The food of birds in india

sách Tieengsanh,Thức ăn của chim ở Ấn Độ Thức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn ĐộThức ăn của chim ở Ấn Độ

1 9 1 L

C W MASON, M.S E.A.C,

Agriculture for India

THB IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

THACKER, SPINK & CO., CALCUTTA

PRINTED BY THACKKK, SPINK ANDCO.

.c<

THE following pages contain a summary of the recorded facts of

the Food of Birds in India, and a statement of the food of theindividual birds shot or observed by Mr Mason at Pusa in 1907,

reader who is not an Entomologist. My responsibility ends there,

and the student of birds will find Mr Mason's observations in the

bodyof the work The identification of the insects inthe stomachs was partly done by the staff in charge of the collections here and

Mr C H. Tipper kindly identified the Molluscs in the Indian seum I have revised the nomenclature of the insects throughout

Mu-and believeit to be correct ; the author is responsible for the

has notbeen possiblein the caseofthe seeds; wewill

gladlydo what

willsendpreservedstomachs, but we can only do so, asarule, in the

M3667P8

THH: FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA

BY

0. W MASON, M.S.K.A.O.,

EIUTRD BY

H MAXWELL LEB^ROY, M.A., F.K.S., F.Z.B.,

Imperial Entomologist.

INTRODUCTION.

This paper is largely a compilation from various sources of

It contains also numerous field notes on the food of the common

In the case of the birds I have myself been able to examine, the

papers and works already existingwhich I have been unable to

than a wide generalization of the food of birds, and much of which

does not apply directly to India, gives a very good idea of what thefood of various orders of birds consists

There is a great deal of literature from other countries on thefood of many of our Indian birds, and in all probability foods ofwidely distributed species differ but little in different localities.

We cannot, however, assume that this is so, nor even that because

another, where climatic conditions and food supply are different.

We must know the food of Indian birds in India

The following works have been consulted, and the

abbrevia-tion used in the text are here given :

"Gamebirds of India, BurmaandCeylon." Hume and Marshall H M G B.

"Faunaof British India." Birds Gates and Blandford F I.

"Indian Ducks and their Allies." Stuart Baker S B I D A 'Birds." Evans CambridgeNatural History E B C N H.

"

Dictionary of Economic Products of India Watt, Watt.

Provinces, Madras, North-West Frontier Province, North-West

Provinces, Province of Oudh, Punjab and of the Sirmur State.The general account of birds inthe Imperial Gazetteer has also been

consulted ; this latter account gives an excellent description of thegeneral distribution of birds throughout India

It will be noticed that some well-known papers such as "Stray

Feathers" are not included in these works consulted as they were

PART I.

it is not so advanced asone would expect, due to the fact that there

countries notably the United States of America, Germany, France,Austria, have accumulated a large amount of information on thissubject

In India we have had and still have many first class observers

of these men have naturally tended in a few directions, namely,

all-important from an economic side

of the question, definitelocalities in which me various speciesoccur,

their life

history and general habits Very little is on record withregard to the actual food of birds, and no definite work has been

observ-ation and often to faulty observation a very small percentage of

is attributed to them, and for similar reasons some birds at presentconsidered beneficial are injurious and vice versa, or else fall under

a neutral heading, whilst others again are both beneficial and

natur-ally tend (and will continue to do so) to the introduction of new

yet they have not been grown Now a crop newly introduced into

these small areas be attacked by insects and newly introduced

crops often are so the people of that district will conclude such

cropsare not worthtakingup onacommercialscale, if most ofthem

importat on experimental areas

and during sporadic insect-attacks

; but it is aswell to bear inmind

that natural checksare quite as important, if not more so.

Natur-al checks are always there, always keeping the balanceof life more

or less even, and it is these we have to thank for limiting injury

to crops and orchards to a very large extent ; they act as a

conti-nual check on injurious insects and insects which are generally

re-garded as harmless, but which may at any time change their habits

somewhat to the injury of crops These checks consist of parasiticand predaceous insects, animals, frogs, reptiles and above all birds

As man upsets the balance of nature by extending cultivated

areas and by a more or less artificial production of crops, he lays

himself open to attack from all sides, and must make as much use

as he can of the help given him by nature against these attacks

(See Indian Insect Pests, Chapter V.)

From the most casual field observations, much can be learnt

in a general way about the food of certain birds during some parts

eating maize, the Hoopoe probing the ground for caterpillars, the

Rose Ringed Paraquet pulling wheat and mustard to pieces and

taking more than his share of lichis

; and many other similar rotes

can be made about these and other species of birds. It is thereforequite an easy matter to state that the food of such and such a bird

andmerelyshow howlittle isknownaboutthat bird's food

Scienti-MASON AND LEFBOY 5

practi-cal purposes canonly be used as a doubtful basis for future work on

a supplement to laboratory examination and determination of

or perhaps even more so than Botany

from every possible source. Wild birds are the source in question

by birds at all times of the year under all conditions, climatic and

destruction of harmful ones, check the attacks of insects on crops,and enable the country to increase crop outturns, and in every

III. Graminivorous or vegetarian.

Eachof these threeclasses can,however, besub-divided,but they

get, more help than from the other two

II. Omnivorous birds, strictly speaking, are those which eateverything and anything. Many of these prove bene-

ficial, especially during the breeding season, whilst

include here under this heading all birds not under

headings I and III.

III. Graminivorous or vegetable feeders comprise some of

aiding seed distribution, in connection with forestry,

on cultivated varieties.

The sweeping statement is often made that because a bird is

MASON AND LEFBOT 7

Again, many birds, entirely insectivorous, take more beneficial

in destruction of beneficial insects Many birds will probably befound to take harmless insects only. I consider a bird that feeds

on harmless insects to be beneficial. He keeps a check on undue

proportion of these insects, and therefore prevents to some extern

which might occur under abnormal or other climatic conditions

Again,a bird may consume vast quantities of injurious insects and

yet by carrying eggs and larvae from one place to another, act as

Agriculturally all insects fall under one of three definitely

marked headings :

1. Act as checkson undue multiplication of other insect and

plant life, which is injurious or likely to be injurious

Among theseareincluded theLady-birdbeetles (Coccinellidce)

(Aphidce) ; Ground-beetles (Carabidce) and Tiger-beetles

other parasitic Hymenoptera Many flies (Tachinidce,

etc.), also parasitic on caterpillars and other injurious

and Lace-wing flies (Chrysopidce), all carnivorous

Some Hemiptera or bugs suck out juices from caterpillars,

2. Play a considerable part in the fertilization of flowers

3. Liveon animals and plants to the benefit of their ho$1s,

Mallophaya (?)

ob-tained : Silk, honey, wax, lac, dye, &c.

Silk from various members of the Saturniadse esp. A

Honey and wax from bees (Apidce).

(Coccidce).

II. Injurious

1. Disease carriers to animals

Mosquitoes, Fleas. (Culicidcv and Siphonaptera.)

2. Destructive to crops, forests, stored grain, fabrics,

timber and food stuffs. Insects destructive to crops

are various and cause damage in a number of ways

and stems such as Buprestidce and CurculionidcB of

various species. Aphidce and other Hemiptera suck

Stored grain and food stuffs are attacked by many

well-known pesis such as the Rice Weevil, and many other

Forests and timber by various wood-borer Iarva3 tera and Lepidoptera) the former too often by defo-

Fabrics by clothes moths, wood-boring beetles and others

III Harmless or neutral

These insects that cannot be classed as either beneficial

proportion of insect life, but vast numbers of which, if

adopting the same habits as are seen in others of the

natural enemies

MASON AND LEFROY 9

under this heading are the Ants (Formicidce) and the

exceedingly numerous both in species and individuals

The economic importance of orders and families, etc., of

discussed or stated on pp.

Asa general rule, it is among purely seed and fruit-eating birds

neverbe regarded as beneficial, except froma forestrypoint of view.Ssed-eatingbirds, that eat weed seeds only, are as a rule said to be

natural means for seed distribution, that the germinating power of

seeds is often not injured in the least by passing through the bird,and that many seeds (e.g., Loranthus spp.) are specially adapted

and also hard seeds when the pulp surrounding them has been

point of view In India, I consider a bird eating weed seed as of

no value whatever They may keep weeds down to a certainextent, but thisisof minor importancein a country where labour is

cheap and where farming is not practised on such intensive lines

as elsewhere Even in intensive cultivation we cannot rely on

eliminate weeds is, I believe, not reduced in the slightest by theaction of birds We cannot expect the complete elimination of

there seemed to be everypossibility of that weed being eliminated,

a proved fact that the presence of at any rate a fair number of

food supply And again, many birds eating weed seed will take aconsiderable amount of grain from standing crops and seeds from

seed crops in many instances

here arranged contains all birds which cannot be classed with

insec-tivorous or vegetable feeding birds It could well be subdivided

into two or three specialised groups, as shown on page 26

forms a large proportionof thefoodof manybirds, often comprising

taking such food will also have a portion of their dietcomposed of

Mammals which the bird either eats as carrion, or else kills

Mammals Hawks and owls are practically the only classeswhich take mammals for food, though there are others that do so

regarded inmost cases as injurious if so doing: afewkids and lambs

may be taken, and if so the individual bird that does so can be

destroyed Insomefewcases too,smallbeneficial mammalssuch as

shrews are taken Otherwise these classes of birds are beneficial

and need protection only from skin and egg collectors. They will

prin-Orthoptera, and larvse.

MASON AND LEFROY 11

snakes ?) are undoubtedly injurious in this respect, hawks and owls

the variety of insects he takes is astonishing : he is practically an

exclusive insect feeder, limited only by stomach capacity A

frog knows to a nicety how large an insect he can get outside of.

Frogs and toads are recognised as one of the best methods for

keep-ing greenhouses and gardens free from insects. They seem

parti-cularly partial to grasshoppers and ephemerids, but moths, ants

adopted by the bee-keeper Lizards are a little more fastidious,

pre-sent be considered beneficial. Any one who watches the common

house lizards of India cannot help noticing that beetles, and other

common round our lamps in the rains,are also carefully left alone

I saw a young lizard take one once. He did not seem to like it

get rid of it. He has not taken one again, though not for want of

opportunity

but tono great extent, not enough tobe regarded as injurious from

that cause alone, though a habitual spider-eater is injurious Fish

and mollusc-eating birds are of no importance

generally in India ;

when they are injurious which would be very locally, they can be

destroyed Mollusc and snail feeders are at anyrate, if not in India,

amountof good and at the same timeharm No doubt manybirds

12 OF BIRDS

orweak; thisdestruction being thenabenefit to thespecies. Again

many will be taken if abnormally coloured, the bird of prey being

the aid therefore in that natural selection which protects so many

forms of life from their foes. Young poultry suffer to some extent

from ravages by birds of prey, as well as from rats, mongooses and

snakes These birds can be keptoffto a largeextent if not allowed

to breedinthe vicinity, afact already recognised by natives in some

partsof the country It is during the breeding season that ravages

on poultry will mostly be committed by birds On the other hand

there are numbers of birds which take nestlings and eggs from

smaller species ; while others will turn out some from their nests

(e.g., sparrows turn out martins) when they have built them, and

use the nest for themselves, so harrying these that nesting, and

checked Both these cases, namely, destruction of young and eggs

of other birds and usurping their nests, should tell heavily againstthe bird that does so, provided that the species the eggs belong to,

importance When considering, therefore, theeconomic importance

a subjectthis is,and how much must be learntabout the bird under

all conditions of life before definite measures for protection or wise can be adopted.

feed-ing habits fortherestoftheirlife mustbe carefullyobserved

As an instance of the above point, the Rosy Pastor (Pastor

and a marked injurious action at different seasons In some part

to jowari when ripening ; at another the numbers of locusts it

destroys is enormous, and it also acts as an agent for limiting the

damage of locusts since by continuous persecution of these insects,

it drives them from one locality to another,

thereby spreading the

MASON AND LEFROY.

damage over a larger area It is (and probably will remain so),

amuch debatedquestion as to whether damage to jowari or thedestruction of locusts is the most important factor

A bird injurious to a crop may do harm to that crop in various

ways, but this damage may be entirely counteracted by the bird's

other feeding habits, especially during the breeding season, when

are fed to the young And again, owing to the construction of the

birds which, when mature, are. almost purely grain-eatii)g. The

or see it stated that a bird is a pest, and should be kept down in

numbers, because it has been observed to damage fruits, vegetables,

been takenby this bird during the restof theyear. Itwill, asoften

It is also important to note that the breeding season of most

checkon these insects before they have had time to multiply to ai,y

extent is

all-important, and this check will be given provided we

apparently feedlittle on caterpillars until these insects have become

eaten at that time does little good, certainly very little in son to that done by a bird that feeds on them habitually. A bird

theyhave not reached any terious proportions, does infinitely moie

to be swarming, even if at thelattertime thesecaterpillars formed

THE FOOD OP BIRDS IN INDIA.

while if some caterpillars are eaten in the early broods, for every

one eaten then, thousands, that would otherwise have appeared

bird that feeds habitually on injurious insects is of far more mic value than another bird, whose diet varies according to food

econo-supply Every bird's food must vary somewhat according to foodsupply, andwe, therefore, speakinthe sense applicable to the above

One often hears that great authorities on birds refuse to give

an opinion as to whether partially insectivorous or omnivorous

reason Birds can in some cases increasewith extraordinary

rapid-ity, and if encouraged it is surmised thatinsect-life- of which there

being unable to find food elsewhere, would then undoubtedly attack

is put into practice no one canforetelldefinitelywhat would happen.

In considering this question the following points should always beborne in mind The theory advanced above can have no applica-

tion to birdsnot indigenous to the

country, orrather to birds which

a resident species is

are also those most readily destroyed by science applied in a

that birdcould be checked after itsbeneficialwork was done Withmigratory species it is a very different matter. Should birds be

protected and encouraged, they may exterminate certain insects,

shortly be known about importation of insect

than formerly.

In considering the whole question of economic ornithologyevery point for and against the bird in question must be carefully

MASON AND

balanced Impartiality, not personal opinion, is essential.

Person-al opinions can but apply to very local conditons in most cases,and must be avoided All sentimental ideas about protection of

beautiful species or song birds must be totally ignored. It must

always be borne in mind, however, that in no case do we wish to

actually beneficial or harmful ; by far the greater number comirg

under different local conditions It is, therefore, exceedingly

throughout India. We can certainly advise nothing until we have

very doubtful one. It may be that in countries where no

pro-tection exists and where birds of all kinds are ruthlessly persecuted,

protection to some of these birds This may perhaps hold good

in a temperate climate. I believe this does not apply in the least

to India and other hot climates, where insect life is so abundant

conditions

In the study of the food of birds, mention must be made of

caged birds. Of birds kept under these conditions little, if any,

information of value can be obtained, so long as the food has to beprovided for these birds If we know what the food of a certain

for, certain kinds of food; we can get very little real idea as to thequantity If the natural food is but vaguely known we learn prac

method of any value and it is of great value when possible for

THE POOD OF BIRDS IN

furthering our knowledge of the food of

nestlings--isto obtainand

cage a clutch of young birds, so placing them that the old birds

will come and feed the young We can then identify accurately

what food is fed to the young in definite proporton, and in fact

get a full and accurate idea as to what the nestlings are brought up

This method is, however, only practicable occasionally, and withbut fewspecies of birds. The food of nestlings is a very important

SUMMARY.

In the study of economic ornithology it is essential to know

The food of every different species of bird under every condition

throughout the year is of primary importance, and the food of thenestling isan important itemunderthis heading All foods (insect,

vegetable or otherwise), must be identified scientifically whenever

species,

including especially where,when, and how often birds nest during

We must consider carefully and impartially every point with

regard to eachspecies, their beneficial, injurious and neutral feeding

Finally we must know how we can best protect and encourage

METHOD OF STOMACH EXAMINATION, ETC

The examination of the birds' stomachs I have collected has

MASON AND LEFROY. 17

anddescribedin thesupplement to the Boardof Agriculture Journal

for December 1908

The* stomachs are cut

digestion are as a rule

rendered much more difficult to identify. The stomachs are then

or what is still better a white porcelain photographic developing

portions of the food material are then

in

it is best to scrape them out with a needle: a brush should not be

used, as with it insects are far more likely to be broken, and one

cannot see what one is doing nearly so well. After all the readily

water is added This is not necessary in the case of the stomachs

of the smaller birds, but is so with the larger ones and especially

if omnivorous, these latter always containing a large percentage

of

semi-digested animal and vegetable matter. The restof the food

is then treated and examined as described above In the case of

the smaller birds it will often be found necessary to examine thefood or

portions of it under a glass, and a magnification of 10 is

quite sufficient for the purpose

obtained as possible. It is always a difficult matter to identify agreat deal of the contents of the stomachs, and if they have beenkept forany timein

is

may have

colouring matter in it, asthisis usually destroyed by the

stomac h'

is used to denote the whole alimentary canal t and not thecropandgizzard only.

THE FOOD OP BIRDS IN INDIA.

greater risk of breaking the contents when the stomachs are cutopen

It will be noticed that in many instances in the records thefollowing kind of noteis made after many insects of which as a rule

only the family or sub-family is stated (Pusa No 25). This number

having as yet not been definitely determined In the case of some

of the seeds unidentified, numbers are also placed against them

collec-tion of seeds taken from birds, the collection beirg ?.t

present inthe laboratory of the Imperial Ertomologist.

In recording the materials forming the food fourd ir. the

the number of seeds, etc., has been recorded as nearly correctly as

materialfoundinthe contentsmustbecarefullyexamined in ordertodetermine the species if possible and therefore there is no extra

workentailed ortime spentinmakingthesetables;we have too the

use to anyone who has not the same ideas as to the economic portance of the insect food as is herestated

im-I have made no statements in a generalway as to the relative

bulks of the food taken We seeit stated repeatedly that relative

bulks of food taken by birds arevery important in any conclusion

extremely difficult point to settle and can only be obtained after

proportioninwhichthe foods are taken, andour onlymethod fortainingthis end practically consists ofa complete study of the food

times during theday (this latter point iscertainlyoneof importance

nsomebirds andpossibly therefore inmost) When we have these

MASON AND LEPBOY 19

laboratoryrecords, we can compound them with thefigures we have

obtainedin field observations and drawour conclusions

to the trueeconomicratio ofthefoodof the bird inquestion. What

we want to know is the exact number of grains of corn, the number

small numberof records nor from a mass of records that have been

average We must consider the economic importance of each item

offood taken, whether the grain isof value being taken from ing crops or otherwise, and whether the insects and other animal

stand-and vegetable food are of any importance, and if so what and towhat extent We can then obtain a definite ratio between the

economicvalueof the various foods eaten, and from it draw

regarded as beneficial or otherwise.

LIST OF BIRD8 EXAMINED.

India No.

LIST OF BIRDS EXAMINED. (continued.}

InHia No.

MASON AND LEFROY.

LIST OF IUUDS EXAMINED. (continued.)

21

India No.

22 THE FOOD OF BIRDS IN INDIA.

part in the foodof thecommonBabbler[Crateropodidae] ; the

From the "

purely insectivorous

"

birds we mustundoubtedly

Wagtails have been found to take grain from near stables (whether

these grains were taken in mistake for other food has nothingto do

with the question here) and Pipits feed often very largely off weed

s-^ds and vegetable matter and are by no means qualified to be

place the Cuculidse

in any other group, and their food as a group is far too varied to be

In the present paper it will benoticed that birds are subdivided

into three headings only :

form the greater part of their food

I

heading

Graminivorous and Vegetarian. Birds whose diet consists

mainly of vegetable matter or entirely so.

Omnivorous Birds that have a mixed diet, though they

water and wet places, carnivorous and omnivorous, are

all included in this group

MASON AND LEFROY.

" Ithas

been arguedbycertain people, interested in agriculture,

that insectivorous birds, which are so directly important as insect

as to whether insectivorous birds are destroyed for their direct

prolucts in any quantities which would make it worth while to

introducespacial legislation for their protection. In considering this

question, the firstthingto do isto findout whatbirds are destroyed

" There areonly two purposes for which this is done

export-ed in considerable quantities.

2. For eating purposes.

The following are the principal birds killed for their skins and

eathers are sold and exported in very large quantities and fetch

very high prices.

" Other birds of the heron

family such as Buphuscoromandus

(the Cattle Egret) Ardeola leucoptera (the PondHeron), Ardea

cine-rei (theBlue Heron), all produce feathers which are sold in largequantities but not at such high prices as those ofthe egrets proper-

"Another birdwhosefeathershave a certain marketvalueis theIndian Snake Bird [Plotus melmogaster]. The lengthened scapular

to Jerdon,

'

looked on as a badge of royalty by the Khasias, and

Cavalry/

"

Many of the pheasants are exportedinlarge quantities, more

specimens of the pheasants brought down to Calcutta are shot, I

thousand skins at once The other pheasants occurring in any

quantity likely to be exported are the two species of Ceriornis

Of BIRDS IN

(C. satyra and C melanocephil'i) known as the Sikkim and Simla

them the true Argus, which is a bird found in the Malay Peninsulaonly

"For the following list of the birdscommonlyeaten in India, I

am greatly indebted to Mr Hume's Gleanings from the Calcutta

markets(Stray Feathers, Vol VII, p. 479), which not onlygives the

moreor less applicable to the whole of India

Gallinagostenura The Pin-tailed Snipe.

Dafila acuta The Pintail.

Fuligula rufina The Redcrested Pochard.

Fuligula nyroca The White-eye.

commonly in the Calcutta bazaar

Ciconialeucocephala Manikjor or Beaf-steak bird.

Calandrellabrachydactyla Baghaira or Ortolan.

Pterocles exustus Kuhar or Sandgrouse.

Pavo cristatus Mor or Peacock.

Gallus ferrugineus

Jungli Murghi or Jungle Fowl.Gallus sonnerati Gray Fowl.

MASON AND LEFROY.

of the inhabitants are

purely vegetable feeders, the number of birds

towns, such as Calcutta) is insignificant Of all the birds

men-tioned in the above list, both killed for their plumage and their

"The foodoftheHerons and Egretsconsists entirelyof fishand

" Pheasants only occur at considerable elevations inthe

Hima-layas ; they are chiefly vegetable feeders, though now and then

**

Parrots are all fruit eatersand do considerabledamage in this

way Neither Snipe nor Ducks are insectivorousin a true sense of

the word

" The following is a list of the purely insectivorous birds :

Crateropodinae Babbling Thrushes.

Timeliinae Solitary Babblers.

Brachypteriginae Ground Babblers.

Liotricinae loras and Green Bulbuls.

Dicruridse Drongos or King crows.

Ruticillinae Redstarts and Robins.

Accentorinae Hedge Sparrows.

Motacillidae Wagtails and Pipits.

Pittidae Ground Thrushes.

26 FOOD OP BIRDS IN INDIA.

" Thefollowing are the birds ofm'xeddiet, partly insectivorous,

and partly fruit and grain eaters in varying proportions

Limicolae Waders of all sorts.

"The following are the birdswhichliveeither in or about water

and wet places ; their food consists of fish, frogs and tadpoles,

aquatic larvae of insects, and such small animals as fresh-watercrustaceans

Laridaa Gulls and Terns.

" To completethe listof birds I havedivided the rest of them

into the following three groups :

( Striges Owls.

1 Accipitres Vultures and hawks.

I Corvinae Crows.

Omnivorous

'Eulabetidae Hill Mynahs.

Ploceidae Weaverbirds.

Bucerotidaa Horn bills.

MASON AND LEFEOY.

"From theabovelists it willbe seen that few, ifany, ofthose in

the lisfcofpurelyinsectivorous birdsare tobe found among the birds

other lists, it would certainly be inadvisable to protect them, since

they may do much greater harm in devouring fruit and grain thanthey do good in destroyinginsects such is especially the case withcrows and starlings.

"Withregardtothe time ofbreediug, mostsmall birds inUpper

India at any rate bresd between April and July. Of course, thereare many exceptions ; but the four months April, May, June and

birds which require protection.

"

InSouthernIndiamanybirdsbreedinDecember and January,

Monaul, is in July and August. In the case, however, of Lower

Bengal, the bsst months are undoubtedly April, May and June."

[Indian Museum Notes, Vol II, 117-121].

^ For further information with

regard to feathers used for

omiments. etc., reference should be made to Watt's Dictionary of

Economic Products, the Report from the Select Committee of the

House of Lords on the Importation of Plumage Prohibition Bill

used in head-dresses by some hill tribes in Assam, etc., and that

work

In the following pages, the birds are considered in order,

following the volumes of the Faunaof India and using the num'

bering and nomenclature there adopted.

Corvidce

They are the most omnivorous of all birds : they eat all kinds

of food from carrion to grain Jer B L, I, 292

Corvince comprise Crows, Magpies, Jays, Nutcrackers and

Choughs Speaking of Corvince (Crows and Magpies) Jerdon (B.L

5

I, 292) says: "Crows live onall kinds of food, may be seen eatirg

carrion with vultures ; eating winged Termites with Fly-catchers

plucking fruitwithGreen Pigeons and Cuckoos, or eating grain with

Sparrows and Weaver-birds.

'

"The majority feed habitually on the ground, others are

of the smaller tropical species appear to confine their diet to

insects/' F L, I, 11.

"The Corvidce are almost omnivorous, Ravens and otherstrong

mammals, birds and reptiles : Hooded and CarrionCrows, Rooks,

Magpies, Jackdaws and Jays suck eggs ; while Rooks, though

un-doubtedly beneficial, also grub up seed corn and potatoes An immense amount of insect-life is however destroyed and the larger

forms

dispose of carrion Magpies and Jays feed largely upon

quantities of the last Jays store provisions and Jackdaws

Corvus : very predaceous and carnivorous. Jerd. B. I.,

Pigeons, pigeons' eggs, hares, chucor : trained for

MASON AND LEPROY.

4. Corvus macrorhynchus, Jungle Crow

2-2-09 Flower of Bombax malabaricum.

2-2-08 3 Myllocerus discolor.

12-2-08 Flower of Bombaac malabaricum.

4-3-07 6 Catharsius sabceus.

12-3-08 Potato peelings, bits of onion, fat, etc

12-5-08 Stomach almost empty.

12-5-08 Stomach entirely empty ; alimentary canal contained a few oat

4. Corvus macrorhynchus, Jungle Crow contd.

Sept and Oct 07.

7 Frogs.

2 Lizards.

Alarge proportion of young wheat and oat blades amongst the

A large proportion of the maize was obtained otherwise than in the field.

examined

It is verydestructive insomeplaces to young chickens, pigeons,

account the King Crow (D.macrurus] pursues it more relentlessly

than it does the common crow.'*

equally

apply to thehouse crow The Jungle Crow, however, is not

"quite

MASON AND LEFROY 31

such a commonbird, nor does he frequent large towrs and villages

always be seen in each others company, and their fooddiffers to a

The Jungle Crow is very fondof frogs andlizards, and is often

seen worrying the latter to death and then rot eating them He

Maize in all parts of India North and South- suffers

consi-derably fromthe attackof this bird especiallyin garden cultivation,

the Jungle Crow does some considerable damage to thepaddy when

He is a great pest to groundnut cultivation, and in many districts

ground-nut, but I did not notice this bird at the time The Jungle Crow is

maldbaricum to all kinds of Ficus, and to Mulberries

consisting mostly

these together with grass and weed seeds of various sorts form a

have almost invariably contained vegetable matter much in excess

of anyother food material.

Flying Termites and swarming caterpillars are similarly taken

by both the common species of Crows, and no doubt the Jungle

Crow also destroys locusts, though we have no definite records ofits doing so. Grasshoppersare taken to some extent and therefore

Damage to crops is similar to that caused by the House Crow;

THE FOOD

The Harial is stated from the Punjab to keep loopers- Tarache

insectivorous and obtaining all its foodon the wing and certainly

not eatingcaterpillars. I believe this referenceis to this Crow.The Jungle Crow destroys and eats a large number of wild

"The cultivators in certain parts" Faridpore, etc.,

''put bam-boo poles here and there in the fields so that 'Saliks', Crows, etc.,

may siton them and eat the grasshoppers." (Hieroglyphus banian)Kept Ent. Collr., Dacca, 14-9-09

5. Corvus frugilegus. Rook Worms, snails, and grubs in

meadows and ploughed land F I., I, 19.

6. Corvus cornix Hooded Crow In addition to eating theusual foodof its ally, it is said to feedon grain. F I., I, 20.

7. Corvus splendens. Indian House Crow

2-2-07 Grass roots, a few oat blades, much unidentifiedvegetablematter.

12-2-07 Flower of Bomhax malabaricum.

.-portions of shell of hen's egg.