The GOLDEN BARBET (_Xantholæma Indica_) represents a group characterised
by their short beak, bulging outwards at its sides, slightly-pointed
wings, in which the third, fourth, and fifth quills are the longest, and
a short, almost straight tail. The plumage of the mantle is green, that
of the under side yellow, or greenish white; the feathers on the back and
wing-covers are bordered with yellow, and those on the breast striped with
green. The brow and a spot on the throat, are glossy scarlet, the latter
edged with gold at its lower portion; a band at the nape, the breast, and
a stripe upon the chin are black. The eye is deep brown, the beak black,
and the foot bright red. The length of this bird is six inches and a
half, and its breadth eleven inches; the wing measures three inches and a
quarter, and the tail one inch and a half.
"This species of Barbet," writes Jerdon, "is found throughout all India,
extending into the Burmese countries, Malayana, Ceylon, and the isles;
according to Adams, it is not met with in the Himalayas or in the Punjaub.
This bird is very common wherever there is a sufficiency of trees,
inhabiting open spaces in the jungles, groves of trees, avenues, and
gardens, being very familiar, and approaching close to houses, and not
unfrequently perching on the housetop. As far as I have observed, it does
not climb like the Woodpecker, but hops about the branches like other
perching birds. The Rev. Mr. Philips, however, states that it runs up
and down the trees like a Woodpecker, and other observers have asserted
that it climbs to its hole; but I confess I have never seen this, and Mr.
Blyth is most decidedly of opinion that Barbets never climb. The latter
naturalist found that one of these birds which he kept alive would take
insects into its mouth and munch them, but swallowed none, and forsook
them immediately when fruit was offered. It has a remarkably loud note,
which sounds like 'took-took-took,' and this it generally utters when
rested at the top of some tree, putting its head at each call first on
one side and then on the other. Sundevall states that the call is like
a low note on the flute, from the lower G to the second E. This sound,
and the motion of the head accompanying it, have given origin to the
name 'Coppersmith,' by which this species is known both by natives and
Europeans. The sound often appears to come from a different direction
to that from which it does really proceed; this appears to me to depend
on the direction of the bird's head. Mr. Philips accounts for it by
saying that it alters the intensity of its call. Sundervall remarks
that 'the same individual always utters the same note, but that two of
these birds are seldom heard to make it alike.' When, therefore, two or
more individuals are sitting near each other, a not unpleasing music
arises from the alternation of the note, each sounding like the tone of
a series of bells. The Crimson-breasted Barbet breeds in holes of trees,
laying two or more white eggs. A pair bred in my garden at Saugor on the
cross-beam of a vinery. The perfectly circular entrance was on the under
side of the beam. This nest appeared to me to have been used for several
years, and the bird had gone on lengthening the cavity year by year, till
the distance from the original entrance was four or five feet; another
entrance had then been made, also from below, about two feet and a half
from the nest. Quite recently I discovered a nest built by this bird in a
hole of a decayed tree-branch, close to a house in a large thoroughfare
in Calcutta." The Golden, or Crimson-breasted Barbet, as it is sometimes
called, subsists upon the fruit of various plants, but, according to
Blyth, has also been known to eat animal food. The eggs are white, and two
or more in number.