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female of Emb. cristata; but setting aside the fact of both sexes of each bird being in the present collection, their localities are different, and they were never seen together by Colonel SYKES.

Genus Linaria, Bechst. Linnet.

105. Linaria Amandava. Fringilla Amandava, Linn.

These beautiful little birds, so common in Goojrat, are rare in Dukhun.

Genus Ploceus, Cuv. Weaver Bird.

106. Ploceus Philippensis, Cuv. Philippine Grosbeak, Lath.

The Weaver Bird is very common in Dukhun, and there are few wells overhung by a tree where their nests are not seen pendent. They live in small communities, and are very noisy in their labours. They associate so readily with the common Sparrow that at the season of the falling of the grass seeds Colonel SYKES, in firing into a flock of Sparrows on the grass plats in his own grounds, killed as many Weaver Birds as Sparrows. Fruit of the Ficus Indica and grass seeds have been found in the stomach. Irides, intense brown.

107. Ploceus flavicollis. Fringilla flavicollis, Frankl.

This bird has so nearly the bill, tongue, irides, size and aspect of Ploc. Philippensis, that Colonel SYKES has considered it a Ploceus. Grass seeds and a few grains of rice found in the stomach. Very rare in Dukhun.

Genus Fringilla, Auct. Finch.

108. Fringilla crucigera, Temm., Pl. Col. 269. fig. 1. Duree Finch, Lath. This minute bird has the strange habit of squatting on the high roads and almost allowing itself to be ridden over ere it rises. Smaller than a Sparrow. Irides, red brown. Coleopterous insects, maggots, and seeds of Panicum spicatum found in the stomachs of many specimens. This bird has the straight hind claw of a Lark, and should therefore neither be classed as a Fringilla, agreeably to M. Temminck, nor as a Passer, agreeably to Brisson. Its habits also separate it from both these genera. M. Temminck in his Plate has placed it on a twig,

but it never perches.

Genus LONCHURA.

Rostrum forte, breve, latum, altitudine ad basin longitudinem æquans; mandibulis integris, superiori in frontem angulariter extendente, cumque eo circuli arcum for

mante.

Alæ mediocres, subacuminata; remigibus, Imâ brevissimâ subspuriâ, 2dâ 3tiâ 4tâque ferè æqualibus longissimis.

Cauda gradata, lanceolata; rectricibus mediis cæteras paullò longitudine superanti

bus.

Pedes mediocres, subgraciles.

The peculiar spear-head form of the tail, and the ridge of the upper mandible and the forehead, forming a segment of the same circle, together with the habits of the following species, afford sufficient characteristics to justify their separation from the genus Fringilla of M. Temminck. The Gros-bec longicone of the Pl. Col. 96. (Emb. quadricolor, Lath.) belongs to the same group.

109. Lonchura nisoria. Fringilla nisoria, Temm. Gros-bec épervin, Pl. Col. 500. Fig. 2. Found only in the Ghauts. Grass seeds in the stomach. Length 5.4 inches : tail 1.9 to 2 inches. Sexes alike.

110. LONCHURA CHEET, Lonch. pallidè cinnamomeo-brunnea; corpore subtùs uropygioque albis; remigibus rectricibusque intensè brunneis.

Foem. coloribus minùs intensis.

Irides, intensè rufo-brunneæ. Longitudo corporis 5.4 unc., caudæ 2.

Tail lanceolate; central feathers longer than the rest, and ending in a point. Sexes alike. These birds live in small families. Colonel SYKES has frequently found them in possession of the deserted nests of the Ploceus Philippensis; but their own nest is a hollow ball of grass. Ten white eggs, not much larger than peas, were found in a nest. The cry of the bird is cheet, cheet, cheet, uttered simultane

ously by flocks in flight. 111. Lonchura leuconota. Fringilla leuconota, Temm. Gros-bec leuconote, Pl. Col. 500. Fig. 1.

Found only in the Ghauts. Length 4.8 inches, inclusive of tail 1.8 inch. Sexes alike. Grass seeds only found in the stomach.

Genus Passer, Auct.

112. Passer domesticus, Briss. Fringilla domestica, Linn.

On submitting the Indian Sparrow, male and female, to a rigid comparison with Sparrows shot in the Regent's Park, they were found to be absolutely identical. Fam. Sturnida, Vigors.-Genus Pastor, Temm.

113. Pastor tristis, Temm. Gracula tristis, Lath.

The irides are red brown, and remarkable for being studded on the external margin with regularly arranged yellowish-white specks. Sexes alike: omnivorous : quarrelsome, noisy. Length 11.9 inches, inclusive of tail of 3.5.

114. PASTOR MAHRATTENSIS. Past. suprà griseo-niger, remigibus caudáque saturatioribus; capite genisque atris; corpore subtùs subrufescenti-griseo; crisso pallidiori, plumis albo marginatis. Rostrum pedesque flavi. Irides, pallidè griseæ. Longitudo corporis 9.6 unc. caudæ 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, Temm. Turdus roseus, Linn.

Irides, intense red brown. Tongue bifid and fringed: not quite so much so as Hypsipetes Ganeesa. These birds 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 are as destructive as locusts, and not much less numerous,

116. Pastor Pagodarum, Temm. Turdus Pagodarum, Gmel. Gracula Pagodarum, Shaw, vol. 7. p. 471. Le Martin Brame, Le Vail., Ois. d' Afr. pl. 95. tom. 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. lively and elegant in flight.

Fam. Corvida, Leach.-Genus Corvus, Auct.

Birds

117. CORVUS CULMINATUS. Corv. suprá splendenti-ater; subtùs fuliginoso-ater ; rostri culmine elevato.

Longitudo corporis 14 unc., caudæ 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 Crow 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. dies, Edw. pl. 326.

Coracias Bengalensis, Steph. Blue Jay from the East In

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 inches long was found in the stomach of one bird. Length 13.3 inches, inclusive of tail of 4.7 inches.

Fam. Bucerida, Leach.

Hornbills are by no means rare in Dukhun, but from aceident Colonel Sykes had not a specimen to produce.

Tribus SCANSORES, Auct.

Fam. Psittacida, Leach.-Genus Palæornis, Vigors. 120. Palæornis torquatus, Vigors. Appear in considerable flocks in Dukhun, and are very destructive to the crops, particularly to the Carthamus Persicus. Fond also of the fruit of the Melia Azadirachta. The female differs from the male only in wanting the collar, and has in consequence been considered to belong to a different species, The Mahrattas call the bird Ragoo and Keeruh、 Length 174 inches, inclusive of tail of 9 inches. 121. PALEORNIS MELANORHYNCHUS. Pal. viridis, corpore subtus, notá circumoculari, dorsoque imo pallidioribus; capite, collo in fronte nucháque, columbino-canis; rostro, torqueque collari latá nigris; fronte, remigibus, rectricibusque mediis cyaneis, illo pallidiori; rectricibus subtùs, apicibusque suprà flavis. Irides, albæ, subflavo-marginatæ. Longitudo corporis 14.6 unc., caudæ 7.6. Found only in the Ghauts. Sexes alike. This bird has the aspect of Pal. columboides, 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. Picidæ, 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,

took, deliberately, and nodding its head at each took, the sound and the motion originating the idea of a coppersmith at work hammering. Irides, lake colour. Length 6 inches, inclusive of tail 1 inch. Fruit and insects found in the stomach.

123. Bucco caniceps, Frankl.

Scarcely distinguishable from Bucco corvinus and Bucco Javanicus. Found only in the dense woods of the Ghauts. Its note is quite startling, and makes the hills echo. Irides, red deep brown. Length 8.7 inches, inclusive of tail of 2.7 inches : the bird is consequently smaller than Major FRANKLIN'S. Stony fruit only found in the stomach.

Genus Picus, Linn. Woodpecker.

124. Picus Mahrattensis, Lath. Mahratta Woodpecker, Id.

Irides rich lake. Length 7.4 inches, inclusive of tail of 2.4 inches. Although this is called the Mahratta Woodpecker, Colonel SYKES met with three birds only in Dukhun during six years.

Fam. Certhiada, Leach.-Genus Upupa, Linn. Hoopoe.

125. Upupa minor, Shaw. La Huppe d' Afrique, La Vaill.

Irides, almost black. Length 12 to 12 inches, inclusive of tail from 4.3 to 4.5 inches. Feeds on the ground, and does not hop.

Fam. Cuculido, Leach.-Genus Leptosomus, Vieill.

126. Leptosomus Afer. Cuculus Afer, Gmel. Edolian Cuckoo, Shaw. Cuculus Edolius, Cuv. Cuc. surratus, Shaw?

Irides, reddish deep brown. Length 13.4 inches, inclusive of tail of 6.6 inches. Rare in Dukhun.

Genus Eudynamys, Vigors & Horsf.

127. Eudynamys orientalis. Cuculus orientalis, Linn. Female Cuc. Mindanensis. Called Koel or Koeel by the Mahrattas. A well known and noisy bird, with singularly loud notes, not at all like those of a Cuckoo. Irides, rich lake. Length 17 inches, inclusive of tail of 7 inches. These birds are frugivorous. In the stomachs of many the fruits of the Bergera Konigi and Uvaria undulata only were found. The difference in the plumage of the sexes is very remarkable. The female is the larger bird. The tongue of this bird is exactly that of the Cuc. canorus.

Genus Cuculus, Auct.

128. Cuculus canorus, Linn. Common Cuckoo, Lath.

Irides, yellow. Length 14.5 inches, inclusive of tail of 6.5 inches. Rare in Dukhun. 129. Cuculus fugax, Horsf. Bychan Cuckoo, Lath.

Irides, bright yellow. Length 13.8 inches, inclusive of tail of 6 inches. Tongue as in 127. This bird has so much the aspect of a Hawk that Colonel SYKES passed it for one, until its note koeel, koeel, exactly resembling that of Eudynamys orientalis, recalled him to the tree on which it was seated, and he shot the bird.

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130. Centropus Philippensis, Cuv. Coucou des Philippines, Buff. Chestnut-winged Coucal, Lath. Malabar Pheasant of Europeans.

Irides, rich lake. Length 19 inches, inclusive of tail of 11 inches. This is a very useful bird, as Colonel SYKES found a snake eight inches long, centipedes, noxious insects, and lizards in the stomach. In the stomach and œsophagus of one bird a lizard thirteen inches long was found.

Tribus TENUIROSTRES, Cuv.

Fam. Meliphagida, Vigors.-Geuus Chloropsis, Jard. & Selb.

131. Chloropsis aurifrons, Jard. & Selby?

Fam. Cinnyrida, Vigors.-Genus Cinnyris, Cuv. Sun-bird.

132. Cinnyris lepida. Certhia lepida, Sparrm. Nectarinia lepida, Temm. Irides, red brown. Length 4.8 inches, inclusive of tail of 1.5 inch.

brown above; light yellow below.

also suck honey.

Female ashy

Common in Dukhun. Feed on small insects;

133. Cinnyris currucaria. Certhia currucaria, Linn. Grimpereau gris des Philippines, Pl. Enl. 576. f. 2.

This has been considered a young bird; but Colonel SYKES can venture to affirm from a long observation of its habits in his garden at Poona, that it is a species. Irides, bright lake. Length 4.9 inches, inclusive of tail of 1.5 inch. A spider, a Cicada, and minute Coleopterous insects were found in the stomach of many birds of this species. They also hover before flowers, and suck the honey while on the wing, like the Cinn. lepida.

134. CINNYRIS VIGORSII. Cinn. collo supra, nuchá, ptilis, scapularibusque intensè sanguineis, collo infrà pectoreque coccineosanguineis; striga nutrinque mental subrictu ad pectus extendente maculáque auriculari splendidè violaceis; capite suprà,

caudæ tectricibus, rectricibus mediis, lateraliumque, externo excepto, pogoniis externis metallicè viridibus; alis, rectricibus lateralibus, dorsi inferiori lateribus, fasciáque subpectorali fuscis; abdomine griseo; dorso imo sulphureo. Irides, intense brunneæ. Longitudo corporis 5 unc., cauda 2.3. Larvæ of flies, a spider, ants, and minute insects found in the stomach. Inhabits only the lofty trees of the dense woods of the Ghauts." I will here beg leave to speak in the first person. I have dedicated this magnificent bird to a gentleman whose enlarged views of natural affinities in zoology have contributed essentially to enhance the value of the science, and to facilitate the labours of every zoologist. The dedication is also influenced by a desire to testify my sense of the many kind attentions of Mr. VIGORS."-W. H. S.

135. CINNYRIS MINIMA. Cinn. capite nucháque olivaceo-viridibus; pectoris notis, dorso, scapularibus, uropygioque intensè sanguineis, hoc violaceo splendenti; subtus pallide flavá; alis caudaque fusco-brunneis.

Foem. olivascenti-brunnea, uropygio rufo.

Irides, rufo-brunneæ. Longitudo corporis 3.3 unc., cauda 1.2. Met with only in the dense woods of the Ghauts. White ants and larvae of flies were found in the stomach. One bird was seen sucking honey. Female of a uniform brown, with a patch of brick-red on the rump and upper tail-coverts, and the yellow below fainter than in the male. Colonel SYKES believes this to be the smallest of the Sun-birds.

136. Cinnyris Mahrattensis.

Certhia Mahrattensis, Shaw. Cinnyris orientalis, Frankl. Dr. Latham does not mention the crimson joined to the yellow spot under the wing. These birds suck flowers while hovering on the wing; they eat minute insects also. Female not met with. Length 4.9 inches, inclusive of tail or 1.5 inch.

137. CINNYRIS CONCOLOR. Cinn. viridi-olivacea, alis caudáque saturatioribus, corpore subtùs pallidiori.

Irides, intensè rufo-brunneæ. Longitudo corporis 4 unc., caudæ 1.

Insects with long antenna were found in the stomach. As four specimens obtained by Colonel SYKES were all females, and as they were met with in the same locality as Cinn. Vigorsii, Cinn. concolor may be the female of that splendid species; but the difference in the size, form, and aspect of the bird, independently of colour, is opposed to this: they were never seen together. The bird has the outline of Cinn. Mahrattensis. The specific appellation of concolor is given provisionally. Colonel SYKES, in concluding his notice of the birds of the two first Orders, observed, that in the majority of instances his knowledge was derived from an observation of many specimens of the same species in the living state. For the most part also he had obtained both sexes, and was very rarely confined to a single specimen.

Two new species of Indian Mouse.

On June 26, 1832, Colonel SYKES presented two specimens of mus preserved in spirits, of which the following is the description printed in the Zool. Journal.

1. MUS OLERACEUS. The upper surface is thickly clothed with rather long smooth silky hairs of a bright pale chestnut colour; on the under surface and the inside of the limbs the quality of the hairs is the same, but their colour is nearly white with a yellowish tinge. This latter colour extends up the cheeks, round the mouth and the under surface of the muzzle, and over the upper surface of the feet; the hairs on the latter, on the muzzle, and on the long scaly tail, being very short. The ears are rather large, rounded above, and very nearly naked. The muzzle is rather short and obtuse, and the eyes are placed at an intermediate distance between its end and the base of the ears. The moustaches are numerous and long, some of them being black, and others, silvery or bright chestnut.

The extreme length of the tail, as compared with that of the body, and the comparative length of the hinder tarsus, furnish characters sufficient to distinguish this Indian field Mouse from all its congeners.

2. MUS PLATYTHRIX. The head is rather flat and the muzzle slightly elongated and acute; the tail regularly ringed with scales, from between which only a few scattered hairs make their appearance. The fur of the upper surface is of a light grey at the base; but the longer hairs have a blackish shade, with an intermixture of testaceous brown, which is more obvious posteriorly and towards the lower part of the sides. The flattened spines, which are numerous, are white and transparent throughout the greater part of their length, with a dark margin and blackish acuminate tip, beneath which they exhibit, in certain lights, somewhat of a changeable gloss. The moustaches are few in number, black at the base and white at the tips, and reach beyond the ears, which are naked, rounded with a slight point, extremely open, membranaceous, and of a dusky black. The whole under surface, together with the insides of the limbs, the upper surface of the feet, and the claws, are of a yellowish or dirty white. The tail is of a uniform livid grey, but little darker above than beneath, and tapering to a very fine point.

Days of the Month.

At 4 A.M.

Meteorological Register, kept at the Assay Office, Calcutta, for the Month of October, 1834.

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Mean, 29,766,836

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