Birdi^ in and about thi Station. 
87 
ground bird and is a very low percher even when alarmed; 
the Niltava is more of a low Inish l)ird and dor^s not hesitate 
to lly up to a liiyiiisli perch if distui'bed. I know both birds 
well in freedom and in the cage and aviary. I have not found 
the eggs of either but have seen a fair number of nests with 
young of both. I own u]) to putting down my first Blue Chat 
seen as a Niltava, and when caughtj, a nice bit of trouble T had 
to identify him. I am better up now in my " Fauna of Indian 
Birds " than I was, and did at that time expect to find my 
bird near the Robins or Chats, after seeing it was not a Fly- 
catcher. I think the Niltavas are rather aberrant Flycatchers. 
Both are vertically migratoiy but neitliej' according to my ex- 
perience go right down to the plains. At Madhopur, Punjab, 
I expected but did not find the Blue Chat. Young Niltavas 
are A'ery Robin-like even close at hand. All the same T ex- 
pect Mr. Whistler knows liis oAvn birds and will forgive me 
writing the above whether he is right or no in his identifica- 
tion; the fact that he has only seen the bird in the breeding 
season, probal)ly not quite close, made me bolder in questioning 
his identification. I had hoped shortly to make his acquaint- 
ance after deriving much pleasure from his articles, as we 
were under orders for Jhelum, but now we are just off to 
Kohat and it is more than likely he is transferred if the 
" general post " hits his Service. 
I caught a hen Niltava in June, 1907, at Kajiar, 6,000 
feet, and this April I caught a magnificent cock in my com- 
pound, which is a veritable bird of paradise. I kept him for 
a bit, hoping to get a hen and then let him go and he stayed 
clooe at hand for some time. This bird was very common at 
Darjiling and I got to know it well for such a retired-haunt- 
loving bird, for they are not really shy. This and the Large 
Niltava (not so common a bird there) both had young in the 
nest late in August. I fancy our birds like others of their sort 
Avould have finished up their family worries by the end of 
June. It takes well to captivity and I hope some time to 
try a pair in my aviaries, as potential breeders. Banks are 
not too easy to arrange and most of our nicest birds breed in 
banks, and small wonder seeing that most of the country is 
bank; in my own compound my aviaries occupy pretty well 
all the available flat space and that is not much. General 
