CATALOGUE. 
567 
"Inhabits India generally, and is common in the vicinity of 
Calcutta."— (Blyth.) 
" Common and stationary about Calcutta. It is mostly seen in 
trees, and is rather shy. Its common screaming notes are like those 
of the European Magpies ; but instead of that feeble indistinct sound 
which they make in spring, and which is their only song, this bird 
sends forth clearer and stronger tones, which sound like Tcoolee-oh- 
hoor^ and, at times, hohlee-lio. In the stomachs of those I examined 
were found only insects, chiefly grasshoppers." — (Sundevall.) 
" The flight of this bird has the same jerk, and its motions the 
same bustling character, as the English Magpie. The egg is of a 
plain greyish-white. I have known this bird to enter a covered 
verandah of a house, and nip off half a dozen young geraniums ; visit 
a cage of small birds, begin by stealing the grain, and end by killing 
and eating the birds, and repeating these visits daily till destroyed." 
— (C. W. Smith's Notes, J. A. S. Beng. X. p. 650.) 
" Builds on large trees about Calcutta, more than one at a time 
being seldom seen. The Bengalese women imagine whenever they 
hear this bird calling, that it forebodes the approach of religious men- 
dicants, who, by partaking of the fare prepared for the family, will 
clear the pots used in cooking ; from which circumstance its native 
name is derived."— (F. (B.) Hamilton, MS.) 
" The Maha Lat is a social, bold bird, and is found in all extensive 
groves and forests of Muttra. It has several curious notes. They 
are generally found in pairs ; sometimes two or three pairs assemble 
on the same tree, and begin to talk and quarrel, with a very singular 
sound of two syllables, thus, — kahah, or kekekeh, several times 
repeated in a guttural tone. It is not much unlike the sound of the 
Peacock, but not so loud. When not quarrelling, it has another note, 
more agreeable : perhaps this is a note of love ? This, too, is a 
compound sound, and is generally uttered when there is only one 
pair on a tree. One of the birds utters the note, and the other 
responds with a low purring sound. To utter the full sound, the 
bird lifts up its body from the tree, or shoots it forward, without 
rising from its legs. It takes very short flights from tree to tree, 
and does not often alight on the ground." — (Eev. T. Phillips's MS. 
JN'otes.) 
" This bird is generally spread through the South of India, but is 
only at all plentiful on the well-wooded western coast, where it is to 
be seen and heard in every lofty avenue. In the Carnatic, I have 
only seen it in the jungly district near Touremcourchy, and in the 
