has shot forty or fifty at a shot. They 

 prove a calamity to the husbandman, as they areas destructive as locusts, and 

 not much less numerous, 



116. Pastor Pagodarum, Temm. Turdus Pagodarum, Gmel. Gracula Pagodarum, Shaw, 

 vol. 7. p. 471. he Martin Br ame, Le \ ail., Ois. d' Afr. pi. 95. torn. 2. 



Irides, greenish white. Length 8.5 inches, inclusive of tail of 2.5 to 3 inches. Sexes 

 alike. These birds are great frequenters of the Ficus Indica, Ficus religiosa, and 

 Cactus Opuntia, for their fruit. Insects also are found in the stomach. Birds 

 lively and elegant in flight. 



Fam. Corvidce, Leach. — Genus Corvus, Auct. 



117. Corvus culminatus. Corv. supra splendenti-ater ,• subtus fuliginoso-ater ,• ros- 



tri culmine elevato. 

 Longitudo corporis 14 unc, caudce 7. 

 Smaller than the European Crow. These birds are remarkable for their audacity. 

 Bill with a considerable culmen. 



118. Corvus splendens. Vieill. Common Crow of India. 



This is no doubt Vieillot's splendid Crow, but in the thousands Colonel Sykes has 

 met with he never saw the plumage ornamented with the pronounced green and 

 blue in Vieillot's plate. Has the noisy, impudent, and troublesome habits of the 

 English Crow. Length 18 inches, inclusive of tail of 6 inches. A wounded Crow 

 was put into the cage with a Viverra Indica, in the expectation that the latter 

 would make a meal of it. The Croiv however stood so vigorously on the defensive, 

 that a treaty of peace ensued, and they lived amicably together for several weeks, 

 the Crow partaking of the food of the Civet until it died from its wound. 

 Genus Coracias, Linn. Roller. 



119. Coracias Indica, Linn. Coracias Bengalensis, Steph. Blue Jay from the East In- 



dies, Edw. pi. 326. 

 Very common in Dukhun. Called Tas, from its note, by the Mahrattas. Sexes 

 do not differ in size or plumage. Irides intense red brown. A grasshopper 2.5 in- 

 ches long was found in the stomach of one bird. Length 13.3 inches, inclusive of 

 tail of 4.7 inches. 



Fam. Buceridce, Leach. 

 Hornbills are by no means rare in Dukhun, but from aceident Colonel Sykes had not 

 a specimen to produce. 



Tribus Scansores, Auct. 

 Fam. Psittacidce, Leach. — Genus Palceornis, Vigors. 

 120. PaltEornis torquatus, Vigors. 

 Appear in considerable flocks in Dukhun, and are very destructive to the crops, par- 

 ticularly to the Carthamus Persicus. Fond also of the fruit of the Melia Azadirach- 

 ta. The female differs from the male only in wanting the collar, and has in con- 

 sequence been considered to belong to a different species. The Mahrattas call the 

 bird Ragoo and Keeruh. Length 17^ inches, inclusive of tail of 9| inches. 



121. Palceornis melanorhynchus. Pal. viridis, corpore subtus, jiotd circumocu- 



lari, dorsoque imo pallidioribus ; capite, collo in fronte nuchdque, columbino-ca- 

 nis ; rostro, torqueque collari lata nigris ; fronte, remigibus, rectricibusque mediis 

 cyaneis, illo pallidiori ; rectricibus subtus, apicibusque supra Jlavis. 

 Irides, alba?, subflavo-marginatae. Longitudo corporis 14.6 unc, cauda, 7.6. 

 Found only in the Ghauts. Sexes alike. This bird has the aspect of Pal. colum- 

 boides, but differs in the black bill, broad black collar, pale green yellow beneath 

 instead of dove colour, and in the want of the metallic green narrow collar and 

 blueish rump. 



Fam. Picidee, Leach. — Genus Bucco, Linn. Barbet. 



122. Bucco Philippensis. Gmel. Burbu des Philippines, Buff. 



This well known bird is called Tambut, or the Coppersmith, by the Mahrattas. It 

 sits on the loftiest and extreme twigs of trees, uttering the syllables took took, 



