170 Ornithological Notes, chiefly on some birds [No. 3, 



years now since I made their acquaintance in Pegu. I cannot say to 

 which species the birds belonged, for I could never get a gun to my 

 shoulder before they were out of shot, but the impression remaining 

 upon my mind is, that their speed exceeded that of C. melba, which I 

 shot in 1867 at Coimbatore, just as the Alpine swift excels the common 

 swallow. 



Suborder Passeres. 

 Family Pittid^j. 

 345. Pitta BengalensiS. In the forests around Chanda and 

 on the Pranhita, I did not once see this species ; near Sironcha I 

 seemed to come suddenly into its range, and found it abundant there 

 and on the Godavery. One specimen which I shot had been feeding 

 partly on the common large black ant of the Indian jungles, but the 

 principal food appeared to have been termites with a few coleoptera. 



Family Melliphagid^e. 

 631. ZosteropS palpebrOSUS, Temm. Rare in the Central 

 Provinces. I only came across 3 or 4 specimens. The Nilgiri race is 

 a little larger and appears to be a little darker in colour. I have only 

 one specimen to compare, in that the beak is 0.4 in., wing 2.2, tail 1.75 

 tarsus 0.7 in. In a specimen from Manbhum, the beak is 0.35, 

 wing 2.15, tail 1.55, tarsus 0.6. The bill appears a little variable. 

 The black lores appear rather more developed in the Nilgiri bird. I 

 doubt whether it is wise to propose a distinctive name upon such 

 slight differences, as intermediate forms may be found. 



Family Nectarinid^i. 

 234. Arachnechthra Asiatica, Lath. I can quite con- 

 firm Jerdon's account of the female of this bird retaining her dull 

 colours in the breeding season. 



Family Certhitd^e. 



246. Salpornis spilonota, Franklin. Ibis, 1867, p. 461, 

 and Gould's birds of Asia, Part XX. 



This very rare bird appears also to have been noticed lately by other 

 observers and ranges as far as Oude. My specimens were obtained in 

 the great forests on the Pranhita south of Chanda, where I used to see 

 the bird nearly every day. 



