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diff --git a/23755.txt b/23755.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..872d311 --- /dev/null +++ b/23755.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7097 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Birds of the Indian Hills, by Douglas Dewar + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Birds of the Indian Hills + +Author: Douglas Dewar + +Release Date: December 6, 2007 [EBook #23755] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILLS *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Swanson + + + + + +BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILLS + +BY DOUGLAS DEWAR + + + + +_A COMPANION VOLUME TO THE BIRD VOLUMES OF +"THE FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA"_ + + + + +LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD +NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY +TORONTO: BELL & COCKBURN + +MCMXV + + + + +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. +at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh + + + + +Considerable portions of this book have already appeared as articles +in one or other of the following newspapers or periodicals: _The +Pioneer_, _Madras Mail_, _Englishman_, _Indian Field_, _Bird Notes_. +I am indebted to the editors of the above publications for permission +to republish the portions of the book that have already appeared in +print. + + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I +BIRDS OF THE HIMALAYAS . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 + THE HABITAT OF HIMALAYAN BIRDS . . . . . . 13 + THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS . 29 + THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS . 105 + TITS AT WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 + THE PEKIN-ROBIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 + BLACK BULBULS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 + A WARBLER OF DISTINCTION . . . . . . . . . 145 + THE SPOTTED FORKTAIL . . . . . . . . . . . 151 + THE NEST OF THE GREY-WINGED OUZEL . . . . . 158 + THE BLACK-AND-YELLOW GROSBEAK . . . . . . . 164 + THE GREAT HIMALAYAN BARBET . . . . . . . . 174 + +PART II +THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE NILGIRIS . . . . . . . 181 + +PART III +THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE PALNI HILLS . . . . . . 233 + +APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 +INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 + + + + +_PART I_ +_Birds of the Himalayas_ + + + + +_INTRODUCTION_ + + +The avifauna of the Himalayas is a large one. It includes birds found +throughout the range, birds confined to the eastern or western +portions, birds resident all through the year, birds that are mere +seasonal visitors, birds found only at high elevations, birds +confined to the lower hills, birds abundant everywhere, birds nowhere +common. Most ornithological books treat of all these sorts and +conditions of birds impartially, with the result that the +non-ornithological reader who dips into them finds himself +completely out of his depth. + +He who plunges into the essays that follow need have no fear of getting +out of his depth. With the object of guarding against this catastrophe, +I have described as few birds as possible. I have ignored all those +that are not likely to be seen daily in summer in the Himalayas at +elevations between 5000 and 7000 feet above the sea-level. Moreover, +the birds of the Western have been separated from those of the Eastern +Himalayas. The result is that he who peruses this book will be +confronted with comparatively few birds, and should experience +little difficulty in recognising them when he meets them in the flesh. +I am fully alive to the fact that the method I have adopted has +drawbacks. Some readers are likely to come across birds at the various +hill stations which do not find place in this book. Such will doubtless +charge me with sins of omission. I meet these charges in anticipation +by adopting the defence of the Irishman, charged with the theft of +a chicken, whose crime had been witnessed by several persons: "For +every witness who saw me steal the chicken, I'll bring twenty who +didn't see me steal it!" + +The reader will come across twenty birds which the essays that follow +will enable him to identify for every one he sees not described in +them. + + + + +_THE HABITAT OF HIMALAYAN BIRDS_ + + +Himalayan birds inhabit what is perhaps the most wonderful tract of +country in the world. The Himalayas are not so much a chain of +mountains as a mountainous country, some eighty miles broad and +several hundred long--a country composed entirely of mountains and +valleys with no large plains or broad plateaux. + +There is a saying of an ancient Sanskrit poet which, being translated +into English, runs: "In a hundred ages of the gods I could not tell +you of the glories of Himachal." This every writer on things Himalayan +contrives to drag into his composition. Some begin with the quotation, +while others reserve it for the last, and make it do duty for the +epigram which stylists assure us should terminate every essay. + +Some there are who quote the Indian sage only to mock him. Such assert +that the beauties of the Himalayas have been greatly exaggerated--that, +as regards grandeur, their scenery compares unfavourably with that of +the Andes, while their beauty is surpassed by that of the Alps. Not +having seen the Andes, I am unable to criticise the assertion +regarding the grandeur of the Himalayas, but I find it difficult to +imagine anything finer than their scenery. + +As regards beauty, the Himalayas at their best surpass the Alps, +because they exhibit far more variety, and present everything on a +grander scale. + +The Himalayas are a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They have two +faces--the fair and the plain. In May they are at their worst. Those +of the hillsides which are not afforested are brown, arid, and +desolate, and the valleys, in addition to being unpleasantly hot, +are dry and dusty. The foliage of the trees lacks freshness, and +everywhere there is a remarkable absence of water, save in the valleys +through which the rivers flow. On the other hand, September is the +month in which the Himalayas attain perfection or something +approaching it. The eye is refreshed by the bright emerald garment +which the hills have newly donned. The foliage is green and luxuriant. +Waterfalls, cascades, mighty torrents and rivulets abound. Himachal +has been converted into fairyland by the monsoon rains. + +A remarkable feature of the Himalayas is the abruptness with which +they rise from the plains in most places. In some parts there are +low foothills; but speaking generally the mountains that rise from +the plain attain a height of 4000 or 5000 feet. + +It is difficult for any person who has not passed from the plains +of India to the Himalayas to realise fully the vast difference between +the two countries and the dramatic suddenness with which the change +takes place. + +The plains are as flat as the proverbial pancake--a dead monotony +of cultivated alluvium, square mile upon square mile of wheat, rice, +vetch, sugar-cane, and other crops, amidst which mango groves, bamboo +clumps, palms, and hamlets are scattered promiscuously. In some +places the hills rise sheer from this, in others they are separated +from the alluvial plains by belts of country known as the Tarai and +Bhabar. The Tarai is low-lying, marshy land covered with tall, +feathery grass, beautifully monotonous. This is succeeded by a +stretch of gently-rising ground, 10 or 20 miles in breadth, known +as the Bhabar--a strip of forest composed mainly of tall evergreen +_sal_ trees (_Shorea robusta_). These trees grow so close together +that the forest is difficult to penetrate, especially after the rains, +when the undergrowth is dense and rank. Very beautiful is the Bhabar, +and very stimulating to the imagination. One writer speaks of it as +"a jungle rhapsody, an extravagant, impossible botanical _tour de +force_, intensely modern in its Titanic, incoherent magnificence." +It is the home of the elephant, the tiger, the panther, the wild boar, +several species of deer, and of many strange and beautiful birds. + +Whether from the flat plains or the gently-sloping Bhabar, the +mountains rise with startling suddenness. + +The flora and fauna of the Himalayas differ from those of the +neighbouring plains as greatly as the trees and animals of England +differ from those of Africa. + +Of the common trees of the plains of India--the _nim_, mango, babul, +tamarind, shesham, palm, and plantain--not one is to be found growing +on the hills. The lower slopes are covered with _sal_ trees like the +Bhabar. These cease to grow at elevations of 3000 feet above the +sea-level, and, higher up, every rise of 1000 feet means a +considerable change in the flora. Above the _sal_ belt come several +species of tropical evergreen trees, among the stems and branches +of which great creepers entangle themselves in fantastic figures. +At elevations of 4000 feet the long-leaved pine (_Pinus longifolia_) +appears. From 5000 to 10,000 feet, several species of evergreen oaks +abound. Above 6000 feet are to be seen the rhododendron, the deodar +and other hill cypresses, and the beautiful horse-chestnut. On the +lower slopes the undergrowth is composed largely of begonias and +berberry. Higher up maidenhair and other ferns abound, and the trunks +of the oaks and rhododendrons are festooned with hanging moss. + +Between elevations of 10,000 and 12,000 feet the silver fir is the +commonest tree. Above 12,000 feet the firs become stunted and dwarfed, +on account of the low temperatures that prevail, and juniper and birch +are the characteristic trees. + +There are spots in the Himalayas, at heights varying from 10,000 to +12,000 feet, where wild raspberries grow, and the yellow colt's-foot, +the dandelion, the blue gentian, the Michaelmas daisy, the purple +columbine, the centauria, the anemone, and the edelweiss occur in +profusion. Orchids grow in large numbers in most parts of the +Himalayas. + +Every hillside is not covered with foliage. Many are rugged and bare. +Some of these are too precipitous to sustain vegetation, others are +masses of quartz and granite. On the hillsides most exposed to the +wind, only grass and small shrubs are able to obtain a foothold. + +"On the vast ridges of elevated mountain masses," writes Weber in +_The Forests of Upper India_, "which constitute the Himalayas are +found different regions of distinct character. The loftiest peaks +of the snowy range abutting on the great plateaux of Central Asia +and Tibet run like a great belt across the globe, falling towards +the south-west to the plains of India. Between the summit and the +plains, a distance of 60 to 70 miles, there are higher, middle, and +lower ranges, so cut up by deep and winding valleys and river-courses, +that no labyrinth could be found more confusing or difficult to +unravel. There is nowhere any tableland, as at the Cape or in Colorado, +with horizontal strata of rock cut down by water into valleys or +canyons. The strata seem, on the contrary, to have been shoved up +and crumpled in all directions by some powerful shrinkage of the +earth's crust, due perhaps to cooling; and the result is such a jumble +of contorted rock masses, that it looks as if some great castle had +been blown up by dynamite and its walls hurled in all directions. +The great central masses, however, consist generally of crystalline +granite, gneiss, and quartz rock, protruding from the bowels of the +earth and shoving up the stratified envelope of rocks nearly 6 miles +above sea-level.... The higher you get up ... the rougher and more +difficult becomes the climbing; the valleys are deeper and more cut +into ravines, the rocks more fantastically and rudely torn asunder, +and the very vitals of the earth exposed; while the heights above +tower to the skies. The torrents rushing from under the glaciers which +flow from the snow-clad summits roar and foam, eating their way ever +into the misty gorges." + +Those who have not visited the Himalayas may perhaps best obtain an +idea of the nature of the country from a brief description of that +traversed by a path leading from the plain to the snowy range. Let +us take the path from Kathgodam, the terminus of the Rohilkhand and +Kumaun railway, to the Pindari glacier. + +For the first two miles the journey is along the cart-road to Naini +Tal, on the right bank of the Gola river. + +At Ranibagh the pilgrim to the Pindari glacier leaves the cart-road +and follows a bridle-path which, having crossed the Gola by a +suspension bridge, mounts the steep hill on the left bank. Skirting +this hill on its upward course, the road reaches the far side, which +slopes down to the Barakheri stream. A fairly steep ascent of 5 miles +through well-wooded country brings the traveller to Bhim Tal, a lake +4500 feet above the level of the sea. This lake, of which the area +is about 150 acres, is one of the largest of a series of lakes formed +by the flow of mountain streams into cup-like valleys. The path skirts +the lake and then ascends the Gagar range, which attains a height +of over 7000 feet. From the pass over this range a very fine view +is obtainable. To the north the snowy range stretches, and between +it and the pass lie 60 miles of mountain and valley. To the south +are to be seen Bhim Tal, Sat Tal, and other lakes, nestling in the +outer ranges, and, beyond the hills, the vast expanse of the plains. + +The Gagar range is well wooded. The majority of the trees are +rhododendrons: these, when they put forth their blossoms in spring, +display a mass of crimson colouring. From the Gagar pass the road +descends for some 3 miles through forest to the valley of the Ramganga. +For about a mile the path follows the left bank of this small stream; +it then crosses it by a suspension bridge, and forthwith begins to +mount gradually the bare rocky Pathargarhi mountain. On the mountain +side, a few hundred feet above the Ramganga, is a village of three +score double-storeyed houses. These are very picturesque. Their +white walls are set off by dark brown woodwork. But alas they are +as whited sepulchres. It is only from a distance that they are +picturesque. They are typical abodes of the hill folk. + +From the Pathargarhi pass the path makes a steep descent down a +well-wooded mountain-side to the Deodar stream. After crossing this +by a stone bridge, the path continues its switch-back course upwards +on a wooded hillside to the Laldana Binaik pass, whence it descends +gradually for 6 miles, through first rhododendron then pine forest +to the Sual river. This river is crossed by a suspension bridge. From +the Sual the path makes an ascent of 3 miles on a rocky hillside to +Almora, which is 36 miles from Kathgodam. + +Almora used to be a Gurkha stronghold, and is now a charming little +hill station situated some 5300 feet above the sea-level. + +The town and the civil and military station are built on a +saddle-backed ridge which is about 2 miles in length. + +The Almora hill was almost completely denuded of trees by the Gurkhas, +but the ridge has since become well wooded. Deodar, pine, _tun_, +horse-chestnut, and alder trees are plentiful, and throughout the +cantonment grows a spiraea hedge. + +The avifauna of Almora is very interesting, consisting as it does +of a strange mixture of hills and plains birds. Among the latter the +most prominent are the grey-necked crow, the koel, the myna, the +king-crow and the magpie-robin. In the spring paradise flycatchers +are very abundant. + +From Almora the road to the snowy range runs over an almost treeless +rocky mountain called Kalimat, which rises to a height of 6500 feet. +From Kalimat the road descends to Takula--16 miles from Almora. Then +there is a further descent of 11 miles to Bageswar--a small town +situated on the Sarju river. The inhabitants of Bageswar lead a sleepy +existence for 360 days in the year, awakening for a short time in +January, when a big fair is held, to which flock men of Dhanpur, +Thibetans, Bhotias, Nepalese, Garwalis, and Kumaunis. These bring +wool, borax, and skins, which they exchange for the produce of the +plains. + +From Bageswar the Pindari road is almost level for 22 miles, and runs +alongside the Sarju. At first the valley is wide and well cultivated. +Here and there are studded villages, of which the houses are roofed +with thatching composed of pine needles. + +At a place about 16 miles above Bageswar the valley of the Sarju +suddenly contracts into a gorge with precipitous cliffs. + +The scenery here is superb. The path passes through a shady glade +in the midst of which rushes the roaring, foaming river. The trunks +and larger branches of the trees are covered with ferns and hanging +moss. The landscape might well be the original for a phase of a +transformation scene at a pantomime. In the midst of this glade the +stream is crossed by a wooden bridge. + +At a spot 2 miles above this the path, leaving the Sarju, takes a +sharp turn to the left, and begins a steep ascent of 5 miles up the +Dhakuri mountain. The base of this hill is well wooded. Higher up +the trees are less numerous. On the ridge the rhododendron and oak +forest alternates with large patches of grassland, on which wild +raspberries and brightly-coloured alpine flowers grow. + +From the summit of the Dhakuri mountain a magnificent panorama +delights the eye. To the north is a deep valley, above which the +snow-clad mountains rise almost precipitously. Towering above the +observer are the peaks of the highest mountains in British territory. +The peaks and 14,000 feet of the slopes are covered with snow. Below +the snow is a series of glaciers: these are succeeded by rocks, grass, +and stunted vegetation until the tree-line is reached. + +To the south lies the world displayed. Near at hand are 50 miles of +rugged mountainous country, and beyond the apparently limitless +plains. On a clear day it is said to be possible to distinguish the +minarets of Delhi, 300 miles away. In the early morning, when the +clouds still hover in the valleys, one seems to gaze upon a white +billowy sea studded with rocky islets. + +From the Dhakuri pass the path descends about 2000 feet, and then +follows the valley of the Pindari river. The scenery here is +magnificent. Unlike that of the Sarju, this valley is narrow. It is +not much cultivated; amaranthus is almost the only crop grown. The +villages are few and the huts which constitute them are rudely +constructed. The cliffs are very high, and rise almost +perpendicularly, like giant walls, so that the numerous feeders of +the river take the form of cascades, in many of which the water falls +without interruption for a distance of over 1000 feet. + +The Kuphini river joins the Pindar 8 miles from its source. Beyond +the junction the path to the glacier crosses to the left bank of the +Pindar, and then the ascent becomes steep. During the ascent the +character of the flora changes. Trees become fewer and flowers more +numerous; yellow colt's-foot, dandelions, gentians, Michaelmas +daisies, columbines, centaurias, anemones, and edelweiss grow in +profusion. Choughs, monal pheasants, and snow-pigeons are the +characteristic birds of this region. + +Thus the birds of the Himalayas inhabit a country in every respect +unlike the plains of India. They dwell in a different environment, +are subjected to a different climate, and feed upon different food. +It is therefore not surprising that the two avifaunas should exhibit +great divergence. Nevertheless few people who have not actually been +in both localities are able to realise the startlingly abrupt +transformation of the bird-fauna seen by one who passes from the +plains to the hills. + +The 5-mile journey from Rajpur to Mussoorie transports the traveller +from one bird-realm to another. + +The caw of the house-crow is replaced by the deeper note of the corby. +Instead of the crescendo shriek of the koel, the pleasing double note +of the European cuckoo meets the ear. For the eternal _coo-coo-coo-coo_ +of the little brown dove, the melodious _kokla-kokla_ of the hill +green-pigeon is substituted. The harsh cries of the rose-ringed +paroquets give place to the softer call of the slaty-headed species. +The monotonous _tonk-tonk-tonk_ of the coppersmith and the +_kutur-kutur-kutur_ of the green barbet are no more heard; in their +stead the curious calls of the great Himalayan barbet resound among +the hills. The dissonant voices of the seven sisters no longer issue +from the thicket; their place is taken by the weird but less unpleasant +calls of the Himalayan streaked laughing-thrushes. Even the sounds of +the night are different. The chuckles and cackles of the spotted owlets +no longer fill the welkin; the silence of the darkness is broken in the +mountains by the low monotonous whistle of the pigmy-collared owlet. + +The eye equally with the ear testifies to the traveller that when +he has reached an altitude of 5000 feet he has entered another avian +realm. The golden-backed woodpecker, the green bee-eater, the "blue +jay" or roller, the paddy bird, the Indian and the magpie-robin, most +familiar birds of the plains, are no longer seen. Their places are +taken by the blue-magpies, the beautiful verditer flycatcher, the +Himalayan and the black-headed jays, the black bulbul, and tits of +several species. + +All the birds, it is true, are not new. Some of our familiar friends +of the plains are still with us. There are the kite, the scavenger +vulture, the common myna, and a number of others, but these are the +exceptions which prove the rule. + +Scientific ornithologists recognise this great difference between +the two faunas, and include the Himalayas in the Palaearctic region, +while the plains form part of the Oriental region. + +The chief things which affect the distribution of birds appear to +be food-supply and temperature. Hence it is evident that in the +Himalayas the avifauna along the snow-line differs greatly from that +of the low, warm valleys. The range of temperature in all parts of +the hills varies greatly with the season. At the ordinary hill +stations the minimum temperature in the summer is sometimes as high +as 70 degrees, while in the winter it may drop to 23 degrees F. Thus +in midwinter many of the birds which normally live near the snow-line +at 12,000 feet descend to 7000 or 6000 feet, and not a few hill birds +leave the Himalayas for a time and tarry in the plains until the +severity of the winter has passed away. + + + + +_THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS_ + + +THE CORVIDAE OR CROW FAMILY + +This family, which is well represented in the Himalayas, includes +the true crows, with their allies, the choughs, pies, jays, and tits. + +The common Indian house-crow (_Corvus splendens_), with which every +Anglo-Indian is only too familiar, loveth not great altitudes, hence +does not occur in any of the higher hill stations. Almora is the one +place in the hills where he appears to be common. There he displays +all the shameless impudence of his brethren in the plains. + +The common crow of the Himalayas is the large all-black species which +is known as the Indian corby or jungle crow (_C. macrorhynchus_). +Unlike its grey-necked cousin, this bird is not a public nuisance; +nevertheless it occasionally renders itself objectionable by +carrying off a chicken or a tame pigeon. In May or June it constructs, +high up in a tree, a rough nest, which is usually well concealed by +the thick foliage. The nest is a shallow cup or platform in the midst +of which is a depression, lined with grass and hair. Horse-hair is +used in preference to other kinds of hair; if this be not available +crows will use human hair, or hair plucked from off the backs of cattle. +Those who put out skins to dry are warned that nesting crows are apt +to damage them seriously. Three or four eggs are laid. These are dull +green, speckled with brown. Crows affect great secrecy regarding +their nests. If a pair think that their nursery is being looked at +by a human being, they show their displeasure by swearing as only +crows can, and by tearing pieces of moss off the branch of some tree +and dropping these on the offender's head! + +Two species of chough, the red-billed (_Graculus eremita_), which +is identical with the European form, and the yellow-billed chough +(_Pyrrhocorax alpinus_), are found in the Himalayas; but he who would +see them must either ascend nearly to the snow-line or remain on in +the hills during the winter. + +Blue-magpies are truly magnificent birds, being in appearance not +unlike small pheasants. Two species grace the Himalayas: the +red-billed (_Urocissa occipitalis_) and the yellow-billed +blue-magpie (_U. flavirostris_). These are distinguishable one from +the other mainly by the colour of the beak. A blue-magpie is a bird +over 2 feet in length, of which the fine tail accounts for +three-fourths. The head, neck, and breast are black, and the remainder +of the plumage is a beautiful blue with handsome white markings. It +is quite unnecessary to describe the blue-magpie in detail. It is +impossible to mistake it. Even a blind man cannot fail to notice it +because of its loud ringing call. East of Simla the red-billed species +is by far the commoner, while to the west the yellow-billed form rules +the roost. The vernacular names for the blue-magpie are _Nilkhant_ +at Mussoorie and _Dig-dall_ at Simla. + +The Himalayan tree-pie (_Dendrocitta himalayensis_), although a fine +bird, looks mean in comparison with his blue cousins. This species +is like a dull edition of the tree-pie of the plains. It is dressed +like a quaker. It is easily recognised when on the wing. Its flight +is very characteristic, consisting of a few rapid flaps of the pinions +followed by a sail on outstretched wings. The median pair of tail +feathers is much longer than the others, the pair next to the middle +one is the second longest, and the outer one shortest of all. Thus +the tail, when expanded during flight, has a curious appearance. + +We now come to the jays. That brilliant study in light and dark blue, +so common in the plains, which we call the blue-jay, does not occur +in the Himalayas; nor is it a jay at all: its proper name is the Indian +roller (_Coracias indica_). It is in no way connected with the jay +tribe, being not even a passerine bird. We know this because of the +arrangement of its deep plantar tendons, because its palate is +desmognathous instead of aegithognathous, because--but I think I +will not proceed further with these reasons; if I do, this article +will resemble a letter written by the conscientious undergraduate +who used to copy into each of his epistles to his mother, a page of +_A Complete Guide to the Town of Cambridge_. The fond mother doubtless +found her son's letters very instructive, but they were not exactly +what she wanted. Let it suffice that the familiar bird with wings +of two shades of blue is not a jay, nor even one of the Corviniae, +but a blood relation of the kingfishers and bee-eaters. + +Two true jays, however, are common in the Western Himalayas. These +are known to science as the Himalayan jay (_Garrulus bispecularis_) +and the black-throated jay (_G. lanceolatus_). The former is a +fawn-coloured bird, with a black moustachial streak. As birds do not +usually indulge in moustaches, this streak renders the bird an easy +one to identify. The tail is black, and the wing has the characteristic +blue band with narrow black cross-bars. This species goes about in +large noisy flocks. Once at Naini Tal I came upon a flock which cannot +have numbered fewer than forty individuals. + +The handsome black-throated jay is a bird that must be familiar to +every one who visits a Himalayan hill station with his eyes open. +Nevertheless no one seems to have taken the trouble to write about +it. Those who have compiled lists of birds usually dismiss it in their +notes with such adjectives as "abundant," and "very common." It is +remarkable that many popular writers should have discoursed upon the +feathered folk of the plains, while few have devoted themselves to +the interesting birds of the hills. There seem to be two reasons for +this neglect of the latter. Firstly, it is only the favoured few to +whom it is given to spend more than ten days at a time in the cool +heights; most of us have to toil in the hot plains. Secondly, the +thick foliage of the mountain-side makes bird-watching a somewhat +difficult operation. The observer frequently catches sight of an +interesting-looking bird, only to see it disappear among the foliage +before he has had time even to identify it. + +The black-throated jay is a handsome bird, more striking in appearance +even than the jay of England (_G. glandarius_). Its crested head is +black. Its back is a beautiful French grey, its wings are black and +white with a bar of the peculiar shade of blue which is characteristic +of the jay family and so rarely seen in nature or art. Across this +blue bar run thin black transverse lines. The tail is of the same +blue with similar black cross-bars, and each feather is tipped with +white. The throat is black, with short white lines on it. The legs +are pinkish slaty, and the bill is slate coloured in some individuals, +and almost white in others. The size of this jay is the same as that +of our familiar English one. Black-throated jays go about in flocks. +This is a characteristic of a great many Himalayan birds. Probably +the majority of the common birds of these mountains lead a sociable +existence, like that of the "seven sisters" of the plains. A man may +walk for half-an-hour through a Himalayan wood without seeing a bird +or hearing any bird-sound save the distant scream of a kite or the +raucous voice of the black crow; then suddenly he comes upon quite +a congregation of birds, a flock of a hundred or more noisy +laughing-thrushes, or numbers of cheeping white-eyes and tits, or +it may be a flock of rowdy black bulbuls. All the birds of the wood +seem to be collected in one place. This flocking of the birds in the +hills must, I think, be accounted for by the fact that birds are by +nature sociable creatures, and that food is particularly abundant. +In a dense wood every tree offers either insect or vegetable food, +so that a large number of birds can live in company without fear of +starving each other out. In the plains food is less abundant, hence +most birds that dwell there are able to gratify their fondness for +each other's society only at roosting time; during the day they are +obliged to separate, in order to find the wherewithal to feed upon. + +Like all sociable birds, the black-throated jay is very noisy. Birds +have a language of a kind, a language composed entirely of +interjections, a language in which only the simplest emotions--fear, +joy, hunger, and maternal care--can be expressed. Now, when a +considerable flock of birds is wandering through a dense forest, it +is obvious that the individuals which compose it would be very liable +to lose touch with one another had they no means of informing one +another of their whereabouts. The result is that such a means has +been developed. Every bird, whose habit it is to go about in company, +has the habit of continually uttering some kind of call or cry. It +probably does this unconsciously, without being aware that it is +making any sound. + +In Madras a white-headed babbler nestling was once brought to me. +I took charge of it and fed it, and noticed that when it was not asleep +it kept up a continuous cheeping all day long, even when it was eating, +although it had no companion. The habit of continually uttering its +note was inherited. When the flock is stationary the note is a +comparatively low one; but when an individual makes up its mind to +fly any distance, say ten or a dozen yards, it gives vent to a louder +call, so as to inform its companions that it is moving. This sound +seems to induce others to follow its lead. This is especially +noticeable in the case of the white-throated laughing-thrush. I have +seen one of these birds fly to a branch in a tree, uttering its curious +call, and then hop on to another branch in the same tree. Scarcely +has it left the first branch when a second laughing-thrush flies to +it; then a fourth, a fifth, and so on; so that the birds look as though +they might be playing "Follow the man from Cook's." The black-throated +jay is noisy even for a sociable bird. The sound which it seems to +produce more often than any other is very like the harsh anger-cry +of the common myna. Many Himalayan birds have rather discordant notes, +and in this respect these mountains do not compare favourably with +the Nilgiris, where the blithe notes of the bulbuls are very pleasing +to the ear. + +Jays are by nature bold birds. They are inclined to be timid in England, +because they are so much persecuted by the game-keeper. In the +Himalayas they are as bold as the crow. It is not uncommon to see +two or three jays hopping about outside a kitchen picking up the scraps +pitched out by the cook. Sometimes two jays make a dash at the same +morsel. Then a tiff ensues, but it is mostly made up of menacing +screeches. One bird bears away the coveted morsel, swearing lustily, +and the unsuccessful claimant lets him go in peace. When a jay comes +upon a morsel of food too large to be swallowed whole, it flies with +it to a tree and holds it under one foot and tears it up with its +beak. This is a characteristically corvine habit. The black-throated +jay is an exceedingly restless bird; it is always on the move. Like +its English cousin, it is not a bird of very powerful flight. As +Gilbert White says: "Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, +and make no despatch." In the Himalayas there is no necessity for +it to make much despatch; it rarely has to cover any distance on the +wing. When it does fly a dozen yards or so, its passage is marked +by much noisy flapping of the pinions. + +The nutcrackers can scarcely be numbered among the common birds, but +are sometimes seen in our hill stations, and, such is the "cussedness" +of birds that if I omit to notice the nutcrackers several are certain +to show themselves to many of those who read these lines. A +chocolate-brown bird, bigger than a crow, and spotted and barred with +white all over, can be nothing other than one of the Himalayan +nutcrackers. It may be the Himalayan species (_Nucifraga hemispila_), +or the larger spotted nutcracker (_N. multipunctata_). + +The members of the crow family which I have attempted to describe +above are all large birds, birds bigger than a crow. It now behoves +us to consider the smaller members of the corvine clan. + +The tits form a sub-family of the crows. Now at first sight the crow +and the tit seem to have but little in common. However, close +inspection, whether by the anatomist or the naturalist, reveals the +mark of the corvidae in the tits. First, there is the habit of holding +food under the foot while it is being devoured. Then there is the +aggressiveness of the tits. This is Lloyd-Georgian or even Winstonian +in its magnitude. "Tits," writes Jerdon, "are excessively bold and +even ferocious, the larger ones occasionally destroying young and +sickly birds, both in a wild state and in confinement." + +Many species of tit dwell in the Himalayas. To describe them all would +bewilder the reader; I will, therefore, content myself with brief +descriptions of four species, each of which is to be seen daily in +every hill station of the Western Himalayas. + +The green-backed tit (_Parus monticola_) is a glorified edition of +our English great tit. It is a bird considerably smaller than a +sparrow. + +The cheeks are white, the rest of the head is black, as are the breast +and a characteristic line running along the abdomen. The back is +greenish yellow, the lower parts are deep yellow. The wings are black +with two white bars, the tail is black tipped with white. This is +one of the commonest birds in most hill stations. + +Like the sparrow, it is ever ready to rear up its brood in a hole +in the wall of a house. Any kind of a hole will do, provided the aperture +is too small to admit of the entrance of birds larger than itself. + +The nesting operations of a pair of green-backed tits form the subject +of a separate essay. + +Another tit much in evidence is the yellow-cheeked tit, _Machlolophus +xanthogenys_. I apologise for its scientific name. Take a +green-backed tit, paint its cheeks bright yellow, and give it a black +crest tipped with yellow, and you will have transformed him into a +yellow-cheeked tit. + +There remain to be described two pigmy tits. The first of these is +that feathered exquisite, the red-headed tit (_AEgithaliscus +erythrocephalus_). I will not again apologise for the name; it must +suffice that the average ornithologist is never happy unless he be +either saddling a small bird with a big name or altering the +denomination of some unfortunate fowl. This fussy little mite is not +so long as a man's thumb. It is crestless; the spot where the crest +ought to be is chestnut red. The remainder of the upper plumage is +bluish grey, while the lower plumage is the colour of rust. The black +face is set off by a white eyebrow. Last, but not least, of our common +tits is the crested black tit (_Lophophanes melanopterus_). The +crested head and breast of this midget are black. The cheeks and nape +are white, while the rest of the upper plumage is iron grey. + +There is yet another tit of which mention must be made, because he +is the common tit of Almora. The climate of Almora is so much milder +than that of other hill stations that its birds are intermediate +between those of the hills and the plains. The Indian grey tit (_Parus +atriceps_) is a bird of wide distribution. It is the common tit of +the Nilgiris, is found in many of the better-wooded parts of the plains, +and ascends the Himalayas up to 6000 feet. It is a grey bird with +the head, neck, breast, and abdominal line black. The cheeks are white. +It is less gregarious than the other tits. Its notes are harsh and +varied, being usually a _ti-ti-chee_ or _pretty-pretty_. + +I have not noticed this species at either Mussoorie or Naini Tal, +but, as I have stated, it is common at Almora. + +As has been mentioned above, tits usually go about in flocks. It is +no uncommon thing for a flock to contain all of the four species of +tit just described, a number of white-eyes, some nuthatches, warblers, +tree-creepers, a woodpecker or two, and possibly some sibias and +laughing-thrushes. + + +THE CRATEROPODIDAE OR BABBLER FAMILY + +The Crateropodidae form a most heterogeneous collection of birds, +including, as they do, such divers fowls as babblers, +whistling-thrushes, bulbuls, and white-eyes. Whenever a systematist +comes across an Asiatic bird of which he can make nothing, he classes +it among the Crateropodidae. This is convenient for the systematist, +but embarrassing for the naturalist. + +The most characteristic members of the family are those ugly, untidy, +noisy earth-coloured birds which occur everywhere in the plains, and +always go about in little companies, whence their popular name "seven +sisters." + +To men of science these birds are known as babblers. Babblers proper +are essentially birds of the plains. In the hills they are replaced +by their cousins, the laughing-thrushes. Laughing-thrushes are +merely glorified babblers. The Himalayan streaked laughing-thrush +(_Trochalopterum lineatum_) is one of the commonest of the birds of +our hill stations. It is a reddish brown fowl, about eight inches +long. Each of its feathers has a black shaft; it is these dark shafts +that give the bird its streaked appearance. Its chin, throat, and +breast are chestnut-red, and on each cheek there is a patch of similar +hue. The general appearance of the streaked laughing-thrush is that +of one of the seven sisters who is wearing her best frock. Like their +sisters of the plains, Himalayan streaked laughing-thrushes go about +in small flocks and are exceedingly noisy. Sometimes a number of them +assemble, apparently for the sole purpose of holding a speaking +competition. They are never so happy as when thus engaged. + +Streaked laughing-thrushes frequent gardens, and, as they are +inordinately fond of hearing their own voices, it is certainly not +their fault if they escape observation. By way of a nest they build +a rough-and-ready cup-shaped structure in a low bush or on the ground; +but, as Hume remarked, "the bird, as a rule, conceals the nest so +well that, though a loose, and for the size of the architect, a large +structure, it is difficult to find, even when one closely examines +the bush in which it is." + +Three other species of laughing-thrush must be numbered among common +birds of the Himalayas, although they, like the heroine of _A Bad +Girl's Diary_, are often heard and not seen. The white-throated +laughing-thrush (_Garrulax albigularis_) is a handsome bird larger +than a myna. Its general colour is rich olive brown. It has a black +eyebrow and shows a fine expanse of white shirt front. It goes about +in large flocks and continually utters a cry, loud and plaintive and +not in the least like laughter. + +The remaining laughing-thrushes are known as the rufous-chinned +(_Ianthocincla rufigularis_) and the red-headed (_Trochalopterum +erythrocephalum_). The former may be distinguished from the +white-throated species by the fact that the lower part only of its +throat is white, the chin being red. The red-headed laughing-thrush +has no white at all in the under parts. The next member of the family +of the Crateropodidae that demands our attention is the rusty-cheeked +scimitar-babbler (_Pomatorhinus erythrogenys_). + +Scimitar-babblers are so called because of the long, slender, +compressed beak, which is curved downwards like that of a sunbird. + +Several species of scimitar-babbler occur in the Himalayas. The above +mentioned is the most abundant in the Western Himalayas. This species +is known as the _Banbakra_ at Mussoorie. Its bill is 1-1/2 inch long. +The upper plumage is olive brown. The forehead, cheeks, sides of the +neck, and thighs are chestnut-red, as is a patch under the tail. The +chin and throat and the median portion of the breast and abdomen are +white with faint grey stripes. Scimitar-babblers have habits similar +to those of laughing-thrushes. They go about in pairs, seeking for +insects among fallen leaves. The call is a loud whistle. + +Very different in habits and appearance from any of the babblers +mentioned above is the famous Himalayan whistling-thrush +(_Myiophoneous temmincki_). To see this bird it is necessary to repair +to some mountain stream. It is always in evidence in the neighbourhood +of the dhobi's ghat at Naini Tal, and is particularly abundant on +the banks of the Kosi river round about Khairna. At first sight the +Himalayan whistling-thrush looks very like a cock blackbird. His +yellow bill adds to the similitude. It is only when he is seen with +the sun shining upon him that the cobalt blue patches in his plumage +are noticed. His habit is to perch on the boulders which are washed +by the foaming waters of a mountain torrent. On these he finds plenty +of insects and snails, which constitute the chief items on his menu. +He pursues the elusive insect in much the same way as a wagtail does, +calling his wings to his assistance when chasing a particularly nimble +creature. He has the habit of frequently expanding his tail. This +species utters a loud and pleasant call, also a shrill cry like that +of the spotted forktail. All torrent-haunting birds are in the habit +of uttering such a note; indeed it is no easy task to distinguish +between the alarm notes of the various species that frequent mountain +streams. + +Of very different habits is the black-headed sibia (_Lioptila +capistrata_). This species is strictly arboreal. As mentioned +previously, it is often found in company with flocks of tits and other +gregarious birds. It feeds on insects, which it picks off the leaves +of trees. Its usual call is a harsh twitter. It is a reddish brown +bird, rather larger than a bulbul, with a black-crested head. There +is a white bar on the wing. + +The Indian white-eye (_Zosterops palbebrosa_) is not at all like any +of the babblers hitherto described. In size, appearance, and habits, +it approximates closely to the tits, with which it often consorts. +Indeed, Jerdon calls the bird the white-eyed tit. It occurs in all +well-wooded parts of the country, both in the plains and the hills. +No bird is easier to identify. The upper parts are greenish yellow, +and the lower bright yellow, while round the eye runs a broad +conspicuous ring of white feathers, whence the popular names of the +species, white-eye and spectacle-bird. Except at the breeding season, +it goes about in flocks of considerable size. Each individual utters +unceasingly a low, plaintive, sonorous, cheeping note. As was stated +above, all arboreal gregarious birds have this habit. It is by means +of this call note that they keep each other apprised of their +whereabouts. But for such a signal it would scarcely be possible for +the flock to hold together. At the breeding season the cock white-eye +acquires an unusually sweet song. The nest is an exquisite little +cup, which hangs, like a hammock, suspended from a slender forked +branch. Two pretty pale blue eggs are laid. + +A very diminutive member of the babbler clan is the fire-cap +(_Cephalopyrus flammiceps_). The upper parts of its plumage are olive +green; the lower portions are golden yellow. In the cock the chin +is suffused with red. The cock wears a further ornament in the shape +of a cap of flaming red, which renders his identification easy. + +Until recently all ornithologists agreed that the curious +starling-like bird known as the spotted-wing (_Psaroglossa +spiloptera_) was a kind of aberrant starling, but systematists have +lately relegated it to the Crateropodidae. At Mussoorie the natives +call it the _Puli_. Its upper parts are dark grey spotted with black. +The wings are glossy greenish black with white spots. The lower parts +are reddish. A flock of half-a-dozen or more birds having a +starling-like appearance, which twitter like stares and keep to the +topmost branches of trees, may be set down safely as spotted-wings. + +We now come to the last of the Crateropodidae--the bulbuls. These +birds are so different from most of their brethren that they are held +to constitute a sub-family. I presume that every reader is familiar +with the common bulbul of the plains. To every one who is not, my +advice is that he should go into the verandah in the spring and look +among the leaves of the croton plants. The chances are in favour of +this search leading to the discovery of a neat cup-shaped nest owned +by a pair of handsome crested birds, which wear a bright crimson patch +under the tail, and give forth at frequent intervals tinkling notes +that are blithe and gay. + +Both the species of bulbul common in the plains ascend the lower ranges +of the Himalayas. These are the Bengal red-vented bulbul (_Molpastes +bengalensis_) and the Bengal red-whiskered bulbul (_Otocompsa +emeria_). + +The addition of the adjective "Bengal" is important, for every +province of India has its own special species of bulbul. + +The Molpastes bulbul is a bird about half as big again as the sparrow, +but with a longer tail. The black head is marked by a short crest. +The cheeks are brown. There is a conspicuous crimson patch under the +tail. The remainder of the plumage is brown, but each feather on the +body is margined with creamy white, so that the bird is marked by +a pattern that is, as "Eha" pointed out, not unlike the scales on +a fish. Both ends of the tail feathers are creamy white. + +Otocompsa is a far more showy bird. The crest is long and pointed +and curves forward a little over the bill. There is the usual crimson +patch under the tail and another on each cheek. The rest of the cheek +is white, as is the lower plumage. A black necklace, interrupted in +front, marks the junction of the throat and the breast. Neither of +these bulbuls ascends the hills very high, but I have seen the former +at the Brewery below Naini Tal. + +The common bulbul of the Himalayas is the white-cheeked species +(_Molpastes leucogenys_). This bird, which is very common at Almora, +has the habits of its brethren in the plains. Its crest is pointed +and its cheeks are white like those of an Otocompsa bulbul. But it +has rather a weedy appearance and lacks the red feathers on the sides +of the head. The patch of feathers under the tail is bright +sulphur-yellow instead of crimson. + +The only other species of bulbul commonly seen in the hills is a very +different bird. It is known as the black bulbul (_Hypsipetes +psaroides_). + +The bulbuls that we have been considering are inoffensive little birds +which lead quiet and respectable lives. Not so the black bulbuls. +These are aggressive, disreputable-looking creatures which go about +in disorderly, rowdy gangs. + +The song of most bulbuls is a medley of pleasant tinkling notes; the +cries of the black bulbuls are harsh and unlovely. + +Black bulbuls look black only when seen from a distance. When closely +inspected their plumage is seen to be dark grey. The bill and legs +are red. The crest, I regret to say, usually looks the worse for wear. +Black bulbuls seem never to descend to the ground. They keep almost +exclusively to tops of lofty trees. They are very partial to the nectar +enclosed within the calyces of rhododendron flowers. A party of half +a dozen untidy black birds, with moderately long tails, which keep +to the tops of trees and make much noise, may with certainty be set +down as black bulbuls. + +These curious birds form the subject of a separate essay. + + +THE SITTIDAE OR NUTHATCH FAMILY + +The Sittidae are a well-defined family of little birds. When not +occupied with domestic cares, they congregate in small flocks that +run up and down the trunks and branches of trees in search of insects. +The nuthatch most commonly seen in the hills is the white-tailed +species (_Sitta himalayensis_). The general hue of this bird is slaty +blue. The forehead and a broad line running down the sides of the +head and neck are black. There is a good deal of white in the tail, +which is short in this and in all species of nuthatch. The under-parts +are of a chestnut hue. The Himalayan nuthatch is very partial to the +red berries of _Arisaema jacque-montii_--a small plant of the family +to which the arums and the "lords and ladies" belong. Half a dozen +nuthatches attacking one of the red spikes of this plant present a +pretty sight. The berries ripen in July and August, and at Naini Tal +one rarely comes across a complete spike because the nuthatches pounce +upon every berry the moment it is ripe. + + +THE DICRURIDAE OR DRONGO FAMILY + +The famous black drongo or king-crow (_Dicrurus ater_) is the type +of this well-marked family of passerine birds. The king-crow is about +the size of a bulbul, but he has a tail 6 or 7 inches long, which +is gracefully forked. His whole plumage is glossy jet black. He loves +to sit on a telegraph wire or other exposed perch, and thence make +sallies into the air after flying insects. He is one of the commonest +birds in India. His cheery call--half-squeak, half-whistle--must be +familiar to every Anglo-Indian. As to his character, I will repeat +what I have said elsewhere: "The king-crow is the Black Prince of +the bird world--the embodiment of pluck. The thing in feathers of +which he is afraid has yet to be evolved. Like the mediaeval knight, +he goes about seeking those on whom he can perform some small feat +of arms. In certain parts of India he is known as the kotwal--the +official who stands forth to the poor as the impersonation of the +might and majesty of the British raj." + +The king-crow is fairly abundant in the hills. On the lower ranges, +and especially at Almora, it is nearly as common as in the plains. +On the higher slopes, however, it is largely replaced by the ashy +drongo (_Dicrurus longicaudatus_). At most hill stations both +species occur. The note of the ashy drongo differs considerably from +that of the king-crow: otherwise the habits of the two species are +very similar. Take thirty-three per cent. off the pugnacity of the +king-crow and you will arrive at a fair estimate of that of the ashy +drongo. The latter looks like a king-crow with an unusually long tail, +a king-crow of which the black plumage has worn grey like an old +broadcloth coat. + +The handsome _Bhimraj_ or larger racket-tailed drongo (_Dissemurus +paradiseus_), a glorified king-crow with a tail fully 20 inches in +length, is a Himalayan bird, but he dwells far from the madding crowd, +and is not likely to be seen at any hill station except as a captive. + + +THE CERTHIIDAE OR WREN FAMILY + +The only member of this family common about our hill stations is the +Himalayan tree-creeper (_Certhia himalayana_). This is a small brown +bird, striped and barred with black, which spends the day creeping +over the trunks of trees seeking its insect quarry. It is an +unobtrusive creature, and, as its plumage assimilates very closely +to the bark over which it crawls, it would escape observation more +often than it does, but for its call, which is a shrill one. + + +THE SYLVIIDAE OR WARBLER FAMILY + +The sylviidae comprise a large number of birds of small size and, +with a few exceptions, of plain plumage. The result is that the great +majority of them resemble one another so closely that it is as +difficult to identify them when at large as it is to see through a +brick wall. Small wonder, then, that field naturalists fight rather +shy of this family. Of the 110 species of warbler which exist in India, +I propose to deal with only one, and that favoured bird is Hodgson's +grey-headed flycatcher-warbler (_Cryptolopha xanthoschista_). My +reasons for raising this particular species from among the vulgar +herd of warblers are two. The first is that it is the commonest bird +in our hill stations. The second is that it is distinctively coloured, +and in consequence easy to identify. + +It is impossible for a human being to visit any hill station between +Murree and Naini Tal in spring without remarking this warbler. I do +not exaggerate when I say that its voice issues from every second +tree. + +This species may be said to be _the_ warbler of the Western Himalayas, +and, as such, it has been made the subject of a separate essay. + + +THE LANIIDAE OR SHRIKE FAMILY + +The butcher-birds are the best-known members of this fraternity. +Undoubtedly passerine in structure, shrikes are as indubitably +raptores by nature. They are nothing less than pocket hawks. + +Their habit is to sit on an exposed perch and pounce from thence on +to some insect on the ground. The larger species attack small birds. + +Four species of butcher-bird may perhaps be classed among the common +birds of the Himalayas; but they are inhabitants of the lower ranges +only. It is unusual to see a shrike at as high an elevation as 6000 +feet. In consequence they are seldom observed at hill stations. + +It is true that the grey-backed shrike does occur as high as 9000 +feet, but this species, being confined mainly to the inner ranges, +does not occur at most hill stations. + +The bay-backed shrike (_Lanius vittatus_) is a bird rather smaller +than a bulbul. Its head is grey except for a broad black band running +through the eye. The wings and tail are black and white. The back +is chestnut red and the rump white. + +The rufous-backed shrike (_L. erythronotus_) is very like the last +species, but it is a larger bird. It has no white in the wings and +tail, and its rump is red instead of being white. + +The grey-backed shrike (_L. tephronotus_) is very like the +rufous-backed species, but may be distinguished by the fact that the +grey of the head extends more than half-way down the back. + +As its name indicates, the black-headed shrike (_L. nigriceps_) has +the whole head black; but the cheeks, chin, and throat are white. + +Butcher-birds are of striking rather than beautiful appearance. They +have some very handsome relatives which are known as minivets. Every +person must have seen a company of small birds with somewhat long +tails, clothed in bright scarlet and black--birds which flit about +among the trees like sparks driven before the wind. These are cock +minivets. The hens, which are often found in company with them, are +in their way equally beautiful and conspicuous, for they are bright +yellow in those parts of the plumage where the cocks are scarlet. +It is impossible to mistake a minivet, but it is quite another matter +to say to which species any particular minivet belongs. The species +commonly seen about our hill stations are _Pericrocotus speciosus_, +the Indian scarlet minivet, and _P. brevirostris_, the short-billed +minivet. The former is 9 inches long, while the latter is but 7-1/2. +Again, the red of the former is scarlet and that of the latter crimson +rather than scarlet. These distinctions are sufficiently apparent +when two species are seen side by side, but are scarcely sufficient +to enable the ordinary observer to determine the species of a flock +seen flitting about amid the foliage. This, however, need not disturb +us. Most people are quite satisfied to know that these exquisite +little birds are all called minivets. + + +THE ORIOLIDAE OR ORIOLE FAMILY + +The beautiful orioles are birds of the plains rather than of the hills. +One species, however, the Indian Oriole (_Oriolus kundoo_) is a summer +visitor to the Himalayas. The cock is a bright yellow bird with a +pink bill. There is some black on his cheeks and wing feathers. The +hen is less brilliantly coloured, the yellow of her plumage being +dull and mixed with green. Orioles are a little larger than bulbuls. +They rarely, if ever, descend to the ground. I do not remember having +seen the birds at Murree, Mussoorie, or Naini Tal, but they are common +at Almora in summer. + + +THE STURNIDAE OR STARLING FAMILY + +The Himalayan starling (_Sturnus humii_) is so like his European +brother in appearance that it is scarcely possible to distinguish +between the two species unless they are seen side by side. Is it +necessary to describe the starling? Does an Englishman exist who is +not well acquainted with the vivacious bird which makes itself at +home in his garden or on his housetop in England? We have all admired +its dark plumage, which displays a green or bronze sheen in the +sunlight, and which is so curiously spotted with buff. + +The Himalayan species is, I think, common only in the more westerly +parts of the hills. + +The common myna (_Acridotheres tristis_) is nearly as abundant in +the hills as it is in the plains. I should not have deemed it necessary +to describe this bird, had not a lady asked me a few days ago whether +a pair of mynas, which were fighting as only mynas can fight, were +seven sisters. + +The myna is a bird considerably smaller than a crow. His head, neck, +and upper breast are black, while the rest of his plumage is quaker +brown, save for a broad white wing-bar, very conspicuous during flight, +and some white in the tail. The legs and bill look as though they +had been dipped in the mustard pot, and there is a bare patch of +mustard-coloured skin on either side of the head. This sprightly bird +is sociably inclined. Grasshoppers form its favourite food. These +it seeks on the grass, over which it struts with as much dignity as +a stout raja. In the spring the mynas make free with our bungalows, +seizing on any convenient holes or ledges as sites for their nests. +The nest is a conglomeration of straw, rags, paper, and any rubbish +that comes to beak. The eggs are a beautiful blue. + +The only other myna commonly seen in Himalayan hill stations is the +jungle myna (_AEthiopsar fuscus_). This is so like the species just +described, that nine out of ten people fail to differentiate between +the two birds. Close inspection shows that this species has a little +tuft of feathers on the forehead, which the common myna lacks. On +the other hand, the yellow patch of skin round the eyes is wanting +in the jungle myna. + + +THE MUSCICAPIDAE OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY + +The family of the flycatchers is well represented in the hills, for +its members love trees. The great majority of them seem never to +descend to the ground at all. Flycatchers are birds that feed +exclusively on insects, which they catch on the wing. Their habit +is to make from some perch little sallies into the air after their +quarry. But, we must bear in mind that a bird that behaves thus is +not necessarily a flycatcher. Other birds, as, for example, +king-crows and bee-eaters, have discovered how excellent a way this +is of securing a good supply of food. The beautiful verditer +flycatcher (_Stoparola melanops_) must be familiar to everyone who +has visited the Himalayas. The plumage of this flycatcher is pale +blue--blue of that peculiar shade known as verditer blue. There is +a little black on the head. The plumage of the hen is distinctly duller +than that of the cock. This species loves to sit on a telegraph wire +or at the very summit of a tree and pour forth its song, which consists +of a pleasant, if somewhat harsh, trill or warble of a dozen or more +notes. The next flycatcher that demands notice is the white-browed +blue flycatcher (_Cyornis superciliaris_). In this species the hen +differs considerably from the cock in appearance. The upper plumage +of the latter is a dull blue, set off by a white eyebrow. The lower +plumage is white save for a blue collaret, which is interrupted in +the middle. The upper plumage of the hen is olive brown, washed with +blue in parts. Beneath she is pale buff. This species, like the last, +nests in a hole. + +There are yet four other species of flycatcher which, although less +frequently seen than the two just mentioned, deserve place among the +common birds of the Himalayas. Two of these are homely-looking little +creatures, while two are as striking as it is possible for a fowl +of the air to be, and this is saying a great deal. + +The brown flycatcher (_Alseonax latirostris_) is a bird that may pass +for a small sparrow if not carefully looked at. Of course its habits +are very different to those of the sparrow; moreover, it has a narrow +ring of white feathers round the eye. The grey-headed flycatcher +(_Culicicapa ceylonensis_) is a species of which the sexes are alike. +The head, neck, and breast are grey; the wings and tail are brown; +the back is dull yellow, and the lower plumage bright yellow. +Notwithstanding all this yellow, the bird is not conspicuous except +during flight, because the wings when closed cover up nearly all the +yellow. This bird frequents all the hill streams. At Naini Tal any +person may be tolerably certain of coming across it by going down +the Khairna road to the place where that road meets the stream. The +nest of this species is a beautiful pocket of moss attached to some +moss-covered rock or tree. + +The rufous-bellied niltava (_Niltava sundara_) or fairy blue-chat, +as Jerdon calls it, is the kind of bird one would expect to find in +fairyland. The front and sides of the head, and the chin and throat +of the cock are deep velvety black. His crown, nape, and lower back, +and a spot on cheeks and wings, are glistening blue. He also sports +some light blue in his tail. His lower plumage is chestnut red. The +upper plumage of the hen is olive brown save for a brilliant blue +patch on either side of the head. Her tail is chestnut red. This +beautiful species is about the size of a sparrow. + +Even more splendid is the paradise flycatcher (_Terpsiphone +paradisi_). The hen, and the cock, when he is quite young, look rather +like specimens of the bulbul family, being rich chestnut-hued birds +with the head and crest metallic bluish black. The hen is content +with a gown of this style throughout her life. Not so the cock. No +sooner does he reach the years of discretion than he assumes a +magnificent caudal appendage. His two middle tail feathers suddenly +begin to grow, and go on growing till they become three or four times +as long as he is, and so flutter behind him in the wind like streamers +when he flies. Nor does he rest content with this finery. When he +is about three years old he doffs his chestnut plumage, and in its +place dons a snowy white one. He is then a truly magnificent object. +The first time one catches sight of this white bird with his satin +streamers floating behind him, one wonders whether he is but an object +seen in a dream. + +This flycatcher is a regular visitor in summer to Almora, where it +nests. Six thousand feet appear to be about the limit of its ascent, +and in consequence this beautiful creature is not common at any of +the higher hill stations. I have seen it at the brewery below Naini +Tal, but not at Naini Tal itself. + + +THE TURDIDAE OR THRUSH FAMILY + +This large family is well represented in the hills, and embraces a +number of beautiful and interesting birds. + +The dark grey bush-chat (_Oreicola ferrea_) is as common in the hills +as is the robin in the plains. It is about the size of a robin. The +upper plumage of the cock is grey in winter and black in summer. This +change in colour is the result of wear and tear suffered by the +feathers. Each bird is given by nature a new suit of clothes every +autumn, and in most cases the bird, like a Government _chaprassi_, +has to make it last a whole year. Both eat, drink, sleep, and do +everything in their coats. There is, however, this difference between +the bird and the _chaprassi_: the plumage of the former always looks +clean and smart, while the garment of the _chaprassi_ is usually +neither the one nor the other. The coat of the dark grey bush-chat +is made up of black feathers edged with grey. As the margins of the +feathers alone show, the bird looks grey so long as the grey margins +exist, and when these wear away it appears black. The cock has a +conspicuous white eyebrow, and displays some white in his wings and +tail. He is quite a dandy. The hen is a reddish brown bird with a +pale grey eyebrow. This species likes to pretend it is a flycatcher. +The flycatchers proper do not object in the least; in this country +of multitudinous insects there are more than enough for every kind +of bird. + +Brief mention must be made here of the Indian bush-chat (_Pratincola +maura_), because this chat is common at Almora, and breeds there. +I have not seen it at other hill stations. It does not appear to ascend +the Himalayas higher than 5500 feet. In the cock the upper parts are +black (brown in winter) with a large white patch on each side of the +neck. The breast is orange-red. The lower parts are ruddy brown. The +hen is a plain reddish brown bird. + +We now come to what is, in my opinion, one of the most striking birds +in the Himalayas. I refer to the bird known to men of science as +_Henicurus maculatus_, or the western spotted forktail. Those +Europeans who are not men of science call it the hill-wagtail on +account of its habits, or the _dhobi_ bird because of its +unaccountable predilection for the spot where the grunting, +perspiring washerman pursues his destructive calling. The head and +neck of this showy bird are jet black save for a conspicuous white +patch running from the centre of the crown to the base of the bill, +which gives the bird a curious appearance. The shoulders are decorated +by a cape or tippet of black, copiously spotted with white. The wings +are black and white. The tail feathers are black, but each has a broad +white band at the tip, and, as the two median feathers are the shortest, +and each succeeding pair longer, the tail has, when closed, the +appearance of being composed of alternate broad black and narrow white +V-shaped bars. The lower back and rump are white, but these are +scarcely visible except during flight or when the bird is preening +its feathers. The legs are pinkish white. This forktail is a trifle +larger than a wagtail, and its tail is over 6 inches in length. It +is never found away from streams. + +I will not dilate further upon the habits of this bird because a +separate essay is devoted to it. + +Two other water-birds must now be mentioned. These love not the +_dhobi_, and dwell by preference far from the madding crowd. They +are very common in the interior of the hills, and everyone who has +travelled in the inner ranges must be familiar with them, even if +he do not know what to call them. The white-capped redstart +(_Chimarrhornis leucocephalus_) is a bird that compels attention. +His black plumage looks as though it were made of rich velvet. On +his head he wears a cap as white as snow. His tail, rump, and abdomen +are bright chestnut red, so that, as he leaps into the air after the +circling gnat, he looks almost as if he were on fire. + +The third common bird of Himalayan streams is the plumbeous redstart +or water-robin (_Rhyacornis fuliginosus_). This species is very +robin-like in appearance. The body is dusky indigo blue; the tail +and abdomen are ferruginous. The habits of this and the bird just +described are similar. Both species love to disport themselves on +rocks and boulders lapped by the gentle-flowing stream in the valley, +or lashed by the torrent on the hillside. Like all redstarts, these +constantly flirt the tail. + +The grey-winged ouzel (_Merula boulboul_) is perhaps the finest +songster in the Himalayas. Throughout the early summer the cock makes +the wooded hillsides ring with his blackbird-like melody. The +grey-winged ouzel is a near relative of the English blackbird. Take +a cock blackbird and paint his wings dark grey, and cover his bill +with red colouring matter, and you will have to all appearances a +grey-winged ouzel. In order to effect the transformation of the brown +female, it is only necessary to redden her bill. + +The nesting operations of this species are described in the essay +near the end of Part I. + +Two other species allied to the grey-winged ouzel demand our attention. +The first is the blue-headed rock-thrush (_Petrophila cinclorhyncha_). +This is not like any bird found in England. The head, chin, and throat +of the cock are cobalt blue; there is also a patch of this colour on +his wing; the sides of the head and neck are black, as are the back +and wing feathers. The rump and lower parts are chestnut. The hen, as +is the case with many of her sex, is an inconspicuous olive-brown +bird. This species spends most of its time on the ground, and +frequents, as its name implies, open rocky ground. + +The last of the Turdidae which has to be considered is the small-billed +mountain-thrush (_Oreocincla dauma_). This bird is as like the thrush +of our English gardens as one pea is like another. Unfortunately it +does not visit gardens in this country, and is not a very common bird. + + +THE FRINGILLIDAE OR FINCH FAMILY + +The vulgar sparrow and the immaculate canary are members of this large +and flourishing family of birds. The distinguishing feature of the +finches is a massive beak, admirably adapted to the husking of the +grain on which the members of the family feed largely. In some species, +as for example the grosbeaks, the bill is immensely thick. Only one +species of grosbeak appears to be common in the Himalayas. This is +_Pycnorhamphus icteroides_, the black-and-yellow grosbeak. The +colouring of the cock is so like that of the black-headed oriole that +it is doubtless frequently mistaken for the latter. + +This bird forms the subject of a separate essay, where it is fully +described. + +The Himalayan greenfinch (_Hypacanthis spinoides_) is an unobtrusive +little bird that loves to sit at the summit of a tree and utter a +forlorn _peee_ fifty times a minute. It is a dull green bird with +some yellow on the head, neck, and back; the abdomen is of a brighter +hue of yellow. + +The house-sparrow, like the house-crow, is a bird of the plains rather +than of the hills. The common sparrow of the Himalayas is the handsome +cinnamon tree-sparrow (_Passer cinamomeus_). The cock is easily +recognised by his bright cinnamon-coloured head and shoulders. +Imagine a house-sparrow shorn of sixty per cent. of his impudence, +and you will have arrived at a fair estimate of the character of the +tree-sparrow. + +The only other members of the Finch family that concern us are the +buntings. A bunting is a rather superior kind of sparrow--a Lord +Curzon among sparrows--a sparrow with a refined beak. The familiar +English yellowhammer is a bunting. Two buntings are common in the +Western Himalayas. The first of these, the eastern meadow-bunting +(_Emberiza stracheyi_), looks like a large, well-groomed sparrow. +A broad slate-coloured band runs from the base of the beak over the +top of the head to the nape of the neck. In addition to this, there +are on each side of the head blackish bars, like those on the head +of the quail. By these signs the bird may be recognised. The other +species is the white-capped bunting (_Emberiza stewarti_). This is +a chestnut-coloured bird with a pale grey cap. Buntings associate +in small flocks and affect open rather than well-wooded country. They +are not very interesting birds. + + +THE HIRUNDINIDAE OR SWALLOW FAMILY + +A small bird that spends hours together on the wing, dashing through +the air at great speed, frequently changing its course, now flying +high, now just skimming the ground, must be either a swallow or a +swift. Many people are totally at a loss to distinguish between a +swallow and a swift. The two birds differ anatomically. A swift is +not a passerine bird. It cannot perch. When it wants to take a rest +it has to repair to its nest. Swallows, on the other hand, are fond +of settling on telegraph wires. It is quite easy to distinguish +between the birds when they are on the wing. A flying swift may be +compared to an anchor with enormous flukes (the wings), or to an arrow +(the body) attached to a bow (the wings). As the swift dashes through +the air at a speed of fully 100 miles an hour, it never closes its +wings to the sides of its body; it merely whips the air rapidly with +the tips of them. On the other hand, the swallow, when it flies, closes +its wings to its body at every stroke. Notwithstanding its greater +effort, it does not move nearly so rapidly as the swift. The swifts +will be considered in their proper place. Three species of swallow +are likely to be seen in the Himalayas. A small ashy brown swallow +with a short tail is the crag-martin (_Ptyonoprogne rupestris_). + +The common swallow of England (_Hirundo rustica_) occurs in large +numbers at all hill stations in the Himalayas. This bird should +require no description. Its glossy purple-blue plumage, the patches +of chestnut red on the forehead and throat, and the elegantly-forked +tail must be familiar to every Englishman. As in England, this bird +constructs under the eaves of roofs its nest of mud lined with +feathers. + +Not unlike the common swallow, but readily distinguishable from it +in that the lower back is chestnut red, is _Hirundo +nepalensis_--Hodgson's striated swallow, or the red-rumped swallow, +as Jerdon well called it. This bird also breeds under eaves. Numbers +of red-rumped swallows are to be seen daily seeking their insect +quarry over the lake at Naini Tal. + + +THE MOTACILLIDAE OR WAGTAIL FAMILY + +The great majority of the wagtails are merely winter visitors to India. +Thus they are likely to be seen in the hills only when resting from +their travels. That is to say, in April and May, when homeward bound, +or in September and October, when they move southwards. A few wagtails, +however, tarry in the hills till quite late in the season. The wagtail +most likely to be seen is the grey wagtail (_Motacilla melanope_). +This species, notwithstanding its name, has bright yellow lower +plumage. It nests in Kashmir. + +Allied to the wagtails are the pipits. These display the elegant form +of the wagtail and the sober colouring of the lark. + +They affect open country and feed on the ground. The upland pipit +(_Oreocorys sylvanus_) is the common species of the Himalayas. It +constructs a nest of grass on the ground, into which the common cuckoo, +of which more anon, frequently drops an egg. + + +THE NECTARINIDAE OR SUNBIRD FAMILY + +The sunbirds are feathered exquisites. They take in the Old World +the place in the New World occupied by the humming-birds. Sunbirds, +however, are superior to humming-birds in that they possess the gift +of song. They are not particularly abundant in the Himalayas, and, +as they do not seem to occur west of Garhwal, I am perhaps not justified +in giving them a place in this essay. + +I do so because one species is fairly common round about Naini Tal. +I have seen this bird--the Himalayan yellow-backed sunbird +(_AEthopyga scheriae_)--flitting about, sucking honey from the +flowers in the verandah of the hotel at the brewery below Naini Tal. + +The head and neck of the cock are glistening green. The back, shoulders, +chin, throat, breast, and sides of the head are crimson. + +The lower parts are greenish yellow. The two median tail feathers +are longer than the others. The bill is long and curved. The hen is +a comparatively dull greenish-brown bird. + + +THE DICAEIDAE OR FLOWER-PECKER FAMILY + +The fire-breasted flower-pecker (_Dicaeum ignipectus_) is perhaps +the smallest bird in India. Its total length does not exceed 3 inches. +The upper parts are greenish black and the lower parts buff. The cock +has a large patch of crimson on his breast, with a black patch lower +down. As this species frequents lofty trees, it is usually seen from +below, and the crimson breast renders the cock unmistakeable. + + +THE PICIDAE OR WOODPECKER FAMILY + +Woodpeckers abound in the well-wooded Himalayas. + +The woodpecker most commonly seen in the western hill stations is +the brown-fronted pied species (_Dendrocopus auriceps_). This is a +black bird, spotted and barred with white: some might call it a white +bird, heavily spotted and barred with black. The forehead is amber +brown. That is the distinguishing feature of this species. The cock +has a red-and-gold crest, which the hen lacks. Both sexes rejoice +in a crimson patch under the tail--a feature common to all species +of pied woodpecker. _Dendrocopus auriceps_ nests earlier in the year +than do most hill-birds, so that by the time the majority of the +European visitors arrive in the hills, the young woodpeckers have +left their nest, which is a hole excavated by the parents in a tree, +a rhododendron by preference. + +Two other species of pied woodpecker are common in the hills--the +rufous-bellied (_Hypopicus hypererythrus_) and the Western +Himalayan species (_Dendrocopus himalayensis_). The former is +particularly abundant at Murree. These two species are distinguished +from the brown-fronted pied woodpecker by having no brown on the +forehead. The rufous abdomen serves to differentiate the +rufous-bellied from the Western Himalayan species. The above +woodpeckers are not much larger than mynas. + +There remains yet another common species--the West Himalayan +scaly-bellied green woodpecker (_Gecinus squamatus_). The English +name of this bird is very cumbrous. There is no help for this. Numerous +adjectives and adjectival adjuncts are necessary to each species to +distinguish it from each of the host of other woodpeckers. This +particular species is larger than a crow and is recognisable by its +green colour. It might be possible to condense an accurate description +of the plumage of this bird into half a column of print. I will, however, +refrain. There is a limit to the patience of even the Anglo-Indian. + + +THE CAPITONIDAE OR BARBET FAMILY + +The only member of this family common in the Himalayas is that fine +bird known as the great Himalayan barbet (_Megalaema marshallorum_). +As this forms the subject of a separate essay, detailed description +is unnecessary in the present one. It will suffice that the bird is +over a foot in length and has a large yellow beak. Its prevailing +hue is grass green. It has a bright red patch under the tail. It goes +about in small flocks and constantly utters a loud plaintive +dissyllabic note. + + +THE ALCEDINIDAE OR KINGFISHER FAMILY + +The Himalayan pied kingfisher (_Ceryle lugubris_) is a bird as large +as a crow. Its plumage is speckled black and white, like that of a +Hamburg fowl. It feeds entirely on fish, and frequents the larger +hill streams. Its habit is to squat on a branch, or if the day be +cloudy, on a boulder in mid-stream, whence it dives into the water +after its quarry. Sometimes, kestrel-like, it hovers in the air on +rapidly-vibrating pinions until it espies a fish in the water below, +when it closes its wings and drops with a splash in the water, to +emerge with a silvery object in its bill. + + +THE UPUPIDAE OR HOOPOE FAMILY + +The unique hoopoe (_Upupa epops_) next demands our attention. This +is a bird about the size of a myna. The wings and tail are boldly +marked with alternate bands of black and white. The remainder of the +plumage is of a fawn colour. The bill is long and slender, like that +of a snipe, but slightly curved. The crest is the feature that +distinguishes the hoopoe from all other birds. This opens and closes +like a lady's fan. Normally it remains closed, but when the bird is +startled, and at the moment when the hoopoe alights on the ground, +the crest opens to form a magnificent corona. Hoopoes seek their food +on grass-covered land, digging insects out of the earth with their +long, pick-like bills. They are very partial to a dust-bath. During +the breeding season--that is to say, in April and May in the +Himalayas--hoopoes continually utter in low tones _uk-uk-uk_. The +call is not unlike that of the coppersmith, but less metallic and +much more subdued. The flight of the hoopoe is undulating or jerky, +like that of a butterfly. Young hoopoes are reared up in a hole in +a building, or in a bank. The nest is incredibly malodoriferous. + + +THE CYPSELIDAE OR SWIFT FAMILY + +The flight and general appearance of the swifts have already been +described. The common Indian swift (_Cypselus affinis_) is perhaps +the bird most frequently seen in the Himalayas. A small dark sooty +brown bird with a broad white bar across the back, a living monoplane +that dashes through the air at the rate of 100 miles an hour, +continually giving vent to what Jerdon has so well described as a +"shivering scream," can be none other than this species. It nests +under the eaves of houses or in verandahs. Hundreds of these swifts +nest in the Landour bazar, and there is scarcely a _dak_ bungalow +or a deserted building in the whole of Kumaun which does not afford +nesting sites for at least a dozen pairs of swifts. About sunset these +birds indulge in riotous exercise, dashing with loud screams in and +out among the pillars that support the roof of the verandah in which +their nests are placed. The nest is composed of mud and feathers and +straw. The saliva of the swift is sticky and makes excellent cement. + +The other swift commonly seen in the Himalayas is the Alpine swift +(_Cypselus melba_). This is distinguishable from the Indian species +by its white abdomen and dark rump. It is perhaps the swiftest flier +among birds. Like the species already described, it utters a shrill +cry when on the wing. + + +THE CUCULIDAE OR CUCKOO FAMILY + +It is not possible for anyone of sound hearing to be an hour in a +hill station in the early summer without being aware of the presence +of cuckoos. The Himalayas literally teem with them. From March to +June, or even July, the cheerful double note of the common cuckoo +(_Cuculus canorus_) emanates from every second tree. This species, +as all the world knows, looks like a hawk and flies like a hawk. + +According to some naturalists, the cuckoo profits by its similarity +to a bird of prey. The little birds which it imposes upon are supposed +to fly away in terror when they see it, thus allowing it to work +unmolested its wicked will in their nests. My experience is that +little birds have a habit of attacking birds of prey that venture +near their nest. The presence of eggs or young ones makes the most +timid creatures as bold as the proverbial lion. I therefore do not +believe that these cuckoos which resemble birds of prey derive any +benefit therefrom. + +The hen European cuckoo differs very slightly from the cock. In some +species, as, for example, the famous "brain-fever bird" +(_Hierococcyx varius_), there is no external difference between the +sexes, while in others, such as the Indian koel (_Eudynamis honorata_), +and the violet cuckoo (_Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus_), the sexes are +very dissimilar. I commend these facts to the notice of those who +profess to explain sexual dimorphism (the different appearance of +the sexes) by means of natural or sexual selection. The comfortable +theory that the hens are less showily coloured than the cocks, because +they stand in greater need of protective colouring while sitting on +the nest, cannot be applied to the parasitic cuckoos, for these build +no nests, neither do they incubate their eggs. + +In the Himalayas the common cuckoo victimises chiefly pipits, larks, +and chats, but its eggs have been found in the nests of many other +birds, including the magpie-robin, white-cheeked bulbul, spotted +forktail, rufous-backed shrike, and the jungle babbler. + +The eggs of _Cuculus canorus_ display considerable variation in +colour. Those who are interested in the subject are referred to Mr. +Stuart Baker's papers on the Oology of the Indian Cuckoos in Volume +XVII of the _Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society_. + +It often happens that the eggs laid by the cuckoo are not unlike those +of the birds in the nests of which they are deposited. Hence, some +naturalists assert that the cuckoo, having laid an egg, flies about +with it in her bill until she comes upon a clutch which matches her +egg. Perhaps the best reply to this theory is that such refinement +on the part of the cuckoo is wholly unnecessary. Most birds, when +seized by the mania of incubation, will sit upon anything which even +remotely resembles an egg. + +Mr. Stuart Baker writes that he has not found that there is any proof +of the cuckoo trying to match its eggs with those of the intended +foster-mother, or that it selects a foster-mother whose eggs shall +match its own. He adds that not one of his correspondents has advanced +this suggestion, and states that he has little doubt that convenience +of site and propinquity to the cuckoo about to lay its eggs are the +main requisitions. + +Almost indistinguishable from the common cuckoo in appearance is the +Himalayan cuckoo (_Cuculus saturatus_). The call of this bird, which +continues later in the year than that of the common cuckoo, is not +unlike the _whoot-whoot-whoot_ of the crow-pheasant or coucal. +Perhaps it is even more like the _uk-uk-uk_ of the hoopoe repeated +very loudly. It may be syllabised as _cuck-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo_. Not very +much is known about the habits of this species. It is believed to +victimise chiefly willow-warblers. + +The Indian cuckoo (_Cuculus micropterus_) resembles in appearance +the two species already described. Blanford speaks of its call as +a fine melodious whistle. I would not describe the note as a whistle. +To me it sounds like _wherefore_, _wherefore_, impressively and +sonorously intoned. The vernacular names _Boukotako_ and +_Kyphulpakka_ are onomatopoetic, as is Broken Pekoe Bird, by which +name the species is known to many Europeans. + +Last, but not least of the common Himalayan cuckoos, are the famous +brain-fever birds, whose crescendo _brain-fever_, _BRAIN-FEVER_, +_BRAIN-FEVER_, which is shrieked at all hours of the day and the night, +has called forth untold volumes of awful profanity from jaded +Europeans living in the plains, and has earned the highest encomiums +of Indians. + +There are two species of brain-fever bird that disport themselves +in the Himalayas. These are known respectively as the large and the +common hawk-cuckoo (_Hierococcyx sparverioides_ and _H. varius_). +I do not profess to distinguish with certainty between the notes of +these two birds, but am under the impression that the larger form +is the one that makes itself heard at Naini Tal and Mussoorie. + +The Indian koel (_Eudynamis honorata_) is not to be numbered among +the common birds of the Himalayas. Its noisy call _kuil_, _kuil_, +_kuil_, which may be expressed by the words _you're-ill_, +_you're-ill_, _who-are-you?_ _who-are-you?_ is heard throughout the +sub-Himalayan regions in the early summer, and I have heard it as +high up as Rajpur below Mussoorie, but have not noticed the bird at +any of the hill stations except Almora. As has already been stated, +the avifauna of Almora, a little station in the inner hills nearly +forty miles from the plains, is a very curious one. I have not only +heard the koel calling there, but have seen a young koel being fed +by crows. Now, at Almora alone of the hill stations does _Corvus +splendens_, the Indian house-crow, occur, and this is the usual victim +of the koel. I would therefore attribute the presence of the koel +at Almora and its absence from other hill stations to the fact that +at Almora alone the koel's dupe occurs. + + +THE PSITTACIDAE OR PARROT FAMILY + +The parrots are not strongly represented in the Himalayas. Only one +species is commonly seen at the various hill stations. This is the +slaty-headed paroquet (_Palaeornis schisticeps_). In appearance it +closely resembles the common green parrot of the plains (_P. +torquatus_), differing chiefly in having the head slate coloured +instead of green. The cock, moreover, has a red patch on the shoulder. +The habits of the slaty-headed paroquet are those of the common green +parrot: its cries, however, are less harsh, and it is less +aggressively bold. The pretty little western blossom-headed paroquet +(_P. cyanocephalus_) ascends the hills to a height of some 5000 feet. +It is recognisable by the fact that the head of the cock is red, tinged +with blue like the bloom on a plum. + + +THE STRIGIDAE OR OWL FAMILY + +We now come to those much-abused birds--the owls. The Himalayas, in +common with most other parts of the world, are well stocked with these +pirates of the night. The vast majority of owls, being strictly +nocturnal, escape observation. Usually the presence of any species +of owl in a locality is made known only by its voice. I may here remark +that diurnal birds know as little about nocturnal birds as the man +in the street does, hence the savage manner in which they mob any +luckless owl that happens to be abroad in the daytime. Birds are +intensely conservative; they resent strongly what they regard as an +addition to the local avifauna. This assertion may be proved by +setting free a cockatoo in the plains of India. Before the bird has +been at large for ten minutes it will be surrounded by a mob of reviling +crows. + +The collared pigmy owlet (_Glaucidium brodiei_) is perhaps the +commonest owl in the Himalayas: at any rate, it is the species that +makes itself heard most often. Those who sit out of doors after dinner +cannot fail to have remarked a soft low whistle heard at regular +intervals of about thirty seconds. That is the call of the pigmy +collared owlet. The owlet itself is a tiny creature, about the size +of a sparrow. Like several other little owls, it sometimes shows +itself during the daytime. Once at Mussoorie I noticed a pigmy +collared owlet sitting as bold as brass on a conspicuous branch about +midday and making grimaces at me. The other species likely to be heard +at hill stations are the brown wood-owl (_Syrnium indrani_), the call +of which has been syllabised _to-whoo_, and the little spotted +Himalayan scops owl (_Scops spilocephalus_), of which the note is +double whistle _who-who_. + + +THE VULTURIDAE OR VULTURE FAMILY + +From the owls to the diurnal birds of prey it is but a short step. +Next to the warblers, the raptores are the most difficult birds to +distinguish one from the other. Nearly all of them are creatures of +mottled-brown plumage, and, as the plumage changes with the period +of life, it is impossible to differentiate them by descriptions of +their colouring. + +The vultures are perhaps the ugliest of all birds. Most of them have +the head devoid of feathers, and they are thus enabled to bury this +member in their loathsome food without soiling their feathers. In +the air, owing to the magnificent ease with which they fly, they are +splendid objects. Their habit is to rise high above the earth and +hang motionless in the atmosphere on outstretched wings, or sail in +circles without any perceptible motion of the pinions. Vultures are +not the only raptorial birds that do this. Kites are almost equally +skilled. But kites are distinguished by having a fairly long tail, +that of vultures being short and wedge shaped. The sides of the wings +of the vultures are straight, and the wings stand out at right angles +to the body. In all species, except the scavenger vulture, the tips +of the wings are turned up as the birds float or sail in the air, +and the ends of the wings are much cut up, looking like fingers. + +Perhaps the commonest vulture of the Himalayas is that very familiar +fowl--the small white scavenger vulture (_Neophron ginginianus_), +often called Pharaoh's chicken and other opprobrious names that I +will not mention. This bird eats everything that is filthy and unclean. +The natural consequence is that it looks untidy and disreputable. +It is, without exception, the ugliest bird in the world. It is about +the size of a kite. The plumage is a dirty white, except the edges +of the wing feathers, which are shabby black. The naked face is of +a pale mustard colour, as are the bill and legs. The feathers on the +back of the head project like the back hairs of an untidy schoolboy. +Its walk is an ungainly waddle. Nevertheless--so great is the magic +of wings--this bird, as it soars high above the earth, looks a noble +fowl; it then appears to be snow-white with black margins to the wings. + +Another vulture frequently met with is the Indian white-backed +vulture (_Pseudogyps bengalensis_). The plumage of this species is +a very dark grey, almost black. The naked head is rather lighter than +the rest of the body. The lower back is white: this makes the bird +easy to identify when it is perched. It has some white in the wings, +and this, during flight, is visible as a very broad band that runs +from the body nearly to the tip of the wing. Thus the wing from below +appears to be white with broad black edges. During flight this species +may be distinguished from the last by the fingered tips of its wings, +by both edges of the wing being black and the body being dark instead +of white. + +The third common vulture is the Himalayan griffon (_Gyps +himalayensis_). This is distinguishable from the two species already +described by having no white in the wings. + +The lammergeyer or bearded vulture (_Gypaetus barbatus_) is the king +of the vultures. Some ornithologists classify it with the eagles. +It is a connecting link between the two families. It is 4 feet in +length and is known to the hillmen as the Argul. + +During flight it may be recognised by the whitish head and nape, the +pale brown lower plumage and the dark rounded tail. + +Usually it keeps to rocky hills and mountains, over which it beats +with a steady, sailing, vulturine flight. Numerous stories are told +of its swooping down and carrying off young children, lambs, goats, +and other small animals. Those who will may believe these stories. +I do not. The lammergeyer is quite content to make a meal of offal, +old bones, or other refuse. + + +THE FALCONIDAE OR FAMILY OF BIRDS OF PREY + +First and foremost of the Falconidae are the eagles. Let me preface +what little I have to say about these birds with the remark that I +am unable to set forth any characteristics whereby a novice may +recognise an eagle when he sees one on the wing. The reader should +disabuse his mind of the idea he may have obtained from the writings +of the poets of the grandeur of the eagle. Eagles may be, and doubtless +often are, mistaken for kites. They are simply rather large falcons. +They are mostly coloured very like the kite. + +All true eagles have the leg feathered to the toe. I give this method +of diagnosis for what it is worth, and that is, I fear, not very much, +because eagles as a rule do not willingly afford the observer an +opportunity of inspecting their tarsi. + +The eagles most commonly seen in the Himalayas are the imperial eagle +(_Aquila helica_), the booted eagle (_Hieraetus pennatus_), +Bonelli's eagle (_Hieraetus fasciatus_), the changeable hawk-eagle +(_Spizaetus limnaetus_), and Hodgson's hawk-eagle (_Spizaetus +nepalensis_). + +The imperial eagle has perhaps the darkest plumage of all the eagles. +This species does not live up to its name. It feeds largely on carrion, +and probably never catches anything larger than a rat. The imperial +eagle is common about Mussoorie except in the rains. Captain Hutton +states that he has seen as many as fifty of them together in the month +of October when they reassemble after the monsoon. + +The booted eagle has a very shrill call. Its lower parts are pale +in hue. + +Bonelli's eagle is fairly common both at Naini Tal and Mussoorie. +It is a fine bird, and has plenty of courage. It often stoops to fowls +and is destructive to game birds. It is of slighter build than the +two eagles above described. Its lower parts are white. + +The changeable hawk-eagle is also a fine bird. It is very addicted +to peafowl. The hillmen call it the _Mohrhaita_, which, being +interpreted, is the peacock-killer. It utters a loud cry, which +Thompson renders _whee-whick_, _whee-whick_. This call is uttered +by the bird both when on the wing and at rest. Another cry of this +species has been syllabised _toot_, _toot_, _toot_, _toot-twee_. + +Hodgson's hawk-eagle is also destructive to game. It emits a shrill +musical whistle which can sometimes be heard when the bird is so high +as to appear a mere speck against the sky. This species has a narrow +crest. + +Allied to the true eagles are the serpent-eagles. In these the leg +is not feathered to the toe, so they may be said to form a link between +the true eagles and the falcons. + +One species--the crested serpent-eagle (_Spilornis cheela_)--is +common in the Himalayas up to 8000 feet. + +This eagle is perhaps the most handsome of the birds of prey. The +crest is large and imposing. The upper parts are dark brown, almost +black, with a purple or green gloss. The breast and under parts are +rich deep brown profusely dotted with white ocelli. On the tail and +wings are white bars. The wing bars are very conspicuous during flight. +The crested serpent-eagle flies with the wings held very far back, +so that it looks, as "Exile" says, like a large butterfly. When flying +it constantly utters its shrill, plaintive call composed of two short +sharp cries and three prolonged notes, the latter being in a slightly +higher key. + +Of the remaining birds of prey perhaps only two can fairly be numbered +among the common birds of the Himalayas, and both of these are easy +to recognise. They are the kite and the kestrel. + +The common pariah kite (_Milvus govinda_) is the most familiar +raptorial bird in India. Hundreds of kites dwell at every hill-station. +They spend the greater part of the day on the wing, either sailing +gracefully in circles high overhead or gliding on outstretched +pinions over mountain and valley, with head pointing downwards, +looking for the refuse on which they feed. To mistake a kite is +impossible. Throughout the day it makes the welkin ring with its +querulous _chee-hee-hee-hee-hee_. Some kites are larger than others, +consequently ornithologists, who are never so happy as when splitting +up species, have made a separate species of the larger race. This +latter is called _Milvus melanotis_, the large Indian kite. It is +common in the hills. + +The kestrel (_Tinnunculus alaudarius_) is perhaps the easiest of all +the birds of prey to identify. It is a greyish fowl with dull brick-red +wings and shoulders. Its flight is very distinctive. It flaps the +wings more rapidly than do most of its kind. While beating over the +country it checks its flight now and again and hovers on rapidly +vibrating wings. It does this when it fancies it has seen a mouse, +lizard, or other living thing moving on the ground below. If its +surmise proves correct, it drops from above and thus takes its quarry +completely by surprise. It is on account of this peculiar habit of +hovering in the air that the kestrel is often called the wind-hover +in England. Needless to say, the kestrel affects open tracts rather +than forest country. One of these birds is usually to be seen engaged +in its craft above the bare slope of the hill on which Mussoorie is +built. Other places where kestrels are always to be seen are the bare +hills round Almora. The nest of this species is usually placed on +an inaccessible crag. + + +THE COLUMBIDAE OR DOVE FAMILY + +The cooing community is not much in evidence in the hills. In the +Himalayas doves do not obtrude themselves upon our notice in the way +that they do in the plains. + +The green-pigeon of the mountains is the kokla (_Sphenocercus +sphenurus_), so called on account of its melodious call, _kok-la_, +_kok-la_. In appearance it is very like the green-pigeon of the plains +and is equally difficult to distinguish from its leafy surroundings. +The bronze-winged dove (_Chalcophaps indica_) I have never observed +at any hill-station, but it is abundant in the lower ranges and in +the Terai. Every sportsman must be familiar with the bird. Its +magnificent bronzed metallic, green plumage renders its +identification easy. The commonest dove of the Himalayan +hill-stations is the Indian turtle-dove (_Turtur ferago_). Its +plumage is of that grey hue which is so characteristic of doves as +to be called dove-colour. The turtle-dove has a conspicuous patch +of black-and-white feathers on each side of the neck. The only other +dove seen in the hills with which it can be confounded is the little +brown dove (_T. cambayensis_). The latter is a much smaller bird, +and I have not observed it anywhere higher than 4500 feet above the +sea-level. + +The spotted dove (_T. suratensis_) occurs in small numbers in most +parts of the Himalayas up to 7000 feet. It is distinguished by the +wing coverts being spotted with rufous and black. + +The Indian ring-dove (_T. risorius_) also occurs in the Western +Himalayas. It is of a paler hue than the other doves and has no patch +of black-and-white feathers on the sides of the neck, but has a black +collar, with a narrow white border, round the back of the neck. + +One other dove should perhaps be mentioned among the common birds +of the Himalayas, namely, the bar-tailed cuckoo-dove (_Macropygia +tusalia_). A dove with a long barred tail, of which the feathers are +graduated, the median ones being the longest, may be set down as this +species. + + +THE PHASIANIDAE OR FAMILY OF GAME BIRDS + +The Himalayas are the home of many species of gallinaceous birds. +In the highest ranges the snow-cocks, the tragopans, the +blood-pheasant, and the glorious monaul or Impeyan pheasant abound. +The foothills are the happy hunting-grounds of the ancestral +cock-a-doodle-doo. + +As this book is written with the object of enabling persons staying +at the various hill-stations to identify the commoner birds, I do +not propose to describe the gallinaceous denizens of the higher ranges +or the foothills. In the ranges of moderate elevation, on which all +the hill-stations are situated, the kalij, the cheer, and the koklas +pheasants are common. Of these three the kalij is the only one likely +to be seen in the ordinary course of a walk. The others are not likely +to show themselves unless flushed by a dog. + +The white-crested kalij-pheasant (_Gennaeus albicristatus_) may +occasionally be seen in the vicinity of a village. + +The bird does not come up to the Englishman's ideal of a pheasant. +The bushy tail causes it to look rather like a product of the farmyard. +The cock is over two feet in length, the hen is five inches shorter. +The plumage of the former is dark brown, tinged with blue, each feather +having a pale margin. The rump is white with broad black bars. The +hen is uniformly brown, each feather having a narrow buff margin. +Both sexes rejoice in a long backwardly-directed crest and a patch +of bare crimson skin round each eye. The tail is much shorter and +more bushy than that of the English pheasant. The crest is white in +the cock and reddish yellow in the hen. Baldwin describes the call +of this pheasant as "a sharp _twut_, _twut_, _twut_. Sometimes very +low, with a pause between each note, then suddenly increasing loudly +and excitedly." + +The kalij usually affords rather poor sport. + +The koklas pheasant (_Pucrasia macrolopha_) is another short-tailed +species; but it is more game-like in appearance than the kalij and +provides better sport. + +It may be distinguished from the kalij by its not having the red patch +of skin round the eye. The cock of this species has a curious crest, +the middle portion of which is short and of a fawn colour; on each +side of this is a long lateral tuft coloured black with a green gloss. +The cry of this bird has been syllabised as _kok-kok-pokrass_. + +In the cheer-pheasant (_Catreus wellichi_) both sexes have a long +crest, like that of the kalij, and a red patch of skin round the eye. +The tail of this species, however, is long and attenuated like that +of the English pheasant, measuring nearly two feet. Wilson says, of +the call of this bird: "Both males and females often crow at daybreak +and dusk and, in cloudy weather, sometimes during the day. The crow +is loud and singular, and, when there is nothing to interrupt, the +sound may be heard for at least a mile. It is something like the words +_chir-a-pir_, _chir-a-pir_, _chir-a-pir_, _chirwa_, _chirwa_, but +a good deal varied." + +The grey quail (_Coturnix communis_) is a common bird of the Himalayas +during a few days only in the year. Large numbers of these birds rest +in the fields of ripening grain in the course of their long migratory +flight. Almost as regularly as clockwork do they appear in the Western +Himalayas early in October on their way south, and again in April +on their northward journey. By walking through the terraced fields +at those times with a gun, considerable bags of quail can be secured. +These birds migrate at night. Writing of them, Hume said: "One +moonlight night about the third week in April, standing at the top +of Benog, a few miles from Mussoorie, a dense cloud many hundred yards +in length and fifty yards, I suppose, in breadth of small birds swept +over me with the sound of a rushing wind. They were not, I believe, +twenty yards above the level of my head, and their quite unmistakable +call was uttered by several of those nearest me as they passed." + +We must now consider the partridges that patronise the hills. The +species most commonly met with in the Himalayas is the chakor +(_Caccabis chucar_). In appearance this is very like the French or +red-legged partridge, to which it is related. Its prevailing hue is +pale reddish brown, the particular shade varying greatly with the +individual. The most striking features of this partridge are a black +band that runs across the forehead to the eyes and then down the sides +of the head round the throat, forming a gorget, and a number of black +bars on each flank. The favourite haunts of the chakor are bare grassy +hillsides on which a few terraced fields exist. Chakor are noisy birds. +The note most commonly heard is the double call from which their name +is taken. + +The black partridge or common francolin (_Francolinus vulgaris_) is +abundant on the lower ranges of the Himalayas. At Mussoorie its +curious call is often heard. This is so high-pitched as to be inaudible +to some people. To those who can hear it, the call sounds like +_juk-juk-tee-tee-tur_. This species has the habit of feigning a +broken wing when an enemy approaches its young ones. The cock is a +very handsome bird. The prevailing hue of his plumage is black with +white spots on the flanks and narrow white bars on the back. The +feathers of the crown and wings are buff and dark brown. A chestnut +collar runs round the neck, while each side of the head is adorned +by a white patch. The whole plumage of the hen is coloured like the +wings of the cock. + +The common hill-partridge (_Arboricola torqueola_) is a great +skulker. He haunts dark densely jungled water-courses and ravines, +and so is not likely to be seen about a hill-station; we will therefore +pass him over without description. + + +THE CHARADRIIDAE OR PLOVER FAMILY + +In conclusion mention must be made of the woodcock (_Scolopax +rusticola_). This species, although it breeds throughout the +Himalayas, usually remains during the summer at altitudes above those +at which hill-stations are situate. The lowest height at which its +nest has been found is, I believe, 9500 feet. + + + + +_THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS_ + + +The majority of the birds which are common in the Eastern Himalayas +are also abundant in the western part of the range, and have in +consequence been described already. In order to avoid repetition this +chapter has been put into the form of a list. The list that follows +includes all the birds likely to be seen daily by those who in summer +visit Darjeeling and other hill-stations east of Nepal. + +Of the birds which find place in the list only those are described +which have not been mentioned in the essay on the common birds of +the Western Himalayas. + +Short accounts of all the birds that follow which are not described +in this chapter are to be found in the previous one. + + +THE CORVIDAE OR CROW FAMILY + +1. _Corvus macrorhynchus_. The jungle-crow or Indian corby. + +2. _Dendrocitta himalayensis_. The Himalayan tree-pie. Abundant. + +3. _Graculus eremita_. The red-billed chough. In summer this species +is not usually found much below elevations of 11,000 feet above the +sea-level. + +4. _Pyrrhocorax alpinus_. The yellow-billed chough. In summer this +species is not usually seen at elevations below 11,000 feet. + +5. _Garrulus bispecularis_. The Himalayan jay. Not so abundant as +in the Western Himalayas. + +6. _Parus monticola_. The green-backed tit. A common bird. Very +abundant round about Darjeeling. + +7. _Machlolophus spilonotus_. The black-spotted yellow tit. This is +very like _M. xanthogenys_ (the yellow-cheeked tit), which it +replaces in the Eastern Himalayas. It is distinguished by having the +forehead bright yellow instead of black as in the yellow-cheeked +species. It is not very common. + +8. _AEgithaliscus erythrocephalus_. The red-headed tit. Very common +at Darjeeling. + +9. _Parus atriceps_. The Indian grey tit. + + +THE CRATEROPODIDAE OR BABBLER FAMILY + +Since most species of babblers are notoriously birds of limited +distribution, it is not surprising that the kinds common in the +Eastern Himalayas should not be the same as those that are abundant +west of Nepal. + +10. _Garrulax leucolophus_. The Himalayan white-crested +laughing-thrush. This is the Eastern counterpart of the +white-throated laughing-thrush (_Garrulax albigularis_). This +species has a large white crest. It goes about in flocks of about +a score. The members of the flock scream and chatter and make +discordant sounds which some might deem to resemble laughter. + +11. _Ianthocincla ocellata_. The white-spotted laughing-thrush. +This is the Eastern counterpart of _Ianthocincla rufigularis_. It +has no white in the throat, and the upper plumage is spotted with +white. It is found only at high elevations in summer. + +12. _Trochalopterum chrysopterum_. The eastern yellow-winged +laughing-thrush. This is perhaps the most common bird about +Darjeeling. Parties hop about the roads picking up unconsidered +trifles. + +The forehead is grey, as is much of the remaining plumage. The back +of the head is bright chestnut. The throat is chestnut-brown. The +wings are chestnut and bright yellow. + +13. _Trochalopterum squamatum_. The blue-winged laughing-thrush. +This is another common bird. Like all its clan it goes about in flocks. +Its wings are chestnut and blue. + +14. _Grammatophila striata_. The striated laughing-thrush. A common +bird, but as it keeps to dense foliage it is heard more often than +seen. Of its curious cries Jerdon likens one to the clucking of a +hen which has just laid an egg. The tail is chestnut. The rest of +the plumage is umber brown, but every feather has a white streak along +the middle. These white streaks give the bird the striated appearance +from which it obtains its name. + +15. _Pomatorhinus erythrogenys_. The rusty-cheeked +scimitar-babbler. + +16. _Pomatorhinus schisticeps_. The slaty-headed scimitar-babbler. +This is easily distinguished from the foregoing species by its +conspicuous white eyebrow. + +17. _Alcippe nepalensis_. The Nepal babbler or quaker-thrush. This +is a bird smaller than a sparrow. As its popular name indicates, it +is clothed in homely brown; but it has a conspicuous ring of white +feathers round the eye and a black line on each side of the head, +beginning from the eye. It is very common about Darjeeling. It feeds +in trees and bushes, often descending to the ground. It utters a low +twittering call. + +18. _Stachyrhis nigriceps_. The black-throated babbler or +wren-babbler. This is another small bird. Its general hue is olive +brown. The throat is black, as is the head, but the latter has white +streaks. + +It is common about Darjeeling and goes about in flocks that keep to +trees. + +19. _Stachyrhidopsis ruficeps_. The red-headed babbler or +wren-babbler. Another small bird with habits similar to the last. + +An olive-brown bird with a chestnut-red cap. The lower parts are +reddish yellow. + +20. _Myiophoneus temmincki_. The Himalayan whistling-thrush. Common +at Darjeeling. + +21. _Lioptila capistrata_. The black-headed sibia, one of the most +abundant birds about Darjeeling. + +22. _Actinodura egertoni_. The rufous bar-wing. A bird about the size +of a bulbul. It associates in small flocks which never leave the trees. +Common about Darjeeling. A reddish brown bird, with a crest. There +is a black bar in the wing. + +23. _Zosterops palpebrosa_. The Indian white-eye. + +24. _Siva cyanuroptera_. The blue-winged siva or hill-tit. A pretty +little bird, about the size of a sparrow. The head is blue, deeper +on the sides than on the crown, streaked with brown. The visible +portions of the closed wing and tail are cobalt-blue. + +This species goes about in flocks and has all the habits of a tit. +It utters a cheerful chirrup. + +25. _Liothrix lutea_. The red-billed liothrix or hill-tit, or the +Pekin-robin. This interesting bird forms the subject of a separate +essay. + +26. _Ixulus flavicollis_. The yellow-naped ixulus. A small tit-like +bird with a crest. Like tits these birds associate in small flocks, +which move about amid the foliage uttering a continual twittering. + +Brown above, pale yellow below. Chin and throat white. Back of neck +rusty yellow. This colour is continued in a demi-collar round the +sides of the neck. Common about Darjeeling. + +27. _Yuhina gularis_. The striped-throated yuhina. Another tiny bird +with all the habits of the tits. A flock of dull-brown birds, about +the size of sparrows, having the chin and throat streaked with black, +are likely to be striped-throated yuhinas. + +28. _Minla igneitincta_. The red-tailed minla or hill-tit. This +tit-like babbler is often seen in company with the true tits, which +it resembles in habits and size. The head is black with a white eyebrow. +The wings and tail are black and crimson. The rest of the upper plumage +is yellowish olive. The throat is white, and the remainder of the +lower plumage is bright yellow. + + +NOTE ON THE TITS AND SMALL BABBLERS + +Tits are small birds, smaller than sparrows, which usually go about +in flocks. They spend most of their lives in trees. In seeking for +insects, on which they feed largely, they often hang upside down from +a branch. All tits have these habits; but all birds of these habits +are not tits. Thus the following of the babblers described above have +all the habits of tits: the white-eye, the black-throated babbler, +the red-headed babbler, the blue-winged siva, the yellow-naped +ixulus, the striped-throated yuhina, and the red-tailed minla. + +The above are all birds of distinctive colouring and may be easily +distinguished. + +Other small birds which are neither tits nor babblers go about in +flocks, as, for example, nuthatches, but these other birds differ +in shape and habits from babblers and tits, so that no one is likely +to confound them with the smaller Corvidae or Crateropodidae. + + +29. _Molpastes leucogenys_. The white-cheeked bulbul. Common below +elevations of 5000 feet. + +30. _Hypsipetes psaroides_. The Himalayan black bulbul. Not very +common. + +31. _Alcurus striatus_. The striated green bulbul. Upper plumage +olive-green with yellow streaks. Cheeks dark brown, streaked with +pale yellow. Chin and throat yellow, with dark spots on throat. Patch +under tail bright yellow. + +Striated green bulbuls go about in flocks which keep to the tops of +trees. They utter a mellow warbling note. They are abundant about +Darjeeling. + + +THE SITTIDAE OR NUTHATCH FAMILY + +32. _Sitta himalayensis_. Very abundant in the neighbourhood of +Darjeeling. + + +THE DICRURIDAE OR DRONGO FAMILY + +33. _Dicrurus longicaudatus_. The Indian Ashy Drongo. + + +THE CERTHIIDAE OR WREN FAMILY + +34. _Certhia discolor_. The Sikhim tree-creeper. This species +displaces the Himalayan tree-creeper in the Eastern Himalayas. The +two species are similar in appearance. + +35. _Pneopyga squamata_. The scaly-breasted wren. In shape and size +this is very like the wren of England, but its upper plumage is not +barred with black, as in the English species. + +It is fairly common about Darjeeling, but is of retiring habits. + + +THE SYLVIIDAE OR WARBLER FAMILY + +36. _Abrornis superciliaris_. The yellow-bellied +flycatcher-warbler. + +A tiny bird about the size of a wren. The head is grey and the remainder +of the upper plumage brownish yellow. The eyebrow is white, as are +the chin, throat, and upper breast: the remainder of the lower plumage +is bright yellow. + +37. _Suya atrigularis_. The black-throated hill-warbler. The upper +plumage is olive brown, darkest on the head. The chin, throat, breast, +and upper abdomen are black. + + +THE LANIIDAE OR SHRIKE FAMILY + +38. _Lanius tephronotus_. The grey-backed shrike. + +39. _Pericrocotus brevirostris_. The short-billed minivet. Very +common about Darjeeling. + +40. _Campophaga melanoschista_. The dark-grey cuckoo-shrike. + +Plumage is dark grey, wings black, tail black tipped with white. +Rather larger than a bulbul. Cuckoo-shrikes keep to trees, and rarely, +if ever, descend to the ground. + + +THE MUSCICAPIDAE OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY + +Of the common flycatchers of the Western Himalayas, the following +occur in the Eastern Himalayas: + +41. _Stoparola melanops_. The verditer flycatcher. Very common at +Darjeeling. + +42. _Cyornis superciliaris_. The white-browed blue-flycatcher. + +43. _Alseonax latirostris_. The brown flycatcher. Not very common. + +44. _Niltava sundara_. The rufous-bellied niltava. Very abundant at +Darjeeling. In addition to the rufous-bellied niltava, two other +niltavas occur in the Eastern Himalayas. + +45. _Niltava grandis_. The large niltava. This may be readily +distinguished on account of its comparatively large size. It is as +large as a bulbul. It is very common about Darjeeling. + +46. _Niltava macgrigoriae_. The small niltava. This is considerably +smaller than a sparrow and does not occur above 5000 feet. + +47. _Terpsiphone affinis_. The Burmese paradise flycatcher. This +replaces the Indian species in the Eastern Himalayas, but it is not +found so high up as Darjeeling, being confined to the lower ranges. + +The other flycatchers commonly seen in the Eastern Himalayas are: + +48. _Rhipidura allicollis_. The white-throated fantail flycatcher. +This beautiful bird is abundant in the vicinity of Darjeeling. It +is a black bird, with a white eyebrow, a whitish throat, and white +tips to the outer tail feathers. It is easily recognised by its +cheerful song and the way in which it pirouettes among the foliage +and spreads its tail into a fan. + +49. _Hemichelidon sibirica_. The sooty flycatcher. This is a tiny +bird of dull brown hue which, as Jerdon says, has very much the aspect +of a swallow. + +50. _Hemichelidon ferruginea_. The ferruginous flycatcher. A +rusty-brown bird (the rusty hue being most pronounced in the rump +and tail) with a white throat. + +51. _Cyornis rubeculoides_. The blue-throated flycatcher. The cock +is a blue bird with a red breast. There is some black on the cheeks +and in the wings. + +The hen is a brown bird tinged with red on the breast. This species, +which is smaller than a sparrow, keeps mainly to the lower branches +of trees. + +52. _Anthipes moniliger_. Hodgson's white-gorgeted flycatcher. A +small reddish-brown bird with a white chin and throat surrounded by +a black band, that sits on a low branch and makes occasional sallies +into the air after insects, can be none other than this flycatcher. + +53. _Siphia strophiata_. The orange-gorgeted flycatcher. A small +brown bird with an oval patch of bright chestnut on the throat, and +some white at the base of the tail. (This white is very conspicuous +when the bird is flying.) This flycatcher, which is very common about +Darjeeling, often alights on the ground. + +54. _Cyornis melanoleucus_. The little pied flycatcher. A very small +bird. The upper plumage of the cock is black with a white eyebrow +and some white in the wings and tail. The lower parts are white. The +hen is an olive-brown bird with a distinct red tinge on the lower +back. This flycatcher is not very common. + + +THE TURDIDAE OR THRUSH FAMILY + +55. _Oreicola ferrea_. The dark-grey bush-chat. Not so abundant in +the Eastern as in the Western Himalayas. + +56. _Henicurus maculatus_. The Western spotted forktail. + +57. _Microcichla scouleri_. The little forktail. This is +distinguishable from the foregoing by its very short tail. It does +not occur commonly at elevations over 5000 feet. + +58. _Rhyacornis fuliginosus_. The plumbeous redstart or water-robin. +Not common above 5000 feet in the Eastern Himalayas. + +59. _Merula boulboul_. The grey-winged ouzel. + +60. _Petrophila cinclorhyncha_. The blue-headed rock-thrush. + +61. _Oreocincla molissima_. The plain-backed mountain-thrush. This +is the thrush most likely to be seen in the Eastern Himalayas. It +is like the European thrush, except that the back is olive brown +without any dark markings. + + +THE FRINGILLIDAE OR FINCH FAMILY + +62. _Haematospiza sipahi_. The scarlet finch. The cock is a scarlet +bird, nearly as large as a bulbul, with black on the thighs and in +the wings and tail. + +The hen is dusky brown with a bright yellow rump. This species has +a massive beak. + +63. _Passer montanus_. The tree-sparrow. This is the only sparrow +found at Darjeeling. It has the habits of the house-sparrow. The sexes +are alike in appearance. The head is chestnut and the cheeks are white. +There is a black patch under the eye, and the chin and throat are +black. The remainder of the plumage is very like that of the +house-sparrow. + + +THE HIRUNDINIDAE OR SWALLOW FAMILY + +64. _Hirundo rustica_. The common swallow. + +65. _Hirundo nepalensis_. Hodgson's striated swallow. + + +THE MOTACILLIDAE OR WAGTAIL FAMILY + +66. _Oreocorys sylvanus_. The upland pipit. This is not very common +east of Nepal. + + +THE NECTARINIDAE OR SUNBIRD FAMILY + +67. _AEthopyga nepalensis_. The Nepal yellow-backed sunbird. This +replaces _AEthopyga scheriae_ in the Eastern Himalayas, and is +distinguished by having the chin and upper throat metallic green +instead of crimson. It is the common sunbird about Darjeeling. + + +THE DICAEIDAE OR FLOWER-PECKER FAMILY + +68. _Dicaeum ignipectus_. The fire-breasted flower-pecker. + + +THE PICIDAE OR WOODPECKER FAMILY + +69. Of the woodpeckers mentioned as common in the Western Himalayas, +the only one likely to be seen at Darjeeling is _Hypopicus +hypererythrus_--the rufous-bellied pied woodpecker, and this is by +no means common. The woodpeckers most often seen in the Eastern +Himalayas are: + +70. _Dendrocopus cathpharius_. The lesser pied woodpecker. A +speckled black-and-white woodpecker about the size of a bulbul. The +top of the head and the sides of the neck are red in both sexes; the +nape also is red in the cock. + +71. _Gecinus occipitalis_. The black-naped green woodpecker. This +bird, as its name implies, is green with a black nape. The head is +red in the cock and black in the hen. This species is about the size +of a crow. + +72. _Gecinus chlorolophus_. The small Himalayan yellow-naped +woodpecker. This species is distinguishable from the last by its small +size, a crimson band on each side of the head, and the nape being +golden yellow. + +73. _Pyrrhopicus pyrrhotis_. The red-eared bay woodpecker. The head +is brown. The rest of the upper plumage is cinnamon or chestnut-red +with blackish cross-bars. There is a crimson patch behind each ear, +which forms a semi-collar in the male. This species seeks its food +largely on the ground. + +In addition to the above, two tiny little woodpeckers much smaller +than sparrows are common in the Eastern Himalayas. They feed on the +ground largely. They are: + +74. _Picumnus innominatus_. The speckled piculet. + +75. _Sasia ochracea_. The rufous piculet. The former has an +olive-green forehead. In the latter the cock has a golden-yellow +forehead and the hen a reddish-brown forehead. + + +THE CAPITONIDAE OR BARBET FAMILY + +76. _Megalaema marshallorum_. The great Himalayan barbet. + +77. _Cyanops franklini_. The golden-throated barbet. About the size +of a bulbul. General hue grass green tinged with blue. The chin and +throat are golden yellow. The forehead and a patch on the crown are +crimson. The rest of the crown is golden yellow. The call has been +syllabised as _kattak-kattak-kattak_. + + +THE ALCEDINIDAE OR KINGFISHER FAMILY + +78. _Ceryle lugubris_. The Himalayan pied kingfisher. + + +THE BUCEROTIDAE OR HORNBILL FAMILY + +Hornbills are to be numbered among the curiosities of nature. They +are characterised by the disproportionately large beak. In some +species this is nearly a foot in length. The beak has on the upper +mandible an excrescence which in some species is nearly as large as +the bill itself. The nesting habits are not less curious than the +structure of hornbills. The eggs are laid in a cavity of a tree. The +hen alone sits. When she has entered the hole she and the cock plaster +up the orifice until it is only just large enough to allow the +insertion of the hornbill's beak. The cock feeds the sitting hen +during the whole period of her voluntary incarceration. + +Several species of hornbills dwell in the forests at the foot of the +Himalayas, but only one species is likely to be found at elevations +above 5000 feet. This is the rufous-necked hornbill. + +79. _Aceros nepalensis_. The rufous-necked hornbill. In this species +the casque or excrescence on the upper mandible is very slight. It +is a large bird 4 feet long, with a tail of 18 inches and a beak of +8-1/2 inches. The hen is wholly black, save for a little white in +the wings and tail. In the cock the head, neck, and lower parts are +bright reddish brown. The rest of his plumage is black and white. +In both sexes the bill is yellow with chestnut grooves. The naked +skin round the eye is blue, and that of the throat is scarlet. The +call of this species is a deep hoarse croak. + + +THE CYPSELIDAE OR SWIFT FAMILY + +80. _Cypselus affinis_. The common Indian swift. + +81. _Chaetura nudipes_. The white-necked spine-tail. A black bird +glossed with green, having the chin, throat, and front and sides of +the neck white. + + +THE CUCULIDAE OR CUCKOO FAMILY + +82. _Cuculus canorus_. The common or European cuckoo. + +83. _Cuculus saturatus_. The Himalayan cuckoo. + +84. _Cuculus poliocephalus_. The small cuckoo. This is very like the +common cuckoo in appearance, but it is considerably smaller. Its loud +unmusical call has been syllabised _pichu-giapo_. + +85. _Cuculus micropterus_. The Indian cuckoo. + +86. _Hierococcyx varius_. The common hawk-cuckoo. + +87. _Hierococcyx sparverioides_. The large hawk-cuckoo. + + +THE PSITTACIDAE OR PARROT FAMILY + +88. _Palaeornis schisticeps_. The slaty-headed paroquet. This bird +is not nearly so common in the Eastern as in the Western Himalayas. + + +THE STRIGIDAE OR OWL FAMILY + +89. _Glaucidium brodei_. The collared pigmy owlet. + +90. _Syrnium indrani_. The brown wood-owl. + +91. _Scops spilocephalus_. The spotted Himalayan scops owl. + + +THE VULTURIDAE OR VULTURE FAMILY + +92. _Gyps himalayensis_. The Himalayan griffon. + +93. _Pseudogyps bengalensis_. The white-backed vulture. + + +THE FALCONIDAE OR FAMILY OF BIRDS OF PREY + +94. _Aquila helica_. The imperial eagle. + +95. _Hieraetus fasciatus_. Bonelli's eagle. + +96. _Ictinaetus malayensis_. The black eagle. This is easily +recognised by its dark, almost black, plumage. + +97. _Spilornis cheela_. The crested serpent eagle. + +98. _Milvus govinda_. The common pariah kite. + +99. _Tinnunculus alaudaris_. The kestrel. + + +THE COLUMBIDAE OR DOVE FAMILY + +100. _Sphenocercus sphenurus_. The kokla green-pigeon. + +101. _Turtur suratensis_. The spotted dove. + +102. _Macropygia tusalia_. The bar-tailed cuckoo-dove. + + +THE PHASIANIDAE OR PHEASANT FAMILY + +103. _Gennaeus leucomelanus_. The Nepal kalij pheasant. This is the +only pheasant at all common about Darjeeling. It is distinguished +from the white-crested kalij pheasant by the cock having a glossy +blue-black crest. The hens of the two species resemble one another +closely in appearance. + +104. _Coturnix communis_. The grey quail. + +105. _Arboricola torqueola_. The common hill partridge. + +106. _Francolinus vulgaris_. The black partridge. Fairly common at +elevations below 4000 feet. + + +THE CHARADRIIDAE OR PLOVER FAMILY + +107. _Scolopax rusticola_. The woodcock. + +In the summer this bird is not likely to be seen below altitudes of +8000 feet above the sea-level. + + + + +_TITS AT WORK_ + + +The average Himalayan house is such a ramshackle affair that it is +a miracle how it holds together. The roof does not fit properly on +to the walls, and in these latter there are cracks and chinks galore. +Perhaps it is due to these defects that hill houses do not fall down +more often than they do. + +Thanks to their numerous cracks they do not offer half the resistance +to a gale of wind that a well-built house would. + +Be this as it may, the style of architecture that finds favour in +the hills is quite a godsend to the birds, or rather to such of the +feathered folk as nestle in holes. A house in the Himalayas is, from +an avian point of view, a maze of nesting sites, a hotel in which +unfurnished rooms are always available. + +The sparrow usually monopolises these nesting sites. He is a regular +dog-in-the-manger, for he keeps other birds out of the holes he +himself cannot utilise. However, the sparrow is not quite ubiquitous. +In most large hill stations there are more houses than he is able +to monopolise. + +I recently spent a couple of days in one of such, in a house situated +some distance from the bazaar, a house surrounded by trees. + +Two green-backed tits (_Parus monticola_) were busy preparing a +nursery for their prospective offspring in one of the many holes +presented by the building in question. This had once been a +respectable bungalow, surrounded by a broad verandah. But the day +came when it fell into the hands of a boarding-house keeper, and it +shared the fate of all buildings to which this happens. The verandahs +were enclosed and divided up by partitions, to form, in the words +of the advertisement, "fine, large, airy rooms." There can be no doubt +as to their airiness, but captious persons might dispute their title +to the other epithets. A _kachcha_ verandah had been thrown out with +a galvanised iron roof and wooden supporting pillars. The +subsequently-added roof did not fit properly on to that of the +original verandah, and there was a considerable chink between the +beam that supported it and the wall that enclosed the old verandah, +so that the house afforded endless nesting sites. An inch-wide crack +is quite large enough to admit of the passage of a tit; when this +was negotiated the space between the old and the new roof afforded +endless possibilities. Small wonder, then, that a pair of tits had +elected to nest there. + +The green-backed tit is one of the most abundant birds in the Himalayas. +It is about the size of a sparrow. The head is black with a small +perky crest. The cheeks are spotless white. The back of the head is +connected by a narrow black collar with an expansive shirtfront of +this hue. The remainder of the plumage is bright yellow. The back +is greenish yellow, the rest of the plumage is slaty with some dashes +of black and white. Thus the green-backed tit is a smart little bird. +It is as vivacious as it is smart. It constantly utters a sharp, not +unpleasant, metallic dissyllabic call, which sounds like _kiss me_, +_kiss me_, _kiss me_, _kiss me_. This is one of the most familiar +of the tunes that enliven our northern hill stations. + +So much for the bird: now for its nest. A nest in a hole possesses +many advantages. Its preparation does not entail very much labour. +It has not to be built; it merely needs furnishing, and this does +not occupy long if the occupiers have Spartan tastes. The tits in +question were luxuriously inclined, if we may judge by the amount +of moss that they carried into that hole. By the time it was finished +it must have been considerably softer than the bed that was provided +for my accommodation! + +Moss in plenty was to be had for the taking; the trunks and larger +branches of the trees which surrounded the "hotel" were covered with +soft green moss. The tits experienced no difficulty in ripping this +off with the beak. + +The entrance to the nest hole faced downwards and was guarded on one +side by the wall of the house, and on the other by a beam, so that +it was not altogether easy of access even to a bird. Consequently +a good deal of the moss gathered by the tits did not reach its +destination; they let it fall while they were negotiating the +entrance. + +When a piece of moss dropped from the bird's beak, no attempt was +made to retrieve it, although it only fell some 10 feet on to the +floor of the verandah. In this respect all birds behave alike. They +never attempt to reclaim that which they have let fall. A bird will +spend the greater part of half an hour in wrenching a twig from a +tree: yet, if this is dropped while being carried to the nest, the +bird seems to lose all further interest in it. + +By the end of the first day's work at the nest, the pair of tits had +left quite a respectable collection of moss on the floor. This was +swept away next morning. On the second day much less was dropped; +practice had taught the tits how best to enter the nest hole. + +It will be noticed that I speak of "tits." I believe I am correct +in so doing; I think that both cock and hen work at the nest. I cannot +say for certain, for I am not able to distinguish a lady- from a +gentleman-tit. I never saw them together at the nest, but I noticed +that the bird bringing material to it sometimes flew direct from a +tree and at others alighted on the projecting end of a roof beam which +the carpenters had been too lazy to saw off. It is my belief that +the bird that used to alight on the beam was not the same as the one +that flew direct from the tree. Birds are creatures of habit. If you +observe a mother bird feeding her young, you will notice that she, +when not disturbed, almost invariably approaches the nest in a certain +fixed manner. She will perch, time after time, on one particular +branch near the nest, and thence fly to her open-mouthed brood. When +both parents bring food to the nest, each approaches in a way peculiar +to itself; the hen will perhaps always come in from the left and the +cock from the right. + +The tits in question worked spasmodically at the nest throughout the +hours of daylight. For ten minutes or so they would bring in piece +after piece of moss at a great pace and then indulge in a little +relaxation. All work and no play makes a tit a dull bird. + +I had to leave the hotel late on the second day, so was not able to +follow up the fortunes of the two little birds. I have, however, to +thank them for affording me some amusement and giving me pleasant +recollections of the place. It was good to lounge in a long chair, +drink in the cool air, and watch the little birds at work. I shall +soon forget the tumble-down appearance of the house, its seedy +furniture, its coarse durries, and its hard beds, but shall long +remember the great snow-capped peaks in the distance, the green +moss-clad trees near about, the birds that sang in these, the sunbeams +that played among the leaves, and, above all, the two little tits +that worked so industriously at their nest. + + + + +_THE PEKIN-ROBIN_ + + +This is not a robin, nor does it seem to be nearly related to the +familiar redbreast; Pekin- or China-robin is merely the name the +dealers give it, because a great many specimens are imported from +China. Its classical name is _Liothrix lutea_. Oates calls it the +red-billed liothrix. It is a bird about the size of a sparrow. The +prevailing hue of the upper plumage is olive green, but the forehead +is yellow. There is also a yellow ring round the eye, and the lower +parts are of varying shades of this colour. Some of the wing feathers +are edged with yellow and some with crimson, so that the wings, when +closed, look as though lines of these colours are pencilled upon them. +Oates, I notice, states that the hen has no red in the wing, but this +does not seem to be the case in all examples. In the Pekin-robins +that hail from China the chief difference between the sexes is that +the plumage of the hen is a little duller than that of the cock. The +bill is bright red. It is thus evident that the _liothrix_ is a +handsome bird, its beauty being of the quiet type which bears close +inspection. But the very great charm of this sprightly little creature +lies, not so much in its colouring, as in its form and movements. +Its perfect proportions give it a very athletic air. In this respect +it resembles the nimble wagtails. Next to these I like the appearance +of the Pekin-robin better than that of any other little bird. Finn +bestows even greater praise upon it, for he says: "Altogether it is +the most generally attractive small bird I know of--everyone seems +to admire it." + +There is no bird more full of life. When kept in a cage, Pekin-robins +hop from perch to perch with extraordinary agility, seeming scarcely +to have touched one perch with their feet before they are off to +another. I am inclined to think that the _liothrix_, like Camilla, +Queen of the Volscians, could trip across a field of corn without +causing the blades to move. This truly admirable bird is a songster +of no mean capacity. Small wonder, then, that it has long been a +favourite with fanciers. Moreover, it stands captivity remarkably +well. It is the only insectivorous bird which is largely exported +from India. So hardy is it that Finn attempted to introduce it into +England, and with this object set free a number of specimens in St. +James's Park some years ago, but they did not succeed in establishing +themselves, although some individuals survived for several months. +The English climate is to Asiatic birds much what that of the West +Coast of Africa is to white men. J. K. Jerome once suggested that +Life Insurance Companies should abolish the application form with +its long list of queries concerning the ailments of the would-be +insurer, his parents, grandparents, and other relatives, and +substitute for it the German cigar test. If, said he, the applicant +can come up smiling immediately after having smoked a German cigar, +the Company could be certain that he was "a good life," to use the +technical term. As regards birds, the survival of an English winter +is an equally efficient test. The Pekin-robin is a very intelligent +little bird. Finn found that it was not deceived by the resemblance +between an edible and an unpalatable Indian swallow-tailed butterfly, +although the sharp king-crow was deceived by the likeness. + +Those Anglo-Indians who wish to make the acquaintance of the bird +must either resort to some fancier's shop, or hie themselves to the +cool heights of Mussoorie, or, better still, of Darjeeling, where +the _liothrix_ is exceptionally abundant. But even at Darjeeling the +Pekin-robin will have to be looked for carefully, for it is of shy +and retiring habits, and a small bird of such a disposition is apt +to elude observation. In one respect the plains (let us give even +the devil his due) are superior to the hills. The naturalist usually +experiences little difficulty in observing birds in the +sparsely-wooded flat country, but in the tree-covered mountains the +feathered folk often require to be stalked. If you would see the +Pekin-robin in a state of nature, go to some clearing in the Himalayan +forest, where the cool breezes blow upon you direct from the snows, +whence you can see the most beautiful sight in the world, that of +snow-capped mountains standing forth against an azure sky. Tear your +eyes away from the white peaks and direct them to the low bushes and +trees which are springing up in the clearing, for in this you are +likely to meet with a small flock of Pekin-robins. You will probably +hear them before you see them. The sound to listen for is well +described by Finn as "a peculiar five-noted call, +_tee-tee-tee-tee-tee_." As has been stated already, most, if not all, +birds that go about in flocks in wooded country continually utter +a call note, as it is by this means that the members of the flock +keep together. Jerdon states that the food of the _liothrix_ consists +of "berries, fruit, seeds, and insects." He should, I think, have +reversed the order of the bird's menu, for it comes of an insectivorous +family--the babblers--and undoubtedly is very partial to insects--so +much so that Finn suggests its introduction into St. Helena to keep +them down. At the nesting season, in the early spring, the flock breaks +up into pairs, which take upon themselves what Mr. E. D. Cuming calls +"brow-wrinkling family responsibilities," and each pair builds in +a low bush a cup-shaped nest. + + + + +_BLACK BULBULS_ + + +All passerine birds which have hairs springing from the back of the +head, and of which the tarsus--the lower half of the leg--is shorter +than the middle toe, plus its claw, are classified by scientific men +as members of the sub-family Brachypodinae, or Bulbuls. This +classification, although doubtless unassailable from the standpoint +of the anatomist, has the effect of bringing together some creatures +which can scarcely be described as "birds of a feather." The typical +bulbul, as exemplified by the common species of the plains--Molpastes +and Otocompsa--is a dear, meek, unsophisticated little bird, the kind +of creature held up in copy-books as an example to youth, a veritable +"Captain Desmond, V.C." Bulbuls of the nobler sort pair for life, +and the harmony of their conjugal existence is rarely marred by +quarrels; they behave after marriage as they did in the days of +courtship: they love to sit on a leafy bough, close up against one +another, and express their mutual admiration and affection by means +of a cheery, if rather feeble, lay. They build a model nest in which +prettily-coloured eggs are deposited. These they make but little +attempt to conceal, for they are birds without guile. But, alas, their +artlessness often results in a rascally lizard or squirrel eating +the eggs for his breakfast. When their eggs are put to this base use, +the bulbuls, to quote "Eha," are "sorry," but their grief is +short-lived. Within a few hours of the tragedy they are twittering +gaily to one another, and in a wonderfully short space of time a new +clutch of eggs replaces the old one. If this shares the fate of the +first set, some more are laid, so that eventually a family of bulbuls +hatches out. + +Such is, in brief, the character of the great majority of bulbuls; +they present a fine example of rewarded virtue, for these amiable +little birds are very abundant; they flourish like the green bay tree. +As at least one pair is to be found in every Indian garden, they +exemplify the truth of the saying, the meek "shall inherit the earth," +and give a new meaning to the expression, "the survival of the +fittest." There are, however, some bulbuls which are so unlike the +birds described above that the latter might reasonably deny +relationship to them as indignantly as some human beings decline to +acknowledge apes and monkeys as poor relations. As we have seen, most +bulbuls are inoffensive, respectable birds, that lead a quiet, +domesticated life. The cock and hen are so wrapped up in one another +as to pay little heed to the outer world. Not so the black bulbuls. +These are the antithesis of everything bulbuline. They are aggressive, +disreputable-looking creatures, who go about in disorderly, rowdy +gangs. The song of most bulbuls consists of many pleasant, blithe +tinkling notes; that of the black bulbul, or at any rate of the +Himalayan black bulbul, is scarcely as musical as the bray of the +ass. Most bulbuls are pretty birds and are most particular about their +personal appearance. Black bulbuls are as untidy as it is possible +for a bird to be. The two types of bulbul stand to one another in +much the same relationship as does the honest Breton peasant to the +inhabitant of the Quartier Latin in Paris. + +Black bulbuls belong to the genus _Hypsipetes_. Three species occur +in India--the Himalayan (_H. psaroides_), the Burmese (_H. +concolor_), and the South Indian (_H. ganeesa_). All three species +resemble one another closely in appearance. Take a king-crow +(_Dicrurus ater_), dip his bill and legs in red ink, cut down his +tail a little, dust him all over so as to make his glossy black plumage +look grey and shabby, ruffle his feathers, apply a little _pomade +hongroise_ to the feathers on the back of his head, and make some +of them stick out to look like a dilapidated crest, and you may flatter +yourself that you have produced a very fair imitation of a black bulbul +as it appears when flitting about from one tree summit to another. +Closer inspection of the bird reveals the fact that "black" is +scarcely the right adjective to apply to it. Dark grey is the +prevailing hue of its plumage, with some black on the head and a +quantity of brown on the wings and tail. + +The Himalayan species has a black cheek stripe, which the other forms +lack; but it is quite unnecessary to dilate upon these minute +differences. I trust I have said sufficient to enable any man, woman, +or suffragette to recognise a noisy black bulbul, and, as the +distribution of each species is well defined and does not overlap +that of the other species, the fact that a bird is found in any +particular place at once settles the question of its species. The +South Indian bird occurs only in Ceylon and the hills of South-west +India; hence Jerdon called this species the Nilgiri or Ghaut black +bulbul. Men of science in their wisdom have given the Himalayan bird +the sibilant name of _Hypsipetes psaroides_. The inelegance of the +appellation perhaps explains why the bird has been permitted to retain +it for quite a long while unchanged. + +I have been charged with unnecessarily making fun of ornithological +nomenclature. As a matter of fact, I have dealt far too leniently +with the peccadillos of the ornithological systematist. Recently a +book was published in the United States entitled _The Birds of +Illinois and Wisconsin_. Needless to state that while the author was +writing the book, ornithological terminology underwent many changes; +but the author was able to keep pace with these and with those that +occurred while the various proofs were passing through the press. +It was after this that his real troubles began. Several changes took +place between the interval of the passing of the final proof and the +appearance of the book, so that the unfortunate author in his desire +to be up to date had to insert in each volume a slip to the effect +that the American Ornithologists' Union had in the course of the past +few days changed the name of no fewer than three genera; consequently +the genus Glaux had again become Cryptoglaux, and the genera Trochilus +and Coturniculus had become, respectively, Archilochus and +Ammodramus! But we are wandering away from our black bulbuls. The +hillmen call the Himalayan species the _Ban Bakra_, which means the +jungle goat. Why it should be so named I have not an idea, unless +it be because the bird habitually "plays the goat!" + +Black bulbuls seem never to descend to the ground; they keep almost +entirely to the tops of lofty trees and so occur only in well-wooded +parts of the hills. When the rhododendrons are in flower, these birds +partake very freely of the nectar enclosed within their crimson +calyces. Now, I am fully persuaded that the nectar of flowers is an +intoxicant to birds, and of course this will account, not only in +part for the rowdiness of the black bulbuls, but for the pugnacity +of those creatures, such as sunbirds, which habitually feed upon this +stimulating diet. Black bulbuls, like sunbirds, get well dusted with +pollen while diving into flowers after nectar, and so probably act +the part of insects as regards the cross-fertilisation of large +flowers. In respect of nesting habits, black bulbuls conform more +closely to the ways of their tribe than they do in other matters. +The nesting season is early spring. The nursery, which is built in +a tree, not in a bush, is a small cup composed largely of moss, dried +grass, and leaves, held together by being well smeared with cobweb. +The eggs have a pink background, much spotted with reddish purple. +They display a great lack of uniformity as regards both shape and +colouring. + + + + +_A WARBLER OF DISTINCTION_ + + +So great is the number of species of warbler which either visit India +every winter or remain always in the country, so small and +insignificant in appearance are these birds, so greatly do they +resemble one another, and so similar are their habits, that even the +expert ornithologist cannot identify the majority of them unless, +having the skin in one hand and a key to the warblers in the other, +he sets himself thinking strenuously. For these reasons I pay but +little attention to the warbler clan. Usually when I meet one of them, +I am content to set him down as a warbler and let him depart in peace. +But I make a few exceptions in the case of those that I may perhaps +call warblers of distinction--warblers that stand out from among +their fellows on account of their architectural skill, their peculiar +habits, or unusual colouring. The famous tailor-bird (_Orthotomus +sartorius_) is the best known of the warblers distinguished on account +of architectural skill. As a warbler of peculiar habits, I may cite +the ashy wren-warbler (_Prinia socialis_), which, as it flits about +among the bushes, makes a curious snapping noise, the cause of which +has not yet been satisfactorily determined. As warblers of unusual +colouring, the flycatcher-warblers are pre-eminent. In appearance +these resemble tits or white-eyes rather than the typical quaker-like +warblers. + +_Cryptolopha xanthoschista_ and Hodgson's grey-headed +flycatcher-warbler are the names that ornithologists have given to +a very small bird. But, diminutive though he be, he is heard, if not +seen, more often than any other bird in all parts of the Western +Himalayas. It is impossible for a human being to visit any station +between Naini Tal and Murree without remarking this warbler. It is +no exaggeration to state that the bird's voice is heard in every second +tree. Oates writes of the flycatcher-warblers, "they are not known +to have any song." This is true or the reverse, according to the +interpretation placed on the word "song." If song denotes only sweet +melodies such as those of the shama and the nightingale, then indeed +flycatcher-warblers are not singers. Nevertheless they incessantly +make a joyful noise. I can vouch for the fact that their lay is heard +all day long from March to October. Before attempting to describe +the familiar sound, I deem it prudent to recall to the mind of the +reader the notice that once appeared in a third-rate music-hall:--"The +audience are respectfully requested not to throw things at the +pianist. He is doing his best." To say that this warbler emits +incessantly four or five high-pitched, not very musical notes, is to +give but a poor rendering of his vocal efforts, but it is, I fear, the +best I can do for him. He is small, so that the volume of sound he +emits is not great, but it is penetrating. Even as the cheery lay of +the _Otocompsa_ bulbuls forms the dominant note of the bird chorus in +our southern hill stations, so does the less melodious but not less +cheerful call of the flycatcher-warblers run as an undercurrent +through the melody of the feathered choir of the Himalayas. + +In what follows I shall speak of Hodgson's grey-headed +flycatcher-warbler as our hero, because I shrink from constant +repetition of his double double-barrelled name. I should prefer to +give him Jerdon's name, the white-browed warbler, but for the fact +that there are a score or more other warblers with white eyebrows. +Our hero is considerably smaller than a sparrow, being only a fraction +over four inches in length, and of this over one-third is composed +of tail. The head and neck are grey, the former being set off by a +cream-coloured eyebrow. Along the middle of the head runs a band of +pale grey; this "mesial coronal band," as Oates calls it, is far more +distinct in some specimens than in others. The remainder of the upper +plumage is olive green, and the lower parts are bright yellow. +Coloured plate, No. XX, in Hume and Henderson's _Lahore to Yarkand_, +contains a very good reproduction of the bird. The upper picture on +the plate represents our hero, the lower one depicting an allied +species, Brook's grey-headed flycatcher-warbler (_C. Jerdoni_). It +is necessary to state this because the book in question was written +in 1873, since when, needless to say, the scientific names of most +birds have undergone changes. The plate in question also demonstrates +the slenderness of the foundation upon which specific differences +among warblers rest. + +Our hero is an exceedingly active little bird. He is ever on the move, +and so rapid are his movements that to watch him for any length of +time through field-glasses is no mean feat. He and his mate, with +perhaps a few friends, hop about from leaf to leaf looking for quarry, +large and small. The manner in which he stows away a caterpillar an +inch long is a sight for the gods! + +Sometimes two or three of these warblers attach themselves, +temporarily at any rate, to one of those flocks, composed mainly of +various species of tits and nuthatches, which form so well-marked +a feature of all wooded hills in India. Hodgson's warblers are +pugnacious little creatures. Squabbles are frequent. It is +impossible to watch two or three of them for long without seeing what +looks like one tiny animated golden fluff ball pursuing another from +branch to branch and even from tree to tree. + +The breeding season lasts from March to June. The nest is globular +in shape, made of moss or coarse grass, and lined with some soft +material, such as wool. The entrance is usually at one side. The nest +is placed on a sloping bank at the foot of a bush, so that it is likely +to escape observation unless one sees the bird flying to it. Three +or four glossy white eggs are laid. Many years ago Colonel Marshall +recorded the case of a nest at Naini Tal "at the side of a narrow +glen with a northern aspect and about four feet above the pathway, +close to a spring from which my _bhisti_ daily draws water, the bird +sitting fearlessly while passed and repassed by people going down +the glen within a foot or two of the nest." At the same station I +recently had a very different experience. Some weeks ago I noticed +one of these warblers fly with a straw in its beak to a place on a +steep bank under a small bush. I could not see what it was doing there, +but in a few seconds it emerged with the bill empty. Shortly afterwards +it returned with another straw. Having seen several pieces of building +material carried to the spot, I descended the bank to try to find +the nest. I could find nothing; the nest was evidently only just +commenced. I then went back to the spot from which I had been watching +the birds, but they did not return again. I had frightened them away. +Individual birds of the same species sometimes differ considerably +in their behaviour at the nesting season. Some will desert the nest +on the slightest provocation, while others will cling to it in the +most quixotic manner. It is never safe to dogmatise regarding the +behaviour of birds. No sooner does an ornithologist lay down a law +than some bird proceeds to break it. + + + + +_THE SPOTTED FORKTAIL_ + + +"Striking" is, in my opinion, the correct adjective to apply to the +spotted forktail (_Henicurus maculatus_). Like the paradise +flycatcher, it is a bird which cannot fail to obtrude itself upon +the most unobservant person, and, once seen, it is never likely to +be forgotten. I well remember the first occasion on which I saw a +spotted forktail; I was walking down a Himalayan path, alongside of +which a brook was flowing, when suddenly from a rock in mid-stream +there arose a black-and-white apparition, that flitted away, +displaying a long tail fluttering behind it. The plumage of this +magnificent bird has already been described. + +As was stated above, this species is often called the hill-wagtail. +The name is not a particularly good one, because wagtails proper occur +in the Himalayas. + +The forktail, however, has many of the habits of the true wagtail. +I was on the point of calling it a glorified wagtail, but I refrain. +Surely it is impossible to improve upon a wagtail. + +In India forktails are confined to the Himalayas and the mountainous +parts of Burma. + +There are no fewer than eight Indian species, but I propose to confine +myself to the spotted forktail. This is essentially a bird of mountain +streams. It is never found far from water, but occurs at all altitudes +up to the snow-line, so that, as Jerdon says, it is one of the +characteristic adjuncts of Himalayan scenery. Indeed I know of few +things more enjoyable than to sit, when the sun is shining, on the +bank of a well-shaded burn, and, soothed by the soft melody of running +water, watch the forktails moving nimbly over the boulders and stones +with fairy tread, half-flight half-hop. + +Forktails continually wag the tail, just as wagtails do, but not with +quite the same vigour, possibly because there is so much more to wag! + +Like wagtails, they do not object to their feet being wet, indeed +they love to stand in running water. + +Forktails often seek their quarry among the dead leaves that become +collected in the various angles in the bed of the stream; when so +doing they pick up each leaf, turn it over, and cast it aside just +as the seven sisters do. They seem to like to work upstream when +seeking for food. Jerdon states that he does not remember ever having +seen a forktail perch; nevertheless the bird frequently flies on to +a branch overhanging the brook, and rests there, slowly vibrating +its forked tail as if in deep meditation. + +Spotted forktails are often seen near the places where the _dhobis_ +wash clothes by banging them violently against rocks, hence the name +dhobi-birds, by which they are called by many Europeans. The little +forktail does not haunt the washerman's _ghat_ for the sake of human +companionship, for it is a bird that usually avoids man. The +explanation is probably that the shallow pool in which the _dhobi_ +works and grunts is well adapted to the feeding habits of the forktail. +I may here remark that in the Himalayas the washerman usually pursues +his occupation in a pool in a mountain stream overhung with oaks and +rhododendron trees, amid scenery that would annually attract +thousands of visitors did it happen to be within a hundred miles of +London. Not that the prosaic _dhobi_ cares two straws for the +scenery--nor, I fear, does the pretty little forktail. As I have +already hinted, forktails are rather shy birds. If they think they +are being watched they become restless and stand about on boulders, +uttering a prolonged plaintive note, which is repeated at intervals +of a few seconds. When startled they fly off, emitting a loud scream. +But they are pugnacious to others of their kind, especially at the +breeding season. I once saw a pair attack and drive away from the +vicinity of their nest a Himalayan whistling-thrush (_Myiophoneus +temmincki_)--another bird that frequents hill-streams, and a near +relation of the Malabar whistling-thrush or idle schoolboy. + +The nursery of the forktail, although quite a large cup-shaped +structure, is not easy to discover; it blends well with its +surroundings, and the birds certainly will not betray its presence +if they know they are being watched. The nest is, to use Hume's words, +"sometimes hidden in a rocky niche, sometimes on a bare ledge of rock +overhung by drooping ferns and sometimes on a sloping bank, at the +root of some old tree, in a very forest of club moss." I once spent +several afternoons in discovering a forktail's nest which I was +positive existed and contained young, because I had repeatedly seen +the parents carrying grubs in the bill. My difficulty was that the +stream to which the birds had attached themselves was in a deep ravine, +the sides of which were so steep that no animal save a cat could have +descended it without making a noise and being seen by the birds. +Eventually I decorated my _topi_ with bracken fronds, after the +fashion of 'Arry at Burnham Beeches on the August bank holiday. Thus +arrayed, I descended to the stream and hid myself in the hollow stump +of a tree, near the place where I knew the nest must be. By crouching +down and drawing some foliage about me, I was able to command a small +stretch of the stream. My arrival was of course the signal for loud +outcries on the part of the parent forktails. However, after I had +been squatting about ten minutes in my _cache_, to the delight of +hundreds of winged insects, the suspicions of the forktails subsided, +and the birds began collecting food, working their way upstream. They +came nearer and nearer, until one of them passed out of sight, although +it was within 10 feet of me. It was thus evident that the nest was +so situated that what remained of the tree-trunk obstructed my view +of it. This was annoying, but I had one resource left, namely, to +sit patiently until the sound of chirping told me that a parent bird +was at the nest with food. + +This sound was not long in coming, and the moment I heard it, up I +jumped like a Jack-in-the-box, but without the squeak, in time to +see a forktail leave a spot on the bank about 6 feet above the water. +I was surprised, as I had the day before examined that place without +discovering the nest. However, I went straight to the spot from which +the forktail had flown, and found the nest after a little searching. +The bank was steep and of uneven surface. Here and there a slab of +stone projected from it and pointed downwards. Into a natural hollow +under one of these projecting slabs a nest consisting of a large mass +of green moss and liver-worts had been wedged. From the earth above +the slab grew some ferns, which partially overhung the nest. Across +the nest, a few inches in front of it, ran a moss-covered root. From +out of the mossy walls of the nest there emerged a growing plant. +All these things served to divert attention from the nest, bulky +though this was, its outer walls being over 2 inches thick. The inner +wall was thin--a mere lining to the earth. The nest contained four +young birds, whose eyes were barely open. The young ones were covered +with tiny parasites, which seemed quite ready for a change of diet, +for immediately after picking up one of the young forktails, I found +some thirty or forty of these parasites crawling over my hand! + +There is luck in finding birds' nests, as in everything else. A few +days after I had discovered the one above mentioned, I came upon +another without looking for it. When I was walking along a hill-stream +a forktail flew out from the bank close beside me, and a search of +thirty seconds sufficed to reveal a well-concealed nest containing +three eggs. These are much longer than they are broad. They are +cream-coloured, mottled and speckled with tiny red markings. + + + + +_THE NEST OF THE GREY-WINGED OUZEL_ + + +On several occasions this year (1910) I have listened with unalloyed +pleasure to the sweet blackbird-like song of the grey-winged ouzel +(_Merula boulboul_) at Naini Tal--a station in the Himalayas, +consisting of over a hundred bungalows dotted on the well-wooded +hillsides that tower 1200 feet above a mountain lake that is itself +6000 feet above the level of the sea. On the northern slope of one +of the mountains on the north side of the Naini Tal lake, is a deep +ravine, through which runs a little stream. The sides of the ravine +are covered with trees--mainly rhododendron, oak, and holly. + +On July 1st I went 1000 feet down this ravine to visit the nest of +a spotted forktail (_Henicurus maculatus_) which I had discovered +a week previously. Having duly inspected the blind, naked, +newly-hatched forktails, I went farther down the stream to try to +see something of a pair of red-billed blue magpies (_Urocissa +occipitalis_). + +The magpies were not at home that afternoon, and while waiting for +them I caught sight of a bird among the foliage lower down the hill. +At first I took this for a Himalayan whistling-thrush. I followed +its movements through my field-glasses, and saw it alight on part +of the gnarled and twisted trunk of a rhododendron tree. Closer +inspection showed that the bird was a grey-winged ouzel. He had +apparently caught sight of me, for his whole attitude was that of +a suspicious bird with a nest in the vicinity. He remained motionless +for several minutes. + +As I watched him a ray of sunlight penetrated the thick foliage and +fell upon the part of the tree where he was standing, and revealed +to me that he was on the edge of a cunningly-placed nest. + +The trunk of the rhododendron tree bifurcated about 20 feet above +the ground; one limb grew nearly upright, the other almost +horizontally for a few feet, and then broke up into five branches, +or, rather, gave off four upwardly-directed branches, each as thick +as a man's wrist, and then continued its horizontal direction, greatly +diminished in size. + +The four upwardly-directed branches took various directions, each +being considerably twisted, and one actually curling round its +neighbour. At the junction of the various branches lay the nest, +resting on the flat surface, much as a large, shallow pill-box might +rest in the half-closed palm of the hand of a man whose fingers were +rugged and twisted with years of hard toil. + +The upper part of the trunk was covered by a thick growth of green +moss, and from it two or three ferns sprang. + +As the exterior of the nest consisted entirely of green moss, it +blended perfectly with its surroundings. From below it could not +possibly have been seen. When I caught sight of it I was standing +above it at the top of the ravine, and even then I should probably +have missed seeing it, had not that ray of sunlight fallen on the +nest and imparted a golden tint to the fawn-coloured plumage of the +nestlings which almost completely filled the nest cup. + +The situation of this nest may be said to be typical, although cases +are on record of the nursery being placed on the ground at the root +of a tree, or on the ledge of a rock. Many ouzels' nests are placed +on the stumps of pollard trees, and in such cases the shoots which +grow out of the stump often serve to hide the nest from view. The +nests built by grey-winged ouzels vary considerably in structure. +The commonest form is that of a massive cup, composed exteriorly of +moss and lined with dry grass, a layer of mud being inserted between +the moss and the grass lining. This mud layer does not invariably +occur. + +The cock ouzel remained for fully five minutes with one eye on me, +and then flew off. I seized the opportunity to approach nearer the +nest, and took up a position on the hillside level with it, at a +distance of about 14 feet. + +In a few minutes the hen bird appeared. Her prevailing hue is reddish +brown, while the cock is black all over, save for some large patches +of dark grey on the wings. In each sex the bill and legs are reddish +yellow, the bill being the more brightly coloured. The hen caught +sight of me and beat a hurried retreat, without approaching the nest. + +The young ouzels kept very still; occasionally one of them would half +raise its head. That was almost the only movement I noticed. + +Presently the cock appeared, with his beak full of caterpillars. He +alighted on a branch a few feet from the nest, where he caught sight +of me; but instead of flying off as the hen had done, he held his +ground and fixed his eye on me, no doubt swearing inwardly, but no +audible sound escaped him. + +Whenever I have watched a pair of birds feeding their young, I have +almost invariably noticed that one of them is far more alarmed at +my presence than the other. The ouzels proved no exception to the +rule. In this case it was the cock who showed himself the bolder spirit. +He remained watching me for fully ten minutes, his legs and body as +immobile as those of a statue, but he occasionally turned his head +to one side in order to obtain a better view of me; and I could then +see, outlined against the sky, the wriggling forms of several +caterpillars hanging from his bill. I hoped that he would pluck up +courage to feed his youngsters before my eyes; but his heart failed +him, for presently he flew to another tree a little farther away, +whence he again contemplated me. After this he kept changing his +position, never uttering a sound, and always retaining hold of the +beakful of caterpillars. After a little the hen returned with her +bill full of caterpillars, but she did not venture within 75 feet +of the nest. I was not permitted to observe how long it would take +the parental instinct to overcome the natural timidity of the birds. +The sky suddenly became overcast, and a few minutes later I found +myself enveloped in what the Scotch call a "wet mist." At certain +seasons of the year rain storms come up as unexpectedly in the +Himalayas as they do in the Grampians. + +The rain put a final end to my observations on that nest, as I had +to leave Naini Tal on the following day--an event which caused more +sorrow to me than to the ouzels! + + + + +_THE BLACK-AND-YELLOW GROSBEAK_ + + +The Indian grosbeaks are birds of limited distribution; they appear +to be confined to the forests on the higher ranges of the Himalayas. +Their most striking feature is the stout conical bill, which is an +exaggeration of that of the typical finch, and is responsible for +the bird's name. In one genus of grosbeak--_Mycerobas_--the bill is +as deep as it is long, while in the other genus--_Pycnorhamphus_--it +is nearly as massive. Three species belonging to this latter genus +occur in India, namely, _P. icteroides_, the black-and-yellow +grosbeak, found in the Western Himalayas; _P. affinis_, the allied +grosbeak, found in Nepal, Sikkim, Tibet, and Western China; and _P. +carneipes_, the white-winged grosbeak, which occurs all along the +higher Himalayas. + +There is only one Indian species of the other genus; this is known +as the spotted-winged grosbeak (_Mycerobas melanoxanthus_), the +localities in which this occurs are said to be "the Himalayas from +the Hazara country to Sikkim at considerable elevations and Manipur." + +The only Indian grosbeak which I have met in the flesh is the +yellow-and-black species. This bird is common in the hills round about +Murree, so that, when on ten days' leave there, I had some opportunity +of studying its habits. It is a bird of the same size as the Indian +oriole (_Oriolus kundoo_). The cock grosbeak, indeed, bears a +striking resemblance to the black-headed oriole (_Oriolus +melanocephalus_). His whole head, chin, throat, wings, shoulders, +upper-tail-coverts, and thighs are black, the remainder of the +plumage is a rich yellow, tinged with orange at the hind neck. Thus +the colour and markings are almost identical with those of the +black-headed oriole, the chief difference being that the latter has +a little yellow in the wing. So great is the resemblance that the +casual observer will, in nine cases out of ten, mistake the grosbeak +for an oriole. The resemblance extends to size and shape, as the +following table shows: + + Length Length Length Length Length + of Bird. of Tail. of Wing. of Tarsus. of Beak. + Grosbeak . . 9.0 in. 3.7 in. 5.2 in. 1.0 in. 1.0 in. + Oriole . . . 9.5 " 3.4 " 5.4 " 1.0 " 1.3 " + +The hen grosbeak differs considerably in colour and marking both from +the cock of her species and from the hen black-headed oriole. She +is a dull ashy-grey bird, tinged faintly with yellowish red on the +back and abdomen. Her wings and tail are black. The only young grosbeak +that I have seen resembled the female in appearance, except that it +had a yellow rump. It was being fed by a cock bird. + +Grosbeaks live in forests, and go about either in couples or in small +companies. They seem to feed largely on the ground, picking up insects. +The beak of the finch tribe is adapted to a diet of seeds; nevertheless, +many finches vary this food with insects. I saw a grosbeak seize, +shake, and devour a caterpillar about two inches in length. Grosbeaks +also eat berries and stone fruit. When disturbed they at once betake +themselves to a tree, among the branches of which they are able to +make their way with great agility. Grosbeaks are restless birds, +always on the move, here to-day and gone to-morrow. The cock emits +a call at frequent intervals. This is not easy to describe. It sounds +something like _kiu kree_. + +The nest is a cup-shaped structure, composed exteriorly of twigs, +grass, and moss, and lined with stalks of maiden-hair fern and fine +roots. It is usually placed high up in a fir tree. Colonel Rattray +believes that the birds bring up two broods in the year. They lay +first in May, and, as soon as the young are able to shift for themselves, +a second nest is made. Thus in July both young birds at large and +nests with eggs are likely to be seen. The eggs are not unlike those +of the English hawfinch; the ground colour is pale greenish grey, +blotched and spotted with blackish brown. Sometimes the markings +occur chiefly at the broad end of the eggs. + +The most striking feature of the black-and-yellow grosbeak, and that +on which I wish particularly to dwell, is the extraordinary +resemblance that the cock bird bears to the cock black-headed oriole. +If this extended to the hen, and if the grosbeak were parasitic on +the oriole, it would be held up as an example of mimicry. We should +be told that owing to its resemblance to its dupe it was able to +approach the nest without raising any suspicion and deposit its egg. +But the grosbeak is not parasitic on the oriole, and it is the cock +and not the hen that bears the resemblance; moreover, the black-headed +oriole does not occur in the Himalayas, so that neither the grosbeak +nor the oriole can possibly derive any benefit from this resemblance. + +Now, cabinet zoologists are never tired of writing about mimicry. +They assert that when organisms belonging to different families bear +a close external resemblance, this resemblance has been brought about +by natural selection. Having made this assertion, they expend reams +of paper in demonstrating how one or both of the species benefits +by the resemblance. + +However, scientific books make no mention of the resemblance between +the oriole and the grosbeak. The reason for this is, of course, that +the resemblance in this instance cannot be a case of mimicry. Now, +I regret to have to say that men of science take up the same attitude +towards their theories as lawyers do regarding the cases they argue +in Courts of Justice. There would be no harm in taking up this attitude +if men of science were to explain that they are acting the part of +advocates, that they are fighting for a theory, and trying to persuade +the world to accept this theory. It is because they masquerade as +judges, and put forward a one-sided case as a matured judicial finding, +that I take exception to their methods. + +The trouble is that scientific men to-day form a brotherhood, a +hierarchy, which lays claim to infallibility, or rather tacitly +assumes infallibility. + +They form a league into which none are admitted except those who take +the oath of allegiance; and, of course, to expose the weakness of +the scientific doctrines of the time is equivalent to violating the +oath of allegiance. Now, the man of science who has to earn his living +by his science, has either to join the league or run the risk of +starving. This explains how a small coterie of men has things very +much its own way; how it can lay down the law without fear of +contradiction. If a man does arise and declines to accept the fiats +of this league, it is not difficult for the members to combine and +tell the general public that that man is a foolish crank, who does +not know what he is talking about; and the public naturally accepts +this dictum. + +The only scientific men who, as a class, are characterised by humility +are the meteorologists. I always feel sorry for the meteorologist. +He has to predict the weather, and every man is able to test the value +of these predictions. The zoologist, on the other hand, does not +predict anything. He merely lays down the law to people who know +nothing of law. He assures the world that he can explain all organic +phenomena, and the world believes him. + +As a matter of fact, zoology is quite as backward as meteorology. +Those who do not wish to be deceived will do well to receive with +caution all the zoological theories which at present hold the field. +Before many years have passed all of them will have been modified +beyond recognition. Most of them are already out of date. + +There are doubtless good reasons for the colouring of both the +grosbeak and the oriole; what these reasons are we know not. But as +neither derives any benefit from the resemblance to the other, this +_resemblance_ cannot have been effected by natural selection. Now, +if the unknown forces, which cause the various organisms to take their +varied colours and forms, sometimes produce two organisms of +different families which closely resemble one another, and the +organisms in question are so distributed that neither can derive the +slightest advantage in the struggle for existence from the +resemblance, there is no reason why similar resemblances should not +be produced in the case of organisms which occupy the same areas of +the earth. Thus it is quite possible that many so-called cases of +mimicry are nothing of the kind. + +The mere fact that one of the organisms in question may profit by +the likeness is not sufficient to demonstrate that natural selection +is responsible for the resemblance. + +In this connection we must bear in mind that, according to the orthodox +Darwinian theory, the resemblance must have come about gradually, +and in its beginnings it cannot have profited the mimic _as a +resemblance_. + +So plastic are organisms, and so great is the number of living things +in the earth, that it is not surprising that very similar forms should +sometimes arise independently and in different parts of the globe. +Several instances of this fortuitous resemblance are cited in +Beddard's _Animal Colouration_; others are cited in _The Making of +Species_ by Finn, and myself. + +Perhaps the most striking case is that of a cuckoo found in New Zealand, +known as _Eudynamis taitensis_. This is a near relative of the Indian +koel, which bears remarkable resemblance to an American hawk +(_Accipiter cooperi_). Writing of this cuckoo, Sir Walter Buller +says: "Not only has our cuckoo the general contour of Cooper's +sparrow-hawk, but the tear-shaped markings on the underparts, and +the arrow-head bars on the femoral plumes are exactly similar in both. +The resemblance is carried still further, in the beautifully-banded +tail and marginal wing coverts, and likewise in the distribution of +colours and markings on the sides of the neck. On turning to Mr. +Sharpe's description of the young male of this species in his +catalogue of the Accipitres in the British Museum, it will be seen +how many of the terms employed apply equally to our Eudynamis, even +to the general words, 'deep brown above with a chocolate gloss, all +the feathers of the upper surface broadly edged with rufous.' ... +Beyond the general grouping of the colours there is nothing to remind +us of our own Bush-hawk; and that there is no great protective +resemblance is sufficiently manifested, from the fact that our cuckoo +is persecuted on every possible occasion by the tits, which are +timorous enough in the presence of a hawk." + +These cases of chance resemblance should make us unwilling to talk +about "mimicry," unless there is actual proof that one or other of +the similar species benefits by the resemblance. + +These cases, further, throw light on the origin of protective mimicry +where it does exist. + +Protective mimicry is usually said to have been brought about by the +action of natural selection. This is not strictly accurate. Natural +selection cannot cause two showy, dissimilar species to resemble one +another; all it can do is to seize upon and perfect a resemblance +that has been caused by the numerous factors that have co-operated +to bring about all the diversity of organic life upon this earth. + + + + +_THE GREAT HIMALAYAN BARBET_ + + +Barbets may be described as woodpeckers that are trying to become +toucans. The most toucan-like of them all is the great Himalayan +barbet (_Megalaema marshallorum_). Barbets are heavily-built birds +of medium size, armed with formidable beaks, which they do not +hesitate to use for aggressive purposes. As regards the nests they +excavate, the eggs they lay, the pad that grows on the hocks of young +birds, and their flight, they resemble their cousins the woodpeckers. +But they are fruit-eating birds, and not insectivorous; it is this +that constitutes the chief difference between them and the +woodpeckers. Barbets are found throughout the tropical world. A +number of species occur in India. The best known of these is the +coppersmith, or crimson-breasted barbet (_Xantholaema haematocephala_), +the little green fiend, gaudily painted about the head, which makes the +hot weather in India seem worse than it really is by filling the welkin +with the eternal monotone that resembles the sound of a hammer on a +brazen vessel. Nearly as widely distributed are the various species of +green barbet (_Thereiceryx_), whose call is scarcely less exasperating +than that of the coppersmith, and may be described as the word _kutur_ +shouted many times and usually preceded by a harsh laugh or cackle. + +The finest of all the barbets are the _Megalaemas_. The great +Himalayan barbet attains a length of 13 inches. There is no lack of +colour in its plumage. The head and neck are a rich violet blue. The +upper back is brownish olive with pale green longitudinal streaks. +The lower back and the tail are bright green. The wings are green +washed with blue, brown, and yellow. The upper breast is brown, and +the remainder of the lower plumage, with the exception of a scarlet +patch of feathers under the tail, is yellow with a blue band running +along the middle line. This bright red patch under the tail is not +uncommon in the bird world, and, curiously enough, it occurs in birds +in no way related to one another and having little or nothing in common +as regards habits. It is seen in many bulbuls, robins, and woodpeckers, +and in the pitta. The existence of these red under tail-coverts in +such diverse species can, I think, be explained only on the hypothesis +that there is an inherent tendency to variation in this direction +in many species. + +A striking feature of the great Himalayan barbet is its massive yellow +bill, which is as large as that of some species of toucan. Although +the bird displays a number of brilliant colours, it is not at all +easy to distinguish from its leafy surroundings. It is one of those +birds which are heard more often than seen. + +Barbets are never so happy as when listening to their own voices. +Most birds sing and make a joyful noise only at the nesting season. +Not so the barbets; they call all the year round; even unfledged +nestlings raise up the voices of infantile squeakiness. + +The call of the great Himalayan barbet is very distinctive and easy +to recognise, but is far from easy to portray in words. Jerdon +described the call as a plaintive _pi-o_, _pi-o_. Hutton speaks of +it as _hoo-hoo-hoo_. Scully syllabises it as _till-low_, _till-low_, +_till-low_. Perhaps the best description of the note is that it is +a mournful wailing, _pee-yu_, _pee-yu_, _pee-yu_. Some like the note, +and consider it both striking and pleasant. Others would leave out +the second adjective. Not a few regard the cry as the reverse of +pleasant, and consider the bird a nuisance. As the bird is always +on the move--its call at one moment ascends from the depths of a leafy +valley and at the next emanates from a tree on the summit of some +hill--the note does not get on one's nerves as that of the coppersmith +does. Whether men like its note or not, they all agree that it is +plaintive and wailing. This, too, is the opinion of hillmen, some +of whom declare that the souls of men who have suffered injuries in +the Law Courts, and who have in consequence died of broken hearts, +transmigrate into the great Himalayan barbets, and that is why these +birds wail unceasingly _un-nee-ow_, _un-nee-ow_, which means +"injustice, injustice." Obviously, the hillmen have not a high +opinion of our Law Courts! + +Himalayan barbets go about in small flocks, the members of which call +out in chorus. They keep to the top of high trees, where, as has been +said, they are not easily distinguished from the foliage. When perched +they have a curious habit of wagging the tail from side to side, as +a dog does, but with a jerky, mechanical movement. Their flight is +noisy and undulating, like that of a woodpecker. They are said to +subsist exclusively on fruit. This is an assertion which I feel +inclined to challenge. In the first place, the species remains in +the Himalayas all the year round, and fruit must be very scarce there +in winter. Moreover, Mr. S. M. Townsend records that a barbet kept +by him in captivity on one occasion devoured with gusto a dead mouse +that had been placed in its cage. Barbets nest in cavities in the +trunks of trees, which they themselves excavate with their powerful +beaks, after the manner of woodpeckers. The entrance to the nest +cavity is a neat circular hole in a tree at heights varying from 15 +to 50 feet. Most birds which rear their broods in holes enter and +leave the nest cavity fearlessly, even when they know they are being +watched by human beings, evidently feeling that their eggs or young +birds are securely hidden away in the heart of the tree. Not so the +_Megalaema_. It is as nervous about the site of its nest as a lapwing +is. Nevertheless, on one occasion, when the nest of a pair of the +great Himalayan barbets was opened out and found to contain an egg +and a young bird, which latter was left unmolested, the parent birds +continued to feed the young one, notwithstanding the fact that the +nest had been so greatly damaged. The eggs are white, like those of +all species which habitually nest in holes. + + + + +_PART II_ +_The Common Birds of the Nilgiris_ + + + + +_THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE NILGIRIS_ + + +The avifauna of the Nilgiris is considerably smaller than that of +the Himalayas. This phenomenon is easily explained. The Nilgiris +occupy a far less extensive area; they display less diversity of +climate and scenery; the lofty peaks, covered with eternal snow, which +form the most conspicuous feature of the Himalayan landscape, are +wanting in the Nilgiris. + +The birds found in and about a Nilgiri hill station differ in character +from those of the plains distant but a score of miles. + +Of the common birds of the plains of Madras, the only ones that are +really abundant on the Nilgiris are the black crow, the sparrow, the +white-eye, the Madras bulbul, the myna, the purple sunbird, the +tailor-bird, the ashy wren-warbler, the rufous-backed shrike, the +white-browed fantail flycatcher, the Indian pipit, the Indian +skylark, the common kingfisher, the pied crested cuckoo, the +scavenger vulture, the Pondicherry vulture, the white-backed vulture, +the shikra, the spotted dove, and the little brown dove. + +The distribution of the avifauna of mountainous countries is largely +a matter of elevation. At the base of the Nilgiris all the plains +birds of the neighbourhood occur, and most of them extend some way +up the hillsides. The majority, however, do not ascend as high as +1000 feet. + +At elevations of 3000 feet the avifauna of the hills is already +markedly different from that of the plains; nevertheless many of the +hill species do not descend to this level, at any rate in the summer. + +It is, therefore, necessary, when speaking of a plains bird as +occurring or not occurring on the hills, to define precisely what +is intended by this expression. + +That which follows is written for people who visit the Nilgiri hill +stations in the hot weather, and therefore the birds described are +those which occur at elevations of 5500 feet and upwards in the summer. +Those which visit the hills only in winter are either altogether +ignored or given but the briefest mention. + +This article does not deal exhaustively with the birds of the +Nilgiris; it is merely a short account of the birds commonly seen +in the higher regions of those hills during the summer months. To +compile an exhaustive list would be easy. I refrain from doing so +because a reader unacquainted with Indian ornithology would, if +confronted by such a list, find it difficult to identify the common +birds. + +With this by way of introduction, I will proceed to describe the birds +in question, dealing with them according to the classification +adopted in the standard book on Indian ornithology--the bird volumes +of the "Fauna of British India" series. + + +THE CORVIDAE OR CROW FAMILY + +This family is not nearly so well represented on the Nilgiris as it +is in the Himalayas. The only crow found on the Nilgiris is the Indian +corby (_Corvus macrorhynchus_)--the large black crow familiar to +persons living in the plains. He, alas, is plentiful in the various +hill stations; but it is some consolation that the grey-necked +_Corvus_ ceases from troubling those who seek the cool heights. + +Like the grey-necked crow, the Indian tree-pie is not found at the +Nilgiri hill stations--5000 feet appears to be the highest elevation +to which he attains. + +Of the tits only one species can be said to be common on the higher +Nilgiris: this is the Indian grey tit (_Parus atriceps_)--a striking +little bird, smaller than a sparrow. The head, throat, and neck are +black, and a strip of this hue runs down the middle of the abdomen. +The wings and tail are grey. The cheeks, the sides of the abdomen, +and a patch on the back of the head are white. There is also a narrow +white bar in the wing, and the grey tail is edged with white. The +bird is found all over India, but is far more abundant on the hills +than in the plains. + +Another tit which, I believe, does not ascend so high as Ootacamund, +but which is not uncommon in the vicinity of Coonoor is the southern +yellow tit (_Machlolophus haplonotus_). This bird is not, as its name +would seem to imply, clothed from head to foot in yellow. Its +prevailing hues are green and brown. The head, breast, and upper +abdomen are bright yellow, except the crown, crest, a broad streak +behind the eye, and a band running from the chin to the abdomen, which +are black. It is impossible to mistake this sprightly little bird, +which is like the English tom-tit in shape. Tits are arboreal in +habits; they seldom descend to the ground. Sometimes they go about +in small flocks. They are supposed to live chiefly on insects, but +most of them feed on fruit and seeds also, and the grey tit, alas, +eats peas, among which it works sad havoc. The inhabitants of the +Nilgiris call this last _Puttani kurivi_, which, I understand, means +the pea-bird. + + +THE CRATEROPODIDAE OR BABBLER FAMILY + +This heterogeneous family is well represented in the Nilgiris. + +The Madras seven sisters (_Crateropus griseus_) do not ascend the +hills to any considerable height. But, of course there are seven +sisters in the hills. Every part of India has its flocks of babblers. +The Nilgiri babbler is a shy bird; it seems to dislike being watched. +One might think it is aware that it is not so beautiful as it might +be. But this cannot be the reason, because it has no objection to +any person hearing its voice, which may be likened to the squeak of +a rusty axle. This Nilgiri babbler does not enter gardens unless they +are somewhat unkempt and contain plenty of thick bushes. + +_Mirabile dictu_, this shy and retiring bird is none other than the +jungle babbler (_Crateropus canorus_)--the common seven sisters or +_sath bhai_--which in northern India is as bold and almost as +confiding as the robin. No one has attempted to explain why the habits +of this species on the Nilgiris should differ so much from those it +displays in other places. + +The southern scimitar-babbler (_Pomatorhinus horsfieldi_), like the +jungle babbler on the Nilgiris, is a bird heard more often than seen. + +Every person who has spent any time at Coonoor must be well acquainted +with the notes of this species. A common call is a loud +_ko-ko-ko-e-e-e_. Sometimes one bird calls _ko-ko-ko_, and another +answers _ko-ee_. When the birds are feeding in company, they keep +up a continual chatter, which is not unpleasing to the ear. When +alarmed they give vent to a harsh cry of a kind characteristic of +the babbler tribe. The scimitar-babbler is a bird nearly as big as +a myna. It is of brownish hue and has a tail of moderate length. The +breast and chin are pure white, and there is a white line running +along each side of the head from front to back. The yellow beak is +long and curved, hence the adjectival "scimitar." It is impossible +to mistake the bird. The difficulty is to obtain anything more than +a fleeting glimpse of it. It is so shy that it takes cover the instant +it knows that it is being watched. It hops about in thick bushes with +considerable address, much as a crow-pheasant does. It feeds on +insects, which it picks off the ground or from leaves and trunks of +trees. It uses the long bill as a probe, by means of which it secures +insects lurking in the crevices of bark. + +The Nilgiri laughing-thrush (_Trochalopterum cachinnans_) is a very +common bird on the hills. Like the two species of babbler already +described, it is a shy creature, living amid thick shrubs, from which +it seldom ventures far. The head is slightly crested, the upper +plumage, including the wings and tail, is olive brown. The head is +set off by a white eyebrow. The under parts are chestnut. The beak +and legs are black. Laughing-thrushes congregate in small flocks. +They subsist chiefly on fruit. Their cry is loud and characteristic; +it may be described as a bird's imitation of human laughter. Their +cheerful calls are among the sounds heard most often at Ootacamund +and Coonoor. + +The Indian white-eye (_Zosterops palpebrosa_) is a bird that has +puzzled systematists. Jerdon classed it among the tits, and its habits +certainly justify the measure; but later ornithologists have not +accepted the dictum "Manners makyth bird," and have placed the +white-eye among the babblers. + +The white-eye is a plump little bird, considerably smaller than a +sparrow. The head and back are yellowish green, becoming almost golden +in the sunlight. The wings and tail are brown. The chin, breast, and +feathers under the tail are bright yellow, the abdomen is white. Round +the eye is a ring of white feathers, interrupted in front by a black +patch. + +From this ring--its most striking feature--the bird has derived its +name. The ring is very regular, and causes the bird to look as though +it had been decorating its eye with Aspinall's best enamel. + +White-eyes invariably go about in flocks; each member of the company +utters unceasingly a cheeping note in order to keep his fellows +apprized of his movements. These birds feed largely on insects, which +they pick off leaves in truly tit-like manner, sometimes even hanging +head downwards in order to secure a morsel. + +The beautiful southern green-bulbul (_Chloropsis malabarica_) is +numbered among the Crateropodidae. It is not a true bulbul. It is +common on the lower slopes of the Nilgiris, but does not often venture +as high as Coonoor. A rich green bulbul-like bird with a golden +forehead, a black chin and throat, and a patch of blue on the wing +can be none other than this species. + +The true bulbuls are also classified among the Crateropodidae. + +My experience is that the common bulbul of the plains--_Molpastes +haemorrhous_, or the Madras red-vented bulbul--is very rarely seen +at the Nilgiri hill stations. Jerdon, likewise, states that it ascends +the Nilgiris only up to about 6000 feet. Davison, however, declares +that the bird begins to get common 4 miles from Ootacamund and is +very numerous about Coonoor and all down the ghats. Be this as it +may, the Madras red-vented bulbul is not the common bulbul of the +Nilgiris. Its sweet notes are very largely, if not entirely, replaced +by the yet sweeter and more cheery calls of the hill-bulbul. It will +be labour lost to look up this name in Oates's ornithology, because +it does not occur in that work. The smart, lively little bird, whose +unceasing twittering melody gives our southern hill stations half +their charm, has been saddled by men of science with the pompous +appellation _Otocompsa fuscicaudata_. Even more objectionable is the +English name for the pretty, perky bird. What shall I say of the good +taste of those who call it the red-whiskered bulbul, as though it +were a seedy Mohammedan who dips his grizzly beard in a pot of red +dye by way of beautifying it? I prefer to call this bird the southern +hill-bulbul. This name, I admit, leaves something to be desired, +because the species is not confined to the hills. It is to be found +in most places along the west coast. Nor is it the only bulbul living +on the hills. The justification for the name is that if a census were +taken of the bird-folk who dwell in our hill stations, it would show +that _Otocompsa fuscicaudata_ outnumbered all the crows, mynas, +sparrows, flycatchers, and sunbirds put together. It is _the_ bird +of the southern hills. Every thicket, every tree--nay, every bush +on the hills--has its pair of bulbuls. This species has distinctive +plumage. Its most striking feature is a perky crest, which arises +from the crown of the head and terminates in a forwardly-directed +point, like Mr. Punch's cap. The crest is black and gives the bird +a very saucy air. The wings and tail are dark brown, but each feather +has a pale edge, which makes a pattern like scales on a fish. Below +the eye is a brilliant patch of crimson. A similarly-coloured but +larger patch is displayed at the base of the tail. The lower part +of the cheek is white; this is divided off from the snowy breast by +a narrow black band. The breast is, in its turn, separated from the +greyish abdomen by a broad black band, which ornithologists term a +collaret. Sometimes the collaret is interrupted in the middle. The +hill-bulbul is a most vivacious bird. From dawn to sunset it is an +example of perpetual motion. Its vocal cords are as active as its +wings. The tinkling sounds of this bulbul form the dominant notes +of the bird chorus. Husband and wife almost always move about in +company. They flit from tree to tree, from bush to bush, plucking +raspberries and other hill fruit as they pass. Bulbuls eat insects, +but not when fruit is available. Like all birds bulbuls have large +appetites. Recently I saw an Otocompsa devour three wild raspberries +within as many minutes, each berry was swallowed at one gulp--a +surprising feat, considering the small size of the bird's bill. + +A bulbul's nest is a beautifully-shaped cup, usually placed in a bush +at about 3 feet from the ground. As a rule, the bulbul selects an +exposed site for its nest; in consequence many of the eggs are devoured +by lizards. Crows in particular are addicted to young bulbuls, and +take full advantage of the simplicity of the parent birds. Probably, +three out of four broods never reach maturity. But the bulbul is a +philosophic little bird. It never cries over broken eggs. If one +clutch is destroyed it lays another. + +The yellow-browed bulbul (_Iole icteria_) demands notice in passing, +because it is common on the minor ranges. Its upper plumage is greenish +yellow, the wings being darker than the back. The lower parts are +canary yellow; the bird has also a yellow ring round the eye. Its +note has been described as a soft, mellow whistle. + +A very different bird is the southern or Nilgiri black bulbul +(_Hypsipetes ganeesa_). This is an untidy-looking creature. Its +crest is ragged. Its general hue is shabby black or brown, tinged +with grey in places. The bill and feet are bright coral red. Black +bulbuls utter a variety of notes, most of which are pleasing to the +human ear, although they incline to harshness. The birds go about +in flocks. + + +THE SITTIDAE OR NUTHATCH FAMILY + +Nuthatches are little climbing birds characterised by short tails. +Like woodpeckers, they feed on insects, which they pick off the trunks +and branches of trees. Unlike woodpeckers, however, they move about +the trunks of trees with the head pointing indifferently downwards +or upwards. The common nuthatch of the Nilgiris is the velvet-fronted +blue nuthatch (_Sitta frontalis_). The upper plumage is dark blue, +the cock having a velvety-black forehead and a black streak through +the eye. The lower parts are creamy white. The bill is coral red. +The note is a loud _tee-tee-tee_. + + +THE DICRURIDAE OR DRONGO FAMILY + +Several species of drongo or king-crow occur on the Nilgiris, but +not one of them is sufficiently abundant to be numbered among the +common birds of the hill stations. + + +THE SYLVIIDAE OR WARBLER FAMILY + +Of the warblers it may be said "their name is legion." So many species +exist, and the various species are so difficult to differentiate, +that the family drives most field ornithologists to the verge of +despair. Many of the Indian warblers are only winter visitors to India. +Eliminating these, only two warblers are entitled to a place among +the common birds of the Nilgiris. These are the tailor-bird and the +ashy wren-warbler. + +At Coonoor the tailor-bird (_Orthotomus sartorius_) is nearly as +abundant as it is in the plains. Oates, be it noted, states that this +species does not ascend the hills higher than 4000 feet. As a matter +of fact, the tailor-bird does not venture quite up to the plateau, +but it is perfectly at home at all elevations below 6000 feet. This +species may be likened to a wren that has grown a respectable tail. +The forehead is ruddy brown, the back of the head is grey, the back +is brown tinged with green. The lower plumage is a pale cream colour. +There is a black patch or bar on each side of the neck, visible only +when the bird stretches its neck to utter its loud _to-wee_, _to-wee_, +_to-wee_. In the breeding season the shafts of the middle pair of +tail feathers of the cock grow out beyond the rest. These projecting, +bristle-like feathers render the cock easy of identification. + +The ashy wren-warbler (_Prinia socialis_) is another "tiny brownie +bird." The wings and tail are brown, the remainder of the upper plumage +is the colour of ashes, the under parts are cream coloured. This +warbler is a slight, loosely-built bird, and is easily distinguished +from others of its kind by the curious snapping noise it makes as +it flits from bush to bush. It occurs in pairs or singly. Davison +remarks that it is "very fond of working its way up to some conspicuous +post--to the top of one of the long flower-stalks of _Lobelia excelsa_, +for instance--where it will halt for a minute or two, and then, after +making a feeble attempt at a song, will dive suddenly in the brushwood +and disappear." + + +THE LANIIDAE OR SHRIKE FAMILY + +Shrikes or butcher-birds are hawks in miniature, as regards habits +if not in structure. With the exception of the brown shrike (_Lanius +cristatus_), which is merely a winter visitor to India, the +rufous-backed shrike (_L. erythronotus_) is the only butcher-bird +common on the Nilgiris. The head of this species is pale grey, the +back is of ruddy hue. The lower parts are white. The forehead and +a broad band running through the eye are black. A bird having a broad +black band through the eye is probably a shrike, and if the bird in +question habitually sits on an exposed branch or other point of +vantage, and from thence swoops on to the ground to secure some insect, +the probability of its being a butcher-bird becomes a certainty. + +Closely related to the shrikes are the minivets. Minivets are birds +of tit-like habits which wander about in small flocks from place to +place picking insects from the leaves of trees. They are essentially +arboreal birds. I have never seen a minivet on the ground. + +The common minivet of the Nilgiris is the orange minivet +(_Pericrocotus flammeus_). The head and back of the cock are black. +His wings are black and flame-colour, the red being so arranged as +to form a band running lengthwise and not across the wing. The tail +feathers are red, save the median pair, which are black. During flight +the flashing red obliterates the black, so that the moving birds +resemble tongues of flame and present a beautiful and striking +spectacle. The hen is marked like the cock, but in her the red is +replaced by bright yellow. This beautiful bird ceases to be abundant +at elevations higher than Coonoor. + + +THE ORIOLIDAE OR ORIOLE FAMILY + +Both the Indian oriole (_Oriolus kundoo_) and the black-headed oriole +(_O. melanocephalus_) occur on the Nilgiris, but on the higher ranges +they are nowhere numerous. They therefore merit only passing notice. + + +THE STURNIDAE OR STARLING FAMILY + +The common myna of the Nilgiris is not _Acridotheres tristis_ but +_AEthiopsar fuscus_--the jungle myna. The casual observer usually +fails to notice any difference between the two species, so closely +do they resemble one another. Careful inspection, however, shows that +the jungle myna has a little patch of feathers in front of the head +over the beak. _AEthiopsar fuscus_ has all the habits of the common +myna. Like the latter, it struts about sedately in company with cattle +in order to snatch up the grasshoppers disturbed by the moving +quadrupeds. It feeds largely on the insects that infest the capsules +of _Lobelia excelsa_, and is often to be seen clinging, like a tit, +to the stem in order to secure the insects. Davidson gives these mynas +a very bad character, he declares that they do immense damage to the +fruit gardens on the Nilgiris, so that without the aid of nets, it +is next to impossible to preserve pears from their depredations. + +No other species of myna is common on the Nilgiris. + + +THE MUSCICAPIDAE OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY + +As in the Himalayas so on the Nilgiris the family of flycatchers is +well represented. In one small Nilgiri wood I have come across no +fewer than six species of flycatcher. + +The beautiful little black-and-orange flycatcher (_Ochromela +nigrirufa_) is a bird peculiar to the hills of Southern India. + +The head and wings of the cock are black, the rest of the body is +orange, of deeper hue on the back and breast than on the other parts. +The portions of the plumage that are black in the cock are slaty brown +in the hen. This flycatcher feeds on insects. But unlike most of its +kind, it picks them off the ground more often than it secures them +in the air. + +It never takes a long flight, and almost invariably perches on a branch +not more than two feet above the ground. It emits a low cheeping +note--a _chur-r-r_, which is not unlike the sound made by some +insects. + +The Nilgiri blue-flycatcher (_Stoparola albicaudata_) is +stoutly-built and a little larger than a sparrow. The male is clothed +from head to tail in dark blue; his wife is more dingy, having a +plentiful admixture of brownish grey in her plumage. Blue-flycatchers +often occur in little flocks. They have the usual habits of their +family, except that they seem sometimes to eat fruit. + +A pretty little bird, of which the head, back, tail, and wings are +deep blue, and the breast is orange fading into pale yellow towards +the abdomen, is Tickell's blue-flycatcher (_Cyornis tickelli_). It +has the characteristic habits of its tribe, and continually makes, +from a perch, little sallies into the air after flying insects. But, +more often than not it starts from one branch, and, having secured +its quarry, alights on another. It sings a joyous lay, not unlike +that of the fantail-flycatcher, but less sweet and powerful. It nests +in a hole in a tree or bank, laying in May two or three eggs very +thickly speckled with red spots. + +The grey-headed flycatcher (_Culicicapa ceylonensis_) is a bird of +somewhat sombre plumage. Its total length is only five inches, and +of this half is composed of tail. The head is ashy grey, the back +and wings are greenish; the lower plumage is bright yellow, but this +is not conspicuous except when the bird is on the wing. This flycatcher +has a loud song, which may be syllabised: _Think of me.... Never to +be_. + +The white-browed fantail-flycatcher (_Rhipidura albifrontata_), +which delights the inhabitants of Madras with its cheerful whistle +of five or six notes, occurs on the Nilgiris, but is there largely +replaced by an allied species--the white-spotted fantail-flycatcher +(_R. pectoralis_). The latter has all the habits of the former. Both +make the same melody, and each has the habit of spreading out and +erecting the tail whenever it settles on a perch after a flight. The +white-spotted is distinguishable from the white-browed species by +the white eyebrow being much narrower and less conspicuous. It is +a black bird with a white abdomen, some white in the wings and tail, +a few white spots on the chin, and the white eyebrow mentioned above. + +The most beautiful of all the flycatchers is _Terpsiphone +paradisi_--the paradise-flycatcher, or ribbon-bird, as it is often +called. This is fairly abundant on the Nilgiris. The cock in the full +glory of his adult plumage is a truly magnificent object. His crested +head is metallic blue-black. This stands out in sharp contrast to +the remainder of the plumage, which is as white as snow. Two of his +tail feathers, being 12 inches longer than the others, hang down like +satin streamers. Young cocks are chestnut instead of white. Birds +in both phases of plumage breed. The hen has the metallic blue-black +crested head, but she lacks the elongated tail feathers. Her plumage +is chestnut, like that of the young cock. In both the hen and the +young cock the breast is white. As "Eha" remarks, the hen looks very +like a bulbul. + + +THE TURDIDAE OR THRUSH FAMILY + +This heterogeneous family includes thrushes, chats, robins, +accentors, and dippers. + +The southern pied bush-chat (_Pratincola atrata_) is one of the +commonest and most familiar birds of the Nilgiris. It frequents +gardens and is often found near houses: hence it is known as the +hill-robin. The cock is clothed in black except the lower part of +the back, the under parts, and a bar on the wing, which are white. +Those parts that are black in the cock are brown in the hen, while +her back and under parts are russet instead of white, but the white +bar on the wing persists. This species lives on insects. It dwells +in low shrubs and captures its quarry on the ground. It nests in a +hole in a bank or well, lining the same with grass or hair. But summer +visitors to the hills are not likely to come across the eggs, because +these are usually hatched before May. + +The Nilgiri blackbird (_Merula simillima_) is very like the blackbird +of England. The plumage of the cock, however, is not so black, and +the legs, instead of being brown, are reddish. Its charming song, +with which all who have visited Ootacamund are familiar, is almost +indistinguishable from that of its European cousin. + +The Nilgiri thrush (_Oreocincla nilgirensis_) resembles the European +thrush in appearance. Its upper plumage is pale brown, spotted with +black and buff; its throat and abdomen are white with black drops. +This bird has a fine powerful song, but he who wishes to hear it has +usually to resort to one of the forests on the plateau of the Nilgiris. + + +THE PLOCEIDAE OR WEAVER-BIRD FAMILY + +This family includes the weaver-birds, famous for their wonderful +hanging retort-shaped nests, and the munias, of which the amadavat +or _lal_ is familiar to every resident of India as a cage bird. + +The weaver-birds do not ascend the hills, but several species of munia +are found on the Nilgiris. Spotted munias (_Uroloncha punctulata_) +are abundant in the vicinity of both Coonoor and Ootacamund. They +occur in flocks on closely-cropped grassland. They feed on the ground. +They are tiny birds, not much larger than white-eyes. The upper +plumage is chocolate brown, becoming a rich chestnut about the head +and neck, while the breast and abdomen are mottled black and white, +hence the popular name. The black spots on the breast and abdomen +cause these to look like the surface of a nutmeg grater; for that +reason this munia is sometimes spoken of as the nutmeg-bird. The +rufous-bellied munia (_Uroloncha pectoralis_) occurs abundantly a +little below Coonoor, but does not appear to ascend so high as +Ootacamund. Its upper parts are chocolate brown, save the feathers +above the tail, which Oates describes as "glistening fulvous." The +wings and tail are black, as are the cheeks, chin, and throat. The +lower parts are pinkish brown. The stout bill is slaty blue. Like +the spotted munia, this species is considerably smaller than a +sparrow. + +The Indian red-munia or red waxbill or _lal_ (_Sporaeginthus +amandava_) is another very small bird. Its bill and eyes are bright +red. Over its brown plumage are dotted many tiny white spots. There +are also some large patches of red or crimson, notably one on the +rump. The amount of crimson varies considerably; in the breeding +season nearly the whole of the upper plumage of the cock is crimson. +Amadavats go about in flocks and utter a cheeping note during flight. +Their happy hunting grounds are tangles of long grass. Amadavats occur +all over the Nilgiris. + + +THE FRINGILLIDAE OR FINCH FAMILY + +Finches are seed-eating birds characterised by a stout bill, which +is used for husking grain. + +The common sparrow (_Passer domesticus_) is the best known member +of the finch family. Most of us see too much of him. He is to be observed +in every garden on the Nilgiris, looking as though the particular +garden in which he happens to be belongs to him. As a rule, sparrows +nest about houses, but numbers of them breed in the steep cuttings +on the road between Coonoor and Ootacamund. + +The only other finch common on the Nilgiris is the rose-finch +(_Carpodacus erythrinus_). This, however, is only a winter visitor: +it departs from the Nilgiris in April and does not return until the +summer season is over. + + +THE HIRUNDINIDAE OR SWALLOW FAMILY + +This family includes the swallows and the martins. + +The swallows commonly found on the Nilgiris in summer are the Nilgiri +house-swallow (_Hirundo javanica_) and the red-rumped or mosque +swallow (_H. erythropygia_). I regret to have to state that Oates +has saddled the latter with the name "Sykes's striated swallow"; he +was apparently seduced by the sibilant alliteration! + +Those two swallows are easily distinguished. The latter is the larger +bird; its upper parts are glossy steel-blue, except the rump, which +is of chestnut hue. The house-swallow has the rump glossy black, but +it displays a good deal of red about the head and neck. + +In the cold weather the European swallow and two species of martin +visit the Nilgiris. + + +THE MOTACILLIDAE OR WAGTAIL FAMILY + +In the winter several kinds of wagtail visit the Nilgiris, but only +one species remains all the year round. This is the beautiful pied +wagtail (_Motacilla maderaspatensis_), of which the charming song +must be familiar to all residents of Madras. On the Nilgiris the bird +is not sufficiently common to require more than passing notice. + +The pipits are members of the wagtail family. They have not the lively +colouring of the wagtails, being clothed, like skylarks, in homely +brown, spotted or streaked with dark brown or black. They have the +wagtail trick of wagging the tail, but they perform the action in +a half-hearted manner. + +The two pipits most often seen on the Nilgiris in summer are the +Nilgiri pipit (_Anthus nilgirensis_) and the Indian pipit (_A. +rufulus_). I know of no certain method of distinguishing these two +species without catching them and examining the hind toe. This is +much shorter in the former than in the latter species. The Nilgiri +pipit goes about singly or in pairs, and, although it frequents grassy +land, it usually keeps to cover and flies into a tree or bush when +alarmed. It is confined to the highest parts of the Nilgiris. The +Indian pipit affects open country and seems never to perch in trees. + + +THE ALAUDIDAE OR LARK FAMILY + +The Indian skylark (_Alauda gulgula_) is common on the Nilgiris. +Wherever there is a grassy plain this species is found. Like the +English skylark, it rises to a great height in the air, and there +pours forth its fine song. + +To the ordinary observer the Indian skylark is indistinguishable from +its European congener. + +The other common lark of the Nilgiris is the Malabar crested lark +(_Galerita cristata_). This is in shape and colouring very like the +Indian skylark, but is easily distinguished by the pointed crest that +projects upwards and backwards from the hind part of the head. The +crested lark has a pretty song, which is often poured forth when the +bird is in the air. This species does not soar so high as the skylark. +Like the latter, it frequents open spaces. + + +THE NECTARINIDAE OR SUNBIRD FAMILY + +A bird of the plains which is to be seen in every Nilgiri garden is +the beautiful little purple sunbird (_Arachnecthra asiatica_). He +flits about in the sunbeams, passing from flower to flower, extracting +with his long tubular tongue the nectar hidden away in their calyces. +He is especially addicted to gladioli. His head gets well dusted with +yellow pollen, which he carries like a bee from one bloom to another. +In the case of flowers with very deep calyces, he sometimes makes +short cut to the honey by piercing with his sharp curved bill a hole +in the side through which to insert the tongue. The cock purple sunbird +needs no description. His glistening metallic plumage compels +attention. He is usually accompanied by his spouse, who is earthy +brown above and pale yellow below. + +The other sunbird commonly seen in hill-gardens is one appropriately +named the tiny sun bird or honeysucker (_Arachnecthra minima_), being +less than two-thirds the size of a sparrow. As is usual with sunbirds, +the cock is attired more gaily than the hen. He is a veritable +feathered exquisite. Dame Nature has lavished on his diminutive body +most of the hues to be found in her well-stocked paint-box. His +forehead and crown are metallic green. His back is red, crimson on +the shoulders. His lower plumage might be a model for the colouring +of a Neapolitan ice-cream; from the chin downwards it displays the +following order of colours: lilac, crimson, black, yellow. The hen +is brown above, with a dull red rump, and yellow below. + +The purple-rumped sunbird (_Arachnecthra zeylonica_), which is very +abundant in and about Madras, does not ascend the Nilgiris above 3000 +feet. Loten's sunbird (_A. lotenia_) ventures some 2500 feet higher, +and has been seen in the vicinity of Coonoor. This species is in +colouring almost indistinguishable from the purple sunbird, but its +long beak renders it unmistakable. + + +THE DICAEIDAE OR FLOWER-PECKER FAMILY + +Flower-peckers, like sunbirds, are feathered exquisites. The habits +of the two families are very similar, save that flower-peckers dwell +among the foliage of trees, while sunbirds, after the manner of +butterflies, sip the nectar from flowers that grow near the ground. + +Every hill-garden can boast of one or two flower-peckers. These are +among the smallest birds in existence. They are as restless as they +are diminutive. So restless are they that it is very difficult to +follow their movements through field-glasses, and they are so tiny +that without the aid of field-glasses it is difficult to see them +among the foliage in which they live, move, and have their being. +These elusive mites continually utter a sharp _chick-chick-chick_. +Two species are common on the Nilgiris. + +They are known as the Nilgiri flower-pecker (_Dicaeum concolor_) and +Tickell's flower-pecker (_D. erythrorhynchus_). The latter is the +more numerous. Both are olive-green birds, paler below than above. +Tickell's species has the bill yellow: in the other the beak is +lavender blue. + + +THE PICIDAE OR WOODPECKER FAMILY + +Woodpeckers are birds that feed exclusively on insects, which they +pick off the trunks of trees. They move about over the bark with great +address. Whether progressing upwards, downwards, or sideways, the +head is always pointed upwards. + +For some reason or other there is a paucity of woodpeckers on the +Nilgiris. The Indian Empire can boast of no fewer than fifty-four +species; of these only six patronise the Nilgiris, and but two appear +to ascend higher than 5000 feet. The only woodpecker that I have +noticed in the vicinity of Coonoor is Tickell's golden-backed +woodpecker (_Chrysocolaptes gutticristatus_). I apologise for the +name; fortunately the bird never has to sign it in full. This +woodpecker is a magnificent bird, over a foot in length, being 1-1/2 +inch longer than the golden-backed species found in Madras itself. +The cock has a crimson crest, the sides of the head and neck and the +under parts are white, relieved by black streaks that run +longitudinally. The back and wings appear golden olive in the shade, +and when the sun shines on them they become a beautiful coppery red. +The lower part of the back is crimson. The tail is black. The hen +differs from the cock in having the crest black. When these birds +fly, their wings make much noise. The species utters a high-pitched +but somewhat faint screaming note. + + +THE CAPITONIDAE OR BARBET FAMILY + +Barbets are tree-haunting birds characterised by massive bills. They +have loud calls of two or three notes, which they repeat with much +persistence. They nestle in trees, themselves excavating the nest +cavity. The entrance to the nest is invariably marked by a neat round +hole, a little larger than a rupee, in the trunk or a branch of a +tree. The coppersmith is the most familiar member of the clan. It +does not occur on the Nilgiris, but a near relative is to be numbered +among the commonest birds of those hills, being found in every wood +and in almost every garden. This bird is fully as vociferous as the +coppersmith, but instead of crying, _tonk-tonk-tonk_, it suddenly +bursts into a kind of hoarse laugh, and then settles down to a steady +_kutur-kutur-kutur_, which resounds throughout the hillside. This +call is perhaps the most familiar sound heard in the hills. This +species is called the lesser green barbet (_Thereiceryx viridis_) +to distinguish it from the larger green barbet of the plains (_T. +zeylonicus_). It is a vivid green bird with a dull yellow patch, devoid +of feathers, round the eye. There are some brown streaks on the breast. + + +THE ALCEDINIDAE OR KINGFISHER FAMILY + +The only kingfisher that occurs abundantly throughout the Nilgiris +is the common kingfisher (_Alcedo ispida_). This bird is not much +larger than a sparrow. The head and nape are blue with faint black +cross-bars. The back is glistening pale blue and the tail blue of +darker hue. The wings are greenish blue. The sides of the head are +gaily tinted with red, blue, black, and white. The lower parts are +rusty red. The bill is black and the feet coral red. The beautiful +white-breasted kingfisher (_Halcyon smyrnensis_)--the large blue +species with the chocolate-coloured head and white breast--occurs +on the Nilgiris at all elevations, but is not nearly so abundant as +its smaller relative. + + +THE CYPSELIDAE OR SWIFT FAMILY + +Four species of swift are to be seen on the Nilgiris; two of them +are the fleetest birds in existence; these are the alpine swift +(_Cypselus melba_) and the brown-necked spine-tail (_Chaetura +indica_). The former progresses with ease at the rate of 100 miles +an hour: the latter can cover 125 miles, while the former is flying +100. If we poor human beings were possessed of the motive power of +swifts we should think nothing of flying to England on ten days' casual +leave. This may be possible a few years hence, thanks to the aeroplane; +but even then the swifts will have the advantage as regards cheapness +of transit. The lower parts of the alpine swift are white, while those +of the spine-tail are rich brown. Hence the two species may be +differentiated at a glance. + +The edible-nest swiftlet (_Collocalia fuciphaga_) is the commonest +swift on the Nilgiris. It is only about half the size of the species +mentioned above, being less than 5 inches in length. In my opinion, +this bird is misnamed the edible-nest swiftlet, because a +considerable quantity of grass and feathers is worked into the nest, +and I, for my part, find neither grass nor feathers edible. But _chacun +a son gout_. + +There is, however, an allied species--the little grey-rumped +swiftlet (_C. francicia_)--found in the Andaman Islands--of which +the nests are really good to eat. This species constructs its tiny +saucer-shaped nursery entirely of its own saliva. + +April and May are the months in which to seek for the nests of the +Nilgiri swiftlet, and the insides of caves the places where a search +should be made. + +The fourth swift of the Nilgiris, the crested swift (_Macropteryx +coronata_), is not sufficiently abundant to merit description in this +essay. + + +THE CAPRIMULGIDAE OR NIGHTJAR FAMILY + +Nightjars, or goatsuckers, to give them their ancient and +time-honoured name, are birds that lie up during the day in shady +woods and issue forth at dusk on silent wing in order to hawk insects. +The most characteristic feature of a nightjar is its enormous +frog-like mouth; but it is not easy to make this out in the twilight +or darkness, so that the observer has to rely on other features in +order to recognise goatsuckers when he sees them on the wing, such +as their long tail and wings, their curious silent fluttering flight, +their dark plumage with white or buff in the wings and tail, their +crepuscular and nocturnal habits, and their large size. Nightjars +are as large as pigeons. + +The common species of the Nilgiris is the jungle nightjar +(_Caprimulgus indicus_). For a couple of hours after nightfall, and +the same period before dawn in the spring, this bird utters its curious +call--a rapidly-repeated _cuck-chug-chuck-chuck_. + +Horsfield's nightjar (_C. macrurus_) is perhaps not sufficiently +abundant on the Nilgiris to deserve mention in this essay. A bird +which after dark makes a noise like that produced by striking a plank +with a hammer can be none other than this species. + + +THE CUCULIDAE OR CUCKOO FAMILY + +The koel (_Eudynamis honorata_) occurs on the Nilgiris and has been +shot at Ootacamund. It betrays its presence by its loud _ku-il_, +_ku-il_, _ku-il_. The common cuckoo of the hills is the hawk-cuckoo +(_Hierococcyx varius_) or brain-fever bird. Its crescendo +_brain-fever_, BRAIN-FEVER, BRAIN-FEVER prevents any person from +failing to notice it. It victimises laughing-thrushes and babblers. +It has a large cousin (_H. sparverioides_), which also occurs on the +Nilgiris, and which likewise screams _brain-fever_ at the top of its +voice. Both species are like sparrow-hawks in appearance. The +handsome pied crested cuckoo (_Coccystes jacobinus_), which cuckolds +the seven sisters, is a bird easy to identify. It has a conspicuous +crest. The upper plumage is glossy black, save for a white wing bar +and white tips to the tail feathers. The lower parts are white. + +The common coucal or crow-pheasant (_Centropus sinensis_) is a cuckoo +that builds a nest and incubates its eggs. It is as big as a pheasant, +and is known as the Griff's pheasant because new arrivals in India +sometimes shoot it as a game bird. If naturalists could show that +this cuckoo derived any benefit from its resemblance to a pheasant, +I doubt not that they would hold it up as an example of protective +mimicry. It is a black bird with rich chestnut wings. The black tail +is nearly a foot long. The coucal is fairly abundant on the Nilgiris. + + +THE PSITTACIDAE OR PARROT FAMILY + +The green parrots of the plains do not venture far up the slopes of +the hills. The only species likely to be seen on the Nilgiris at +elevations of 4000 feet and upwards is the blue-winged paroquet +(_Palaeornis columboides_). This is distinguishable from the green +parrots of the plains by having the head, neck, breast, and upper +back dove-coloured. It has none of the aggressive habits of its +brethren of the plains. It keeps mainly to dense forests. Jerdon +describes its cry as "mellow, subdued, and agreeable." It is the prima +donna of the Psittaci. + +Another member of the parrot family found on the Nilgiris is the Indian +loriquet, or love-bird or pigmy parrot (_Loriculus vernalis_). This +is a short-tailed bird about the size of a sparrow. It is grass green +in colour, save for the red beak, a large crimson patch on the rump, +and a small blue patch on the throat. This species does not obtrude +itself on the observer. It is seen in cages more often than in a state +of nature. It sleeps with the head hanging down after the manner of +bats, hence Finn calls this pretty little bird the bat-parrot. + + +THE STRIGIDAE OR OWL FAMILY + +Owls, like woodpeckers, do not patronise the Nilgiris very largely. +The only owl that commonly makes itself heard on those mountains is +the brown wood-owl (_Syrnium indrani_). This is the bird which perches +on the roof of the house at night and calls _to-whoo_. + +Occasionally, especially round about Ootacamund, the grunting +_ur-ur-ur-ur_ of the brown fish-owl (_Ketupa zeylonensis_) disturbs +the silence of the night on the Nilgiris. + + +THE VULTURIDAE OR VULTURE FAMILY + +Only four species of vulture occur on the hills of South India. One +of these is the smaller white scavenger vulture (_Neophron +ginginianus_), which is probably the ugliest bird in the world. Its +plumage is dirty white, except the tips of the wings, which are black. +The head is not bald, as is the case with most vultures; it is covered +with projecting feathers that form an exceedingly bedraggled crest. +The bill, the naked face, and the legs are yellow. This vulture is +popularly known as the shawk or Pharaoh's chicken. Young scavenger +vultures are sooty brown. + +The other three vultures common on the Nilgiris are the Pondicherry +vulture (_Otogyps calvus_), the long-billed vulture (_Gyps indicus_), +and the white-backed vulture (_Pseudogyps bengalensis_). The first +is easily identified by means of its white waistcoat, a patch of white +on the thighs, and large red wattles that hang down like the ears +of a blood-hound. With the above exceptions the plumage is black. + +The long-billed vulture is of a uniform brown-grey colour. + +The white-backed vulture is a dark brown, almost black, bird, with +a white back and a broad white band on the under surface of each wing, +which is very noticeable when the bird is soaring high in the air +on the watch for carrion. + +The two commonest vultures of the Nilgiris are the scavenger and the +white-backed species. + + +THE FALCONIDAE OR FAMILY OF BIRDS OF PREY + +The raptores are not very strongly represented on the Nilgiris. The +only two eagles likely to be seen are Bonelli's eagle (_Hieraetus +fasciatus_) and the black eagle (_Ictinaetus malayensis_). The +plumage of the latter is of much darker hue than that of the former. + +Bonelli's eagle is a bold bird that works great havoc among tame +pigeons. It sometimes carries off a barnyard fowl. + +The black eagle is content with smaller quarry: young birds, rats, +and snakes, seem to constitute the chief articles of its diet. + +Needless to state, the common pariah kite (_Milvus govinda_) is found +on the Nilgiris. This useful bird usually sails in graceful circles +high overhead, looking for food. Its cry is not heard so frequently +on those hills as in the Himalayas, the reason being the different +configuration of the two ranges. The Nilgiris are undulating and +downlike, hence the kites are able, while hovering higher than the +summits of the hills, to see what is happening in the valleys. In +the Himalayas they cannot do this, because the valleys are usually +deep. The kites, therefore, sail there at a lower level than the +hill-tops, and their plaintive _chee-hee-hee-hee-hee_ is heard +throughout the day. It is not a very cheerful sound, so that in this +respect the Nilgiris have an advantage over the Himalayas. + +The majority of the kites appear to migrate from the Nilgiris during +the south-west monsoon. + +The Brahmany kite (_Haliastur indus_)--the handsome kite with white +head and breast and rich chestnut-red wings--is sometimes seen on +the Nilgiris, but scarcely sufficiently often to merit a place among +the common birds. + +The three remaining raptores that are of frequent occurrence on the +hills of South India are the shikra (_Astur badius_), the crested +goshawk (_Lophospizias trivirgatus_), and the kestrel (_Tinnunculus +alaudarius_). The shikra is very like the brain-fever bird in +appearance. It is a little smaller than the common house-crow. The +upper plumage is ashy grey. The tail is of the same hue, but with +broad dark brown cross-bars. In young birds the breast is white with +dark drops; in older birds the drops become replaced by wavy +rust-coloured cross-bars. The eye is bright yellow, as is the cere +or base of the beak. The crested goshawk may be described in brief +as a large shikra with a crest. + +The kestrel is the bird known in England as the windhover, on account +of its habit of hovering in mid-air on rapidly-vibrating wings before +pouncing on the lizard or other small fry, for which it is ever on +the watch. This species is about the same size as the shikra. The +head, neck, and tail are grey; the back and wings are dull red. The +lower parts are cream-coloured, spotted with brown. + + +THE COLUMBIDAE OR DOVE FAMILY + +Jerdon's imperial pigeon (_Ducula cuprea_) is a beautiful bird 17 +inches long, of which the tail accounts for 7 inches. The prevailing +hue of this pigeon is grey. The head, breast, abdomen, and neck are +suffused with lilac. The back and wings are olive brown. The legs +are dull lake red, as is the bill, except the tip, which is blue. +This fine bird is confined to dense forest; it is said to be fond +of the wild nutmeg. + +The Nilgiri wood-pigeon (_Alsocomus elphistonii_) is another +forest-haunting bird. Its prevailing hue is dove grey, with a +beautiful gloss on the back, which appears lilac in some lights and +green in others. The only other ornament in its plumage is a +black-and-white shepherd's plaid tippet. The wood-pigeon is as large +as the imperial pigeon. Of the doves, that which is most often seen +on the Nilgiris is the spotted dove (_Turtur suratensis_). This is +easily distinguished from the other members of the family by its +reddish wings spotted with dark brown and pale buff. The only other +dove likely to be seen at the Nilgiri hill stations is the little +brown dove (_T. cambayensis_), which utters a five-or-six-syllabled +coo. + + +THE PHASIANIDAE OR PHEASANT FAMILY + +This important family includes the pea- and the jungle-fowl and the +various pheasants. + +The peacock is not found at altitudes above 4000 feet. + +Jungle-fowl are abundant on the Nilgiris. He who keeps his eyes open +may occasionally see one of these birds running across a road in the +hills. This must not lead the observer to think that jungle-fowl spend +most of their time in sprinting across roads. The fact of the matter +is that the fowl tribe do not appreciate their food unless they have +to scratch for it. Paths and roads are highly scratchable objects, +hence they are largely resorted to for food; further, they are used +for the purpose of the daily dust-bath in which every self-respecting +fowl indulges. If these birds are disturbed when feeding or bathing, +they do not make for the nearest cover as most other birds do: they +insist on running across the road, thereby giving the grateful +sportsman a clear shot. The domestic rooster has the same habit. So +has the Indian child. To test the truth of these assertions, it is +only necessary to drive briskly along a street at the side of which +children or fowls are playing in perfect safety. At the sight of the +horse, the child or hen, as the case may be, makes a dash for the +far side of the road, and passes almost under the horse's nose. The +fowl always gets across safely. The child is not so fortunate. + +Two species of jungle-fowl have partitioned the Indian peninsula +between them. The red species (_Gallus ferrugineus_) has +appropriated the part of India which lies between Kashmir and the +Godavery; while the grey jungle-fowl (_G. sonnerati_) has possessed +itself of the territory south of the Godavery. The third jungle-fowl +(_G. lafayetti_) has to be content with Ceylon, but the size of its +name very nearly makes up for its deficiency in acres! + +Davison is my authority for stating that the _Strobilanthes whitiani_, +which constitutes the main undergrowth of many of the forests of the +Nilgiris, seeds only once in about seven years, and that when this +plant is seeding the grey jungle-fowl assemble in vast numbers to +feed on the seed. They collect in the same way for the sake of bamboo +seeds. The crow of the cock, which is heard chiefly in the morning +and the evening, is not like that of the red jungle-fowl. It has been +syllabised _kuk-kah-kah-kaha-kuk_. The call of the hen may be +expressed by the syllables _kukkun-kukkun_. + +The red spur-fowl (_Galloperdix spadicea_) is perhaps the most +abundant game bird of the Nilgiris. It is quite partridge-like in +shape. Both sexes have red legs and a patch of red skin round the +eye. The feathers of the cock are dull red with blue edges, while +those of the hen are black with broad buff margins. The cock may be +described as a dull red bird with a grey head and some buff scale-like +markings, and the hen as a grey bird, heavily barred with black. + +The only quail commonly seen on the Nilgiris is the painted bush-quail +(_Microperdix erythrorhynchus_). A bird in shape like a partridge, +but not much larger than a sparrow, is probably this species. The +prevailing hue is umber brown with coarse black blotches. The cock +has the breast white and the head black with a white eyebrow. The +head of the hen is dull red. The bill, legs, and feet of both sexes +are red. + + +THE CHARADRIIDAE OR PLOVER FAMILY + +This very large family includes the plovers, sandpipers, and snipes. +It is not very well represented on the Nilgiris. In winter snipe and +woodcock visit those mountains and afford good sport to the human +residents, but all have gone northward long before the summer visitors +arrive. + +Several species of sandpiper likewise visit the Nilgiris in winter; +one of these--the wood sandpiper (_Totanus glareola_)--tarries on +until after the beginning of summer. This is a bird as large as a +dove; its plumage is speckled brown and white. It looks somewhat like +a snipe with a short bill. It lives on the margins of ponds and +constantly wags its apology for a tail. + + +THE RALLIDAE OR RAIL FAMILY + +The rails are not well represented on the Nilgiris. + +The water-hen (_Gallinula chloropus_) is common on the lake at +Ootacamund. This is an olive-green bird about the size of a pigeon. +Its bill and forehead are red; there is a patch of white under the +tail. This species swims like a duck. + +Another rail which may be seen sometimes in the Botanical Gardens +at Ootacamund is the white-breasted water-hen (_Amaurornis +phoenicurus_). This is a black bird with the face, throat, and breast +white. There is a chestnut-hued patch under the tail. + + +THE ARDEIDAE OR HERON FAMILY + +Almost the only member of the heron family that visits the Nilgiri +hill stations is the pond-heron or paddy-bird (_Ardeola grayii_). + +A colony of these birds pursues its avocations on the margin of the +lake at Ootacamund, but I believe that I am right in saying that the +paddy-birds of Ootacamund go to the plains for nesting purposes. + + + + +_PART III_ +_The Common Birds of the Palni Hills_ + + + + +_THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE PALNI HILLS_ + + +For the benefit of those who visit Kodikanal I have compiled a list +of the birds most commonly seen at altitudes of over 5000 feet in +the Palni hills. I must here state that I have no first-hand knowledge +of the avifauna of those hills, and the list that follows is based +on the observations of Dr. Fairbank, made nearly 40 years ago. + +The avifauna of the Palni is a comparatively restricted one: which +is in part doubtless explained by the comparatively small area of +the higher ranges that is covered by forest. + +The great majority of the birds that follow have been described in +the chapter on the birds of the Nilgiris, and I have contented myself +with merely naming such. + + +THE CORVIDAE OR CROW FAMILY + +1. _Corvus macrorhynchus_. The Indian corby. This is not very abundant +above 5500 feet. + +2. _Dendrocitta rufa_. The tree-pie. This does not appear to occur +above 5000 feet. + +3. _Machlolophus haplonotus_. The southern yellow tit. Occurs at +Kodikanal, but is not very common there. + + +THE CRATEROPODIDAE OR BABBLER FAMILY + +4. _Crateropus canorus_. The jungle babbler. This rarely ascends +higher than 5000 feet. + +5. _Trochalopterum fairbanki_. The Palni laughing-thrush. This +species is peculiar to the Palnis and the Anamallis. The head is very +dark brown, almost black, with a broad white eyebrow. The cheeks are +grey, as are the chin, throat, and breast. The back, wings, and tail +are olive brown tinged with rusty red. The abdomen is bright rufous. +The noisy cries of this bird are among the most familiar sounds of +Kodikanal. It is destructive to peaches and raspberries. + +6. _Pomatorhinus horsfieldi_. The southern scimitar-babbler. This +is not nearly so abundant on the Palnis as on the Nilgiris. + +7. _Zosterops palpebrosa_. The Indian white-eye. A common bird. + +8. _Iole icteria_. The yellow-browed bulbul. _Otocompsa +fuscicaudata_. The southern red-whiskered bulbul or hill-bulbul. As +in the Nilgiris so in the Palnis, this is the most abundant bird on +the higher hills. + +9. _Molpastes haemorrhous_. The Madras red-vented bulbul. The higher +one ascends, the rarer this bird becomes. + +10. _Hypsipetes ganeesa_. The southern black bulbul. + +11. _Myiophoneus horsfieldi_. The Malabar whistling-thrush or idle +schoolboy. This fine but shy bird is found on the streams up to 6000 +feet. It is a bird as large as a crow, with glossy black plumage, +in which are patches of bright cobalt blue. + +It is better known to the ear than to the eye. It emits a number of +cheerful whistling notes. + + +THE SITTIDAE OR NUTHATCH FAMILY + +12. _Sitta frontalis_. The velvet-fronted blue nuthatch. This bird +is found in every part of the Palnis where there are trees. + + +THE DICRURIDAE OR DRONGO FAMILY + +13. _Chaptia aenea_. The bronzed drongo. This species is not often +seen at altitudes of more than 5000 feet above sea-level. + +It is like the common king-crow in appearance, but the plumage is +glossed with a bronze sheen, and the tail is less markedly forked. + + +THE SYLVIIDAE OR WARBLER FAMILY + +14. _Orthotomus sartorius_. The tailor bird. This has been seen as +high as 5500 feet above the sea-level. + +15. _Prinia socialis_. The ashy wren-warbler. + +16. _Prinia inorata_. The Indian wren-warbler. This is very like the +ashy wren-warbler in appearance. Its upper plumage is earthy-brown, +and not reddish brown, and it does not make during flight the curious +snapping noise so characteristic of _P. socialis_. + + +THE LANIIDAE OR SHRIKE FAMILY + +17. _Lanius erythronotus_. The rufous-backed shrike. + +18. _Pericrocotus flammeus_. The orange minivet. This beautiful bird +occurs from the bottom to the top of the Palnis. + +19. _Pericrocotus peregrinus_. The little minivet. This is a bird +of the plains rather than of the hills. But as Fairbank observed it +in the Palnis as high as 5000 feet, it is given a place in this list. +_Cock_: Head and shoulders slaty grey, lower back deep scarlet, wings +black with red bar, tail black with red at tip, chin and throat +blackish, breast scarlet; lower plumage orange yellow. _Hen_: upper +parts grey, lower parts creamy white, wing brown with yellow or orange +bar, tail black with red tip. + +This species is smaller than a sparrow, but the tail is 3 inches long. + + +THE ORIOLIDAE OR ORIOLE FAMILY + +20. _Oriolus melanocephalus_. The black-headed oriole. This species +has been seen as high as 5000 feet above the sea-level. The cock is +bright yellow, with a black head and some black in the wings and tail. +The hen is of a much duller yellow and has the back tinged with green. + + +THE STURNIDAE OR STARLING FAMILY + +Fairbank does not mention the jungle myna (_AEthiopsar fuscus_) in +his list of the birds of the Palnis (_Stray Feathers_, vol. v, 1877). +Yet this is precisely the myna one would expect to find on the Palnis, +and it should be looked for. + +21. On the other hand, the Brahmany myna (_Temenuchus pagodarum_), +which is essentially a bird of the plains, is said by Fairbank to +occur "well up the hillsides." + +Of the common myna (_Acridotheres tristis_), he writes: "This is +common around villages at 4000 feet." + +22. _Temenuchus pagodarum_. The Brahmany myna. Head and recumbent +crest black. Wings black and grey. Tail brown with a white tip. +Remainder of plumage rich buff. Beak blue with yellow tip. Legs bright +yellow. + + +THE EULABETIDAE OR GRACKLE FAMILY + +23. _Eulabes religiosa_. The southern grackle or hill-myna. This bird +occurs in the forests of the Palnis between elevations of 4000 and +5000 feet. It is familiar to every one as a cage bird. A glossy black +bird with a white wing bar. The wattles, legs, and bill are yellow. + + +THE MUSCICAPIDAE OR FLYCATCHER FAMILY + +24. _Ochromela nigrirufa_. The black-and-orange flycatcher. + +25. _Stoparola albicaudata_. The Nilgiri blue-flycatcher. + +26. _Cyornis tickelli_. Tickell's blue-flycatcher. Less common than +on the Nilgiris. + +27. _Culicicapa ceylonensis_. The grey-headed flycatcher. + +28. _Rhipidura albifrontata_. The white-browed fantail flycatcher. +Fairbank did not find this bird at altitudes over 4000 feet. + + +THE TURDIDAE OR THRUSH FAMILY + +29. _Pratincola atrata_. The southern pied bush-chat or hill-robin. +Not nearly so abundant on the Palnis as on the Nilgiris. + +30. _Merula simillima_. The Nilgiri blackbird. In spring its +delightful song gladdens the groves of the higher Palnis. + +31. _Copschychus saularis_. The magpie-robin. Has been observed as +high as 5000 feet. The cock is black, and the hen grey, with a white +breast and white in the wings and tail. The distribution of the black +and white is like that in the common magpie. + + +THE FRINGILLIDAE OR FINCH FAMILY + +32. _Passer domesticus_. The common sparrow. Does not occur much above +5000 feet. + + +THE HIRUNDINIDAE OR SWALLOW FAMILY + +33. _Hirunda javanica_. The Nilgiri house-swallow. + + +THE MOTACILLIDAE OR WAGTAIL FAMILY + +34. _Anthus nilgirensis_. The Nilgiri pipit. Common on the grassy +fields at the summit of the Palnis. + + +THE NECTARINIDAE OR SUNBIRD FAMILY + +35. _Arachnecthra minima_. The tiny sunbird or honeysucker. Common +from 4000 feet upwards. + + +THE DICAEIDAE OR FLOWER-PECKER FAMILY + +36. _Dicaeum concolor_. The Nilgiri flower-pecker. This frequents +the flowers of the parasitic _Loranthus_. + +37. _Dicaeum erythrorhynchus_. Tickell's flower-pecker. This +species does not appear to ascend the Palnis to any great height. +It is abundant at the foot of the hills. + + +THE PICIDAE OR WOODPECKER FAMILY + +38. _Chrysocolaptes gutticristatus_. Tickell's golden-backed +woodpecker. As in the Nilgiris so in the Palnis, this is the common +woodpecker. + +39. _Brachypternus aurantius_. The golden-backed woodpecker. This +is the common woodpecker of the plains: it ascends the Palnis to +elevations of 5000 feet. This is distinguishable from the foregoing +species by its smaller size, and in having the rump velvety black +instead of crimson. + +40. _Liopicus mahrattensis_. The yellow-fronted pied woodpecker. +This plains species ascends the Palnis to elevations of 5000 feet. +It is much smaller than either of the two foregoing species. The +plumage is spotted black and white, with a patch of red on the abdomen. +There is a yellow patch on the forehead. The cock has a short red +crest. + + +THE CAPITONIDAE OR BARBET FAMILY + +41. _Thereiceryx viridis_. The small green barbet. (The coppersmith +does not ascend higher than 4000 feet.) + + +THE ALCEDINIDAE OR KINGFISHER FAMILY + +42. The only kingfisher found in the Palnis seems to be the +white-breasted kingfisher (_Halcyon smyrnensis_), but this species +is confined to the lower hills. + + +THE UPUPIDAE OR HOOPOE FAMILY + +43. The Indian hoopoe (_Upupa indica_) occurs on the lower ranges, +but does not appear to ascend the hills as far as Kodikanal. + + +THE CYPSELIDAE OR SWIFT FAMILY + +44. Swifts are not abundant in the Palnis. The only one observed by +Fairbank was the common Indian swift (_Cypselus affinis_), seen at +an elevation of 3000 feet. This is easily distinguished by the white +band across the rump. + + +THE CUCULIDAE OR CUCKOO FAMILY + +45. _Hierococcyx varius_. The hawk-cuckoo. + +46. _Eudynamis honorata_. The Indian koel. This species is not common +on the Palnis. + +47. _Centropus sinensis_. The common coucal or crow-pheasant. This +is not very common. + + +THE PSITTACIDAE OR PARROT FAMILY + +48. _Palaeornis columboides_. The blue-winged paroquet. + +49. _Loriculus vernalis_. The Indian loriquet or love-bird. + + +THE STRIGIDAE OR OWL FAMILY + +50. _Ketupa zeylonensis_. The brown fish-owl. A large bird with +aigrettes. The eyes are bright yellow. The legs are devoid of feathers. +The call is a series of grunts. + + +THE VULTURIDAE OR VULTURE FAMILY + +51. _Neophron ginginianus_. The smaller white scavenger vulture. +This occurs up to at least 5000 feet. Fairbank did not observe any +other vultures on the higher hills, but it is unlikely that +_Pseudogyps bengalensis_ (the white-backed vulture), _Gyps indicus_ +(the long-billed vulture), and _Otogyps calvus_ (the black or +Pondicherry vulture) do not visit the higher hills. These three birds +should be looked for, especially the first. + + +THE FALCONIDAE OR FAMILY OF BIRDS OF PREY + +52. _Ictinaetus malayensis_. The black eagle. Not very common. + +53. _Milvus govinda_. The common pariah kite. Fairbank did not see +this above 3000 feet. + +54. _Haliastur indus_. The Brahmany kite. Occurs up to at least 4000 +feet. + +55. _Tinnunculus alaudarius_. The kestrel. + + +THE COLUMBIDAE OR DOVE FAMILY + +56. _Alsocomus elphistonii_. The Nilgiri wood-pigeon. + +The spotted and the little brown doves (_Turtur suratensis_ and _T. +cambayensis_) are found only on the lower hills. + + +THE PHASIANIDAE OR PHEASANT FAMILY + +57. _Gallus sonnerati_. The grey jungle fowl. Not so common as on +the Nilgiris. + +58. _Galloperdix spadicea_. The red spur-fowl. Not common. + +59. _Microperdix erythrorhynchus_. The painted bush-quail. + + +THE CHARADRIIDAE OR PLOVER FAMILY + +A few snipe and woodcock visit the Palnis in winter. + + +THE PODICIPEDIDAE OR GREBE FAMILY + +60. _Podicipes albipennis_. The little grebe or dabchick. This bird +never leaves the water. It is smaller than a dove. It has no tail. +It is dark glossy brown in colour with chestnut on the sides of the +neck. + + + + +_APPENDICES_ +_I. Vernacular Names of Himalayan Birds_ +_II. Vernacular Names of Nilgiri Birds_ + + +_I. VERNACULAR NAMES OF HIMALAYAN BIRDS_ + +Ababil . . . . . . . swallow + +Akku . . . . . . . . common cuckoo + +Argul . . . . . . . lammergeyer + +Ban-bakra . . . . . black bulbul, rusty-cheeked scimitar-babbler + +Ban-sarrah . . . . . black-throated jay + +Ban-titar . . . . . hill partridge + +Bara bharao . . . . large hawk-cuckoo + +Batasi . . . . . . . Indian swift + +Bater . . . . . . . quail + +Bhimraj . . . . . . racquet-tailed drongo + +Boukotako . . . . . Indian cuckoo + +Bulaka . . . . . . . brown wood-owl + +Bulbul . . . . . . . bulbul + +Bunchil . . . . . . cheer pheasant + +Chakru . . . . . . . chakor partridge + +Chaman . . . . . . . cheer pheasant + +Chanjarol . . . . . woodcock + +Chil . . . . . . . . kite + +Chir . . . . . . . . cheer pheasant + +Chitla . . . . . . . spotted dove + +Chitroka fakhta . . spotted dove + +Chota fakhta . . . . little brown dove + +Chukar . . . . . . . chakor partridge + +Digg-dall . . . . . blue magpie + +Dhal kowa . . . . . corby + +Dhor fakhta . . . . ring-dove + +Dogra chil . . . . . crested serpent eagle + +Durkal . . . . . . . black bulbul + +Gagi . . . . . . . . slaty-headed paroquet + +Gidh . . . . . . . . vulture + +Gir-chaondia . . . . white-capped redstart + +Gonriya . . . . . . house-sparrow + +Gugi . . . . . . . . ring-dove + +Herril . . . . . . . cheer pheasant + +Hud-hud . . . . . . hoopoe + +Il . . . . . . . . . kite + +Jel butara . . . . . Himalayan pied kingfisher + +Jumiz . . . . . . . imperial eagle + +Kabk . . . . . . . . chakor partridge + +Kaindal . . . . . . hill partridge + +Kalesur . . . . . . kalij pheasant + +Kalij . . . . . . . kalij pheasant + +Kali-pholia . . . . white-capped redstart + +Kaljit . . . . . . . Himalayan whistling-thrush + +Kangskiri . . . . . spotted dove + +Kastura . . . . . . Himalayan whistling-thrush, grey-winged ouzel + +Kasturi . . . . . . grey-winged ouzel + +Koak . . . . . . . . koklas pheasant + +Koin . . . . . . . . Indian turtle-dove + +Kokia-kak . . . . . Himalayan tree-pie + +Kokla . . . . . . . kokla green-pigeon, koklas pheasant + +Koklas . . . . . . . koklas pheasant + +Kolsa . . . . . . . kalij pheasant + +Krishen-patti . . . blue-headed rock-thrush + +Kuil . . . . . . . . koel + +Kukera . . . . . . . kalij pheasant + +Kukku . . . . . . . cuckoo + +Kukrola . . . . . . koklas pheasant + +Kupak . . . . . . . common hawk-cuckoo + +Kupwah . . . . . . . cuckoo + +Kyphulpakka . . . . Indian cuckoo + +Kyphulpakki . . . . Indian cuckoo + +Machi bagh . . . . . Himalayan pied kingfisher + +Madana suga . . . . slaty-headed paroquet + +Maina . . . . . . . myna + +Miouli . . . . . . . great Himalayan barbet + +Mohrhaita . . . . . changeable hawk-eagle + +Moraugi . . . . . . Bonelli's eagle + +Neoul . . . . . . . great Himalayan barbet + +Nilkant . . . . . . blue magpie + +Niltau . . . . . . . rufous-bellied niltava + +Okhab . . . . . . . lammergeyer + +Pahari maina . . . . jungle myna + +Pahari tuiya . . . . slaty-headed paroquet + +Painju . . . . . . . white-cheeked bulbul + +Panduk . . . . . . . dove + +Patariya masaicha . grey-winged ouzel + +Perki . . . . . . . dove + +Peunra . . . . . . . hill partridge + +Phupu . . . . . . . cuckoo + +Pilak . . . . . . . oriole + +Plas . . . . . . . . koklas pheasant + +Pokras . . . . . . . koklas pheasant + +Popiya . . . . . . . common hawk-cuckoo + +Puli . . . . . . . . spotted wing + +Ram chakru . . . . . hill partridge + +Roli . . . . . . . . hill partridge + +Sadal . . . . . . . changeable hawk-eagle + +Safed gidh . . . . . scavenger vulture + +Sahili . . . . . . . scarlet minivet + +Sahim . . . . . . . ashy drongo + +Sakdudu . . . . . . hoopoe + +Satangal . . . . . . imperial eagle + +Shah bulbul . . . . paradise flycatcher + +Sibia . . . . . . . sibia + +Sim kukra . . . . . woodcock + +Sim tital . . . . . woodcock + +Takpo . . . . . . . Indian cuckoo + +Toitru fakhta . . . little brown dove + +Traiho . . . . . . . great Himalayan barbet + +Tuktola . . . . . . Western-Himalayan scaly-bellied green woodpecker + +Turkan . . . . . . . Western-Himalayan pied woodpecker + +Tusal . . . . . . . bar-tailed cuckoo-dove + +Tutitar . . . . . . woodcock + +Ulak . . . . . . . . corby + +Zakki . . . . . . . brown flycatcher + +Zird phutki . . . . grey-headed flycatcher + + +_II. VERNACULAR NAMES OF NILGIRI BIRDS_ + +Adavikodi . . . . . grey jungle-fowl + +Adavi nalla gedda . black eagle + +Adiki lam kuravi . . sparrow + +Boli kadi . . . . . white-breasted water-hen + +Boli kodi . . . . . moorhen + +Buchi gadu . . . . . white-breasted kingfisher + +Buruta pitta . . . . Indian skylark + +Chandul . . . . . . crested lark + +Chilluka . . . . . . paroquet + +Chinna ulanka . . . wood sandpiper + +Chinna wallur . . . shikra + +Chitlu jitta . . . . Nilgiri flower-pecker + +Chitti bella guwa . little brown dove + +Dasari pitta . . . . scimitar-babbler, fantail flycatcher + +Garud alawa . . . . Brahmany kite + +Garuda mantaru . . . Brahmany kite + +Gola kokila . . . . pied crested cuckoo + +Goranka . . . . . . common myna + +Gudi konga . . . . . paddy bird + +Guli gadu . . . . . white-backed vulture + +Gurapa madi jitta . Indian pipit + +Jali dega . . . . . shikra + +Jambri kodi . . . . moorhen + +Jitta kodi . . . . . red spear-fowl + +Jutu pitta . . . . . crested lark + +Kadai . . . . . . . painted bush quail + +Kakka . . . . . . . black crow + +Kakki . . . . . . . black crow + +Kakkara jinuwayi . . spotted munia + +Kalli kaka . . . . . crow-pheasant + +Kalu prandu . . . . kite + +Kaltu koli . . . . . grey jungle-fowl + +Killi . . . . . . . paroquet + +Kokku . . . . . . . paddy bird + +Konda lati . . . . . red-vented bulbul + +Kumpa nalanchi . . . pied bush-chat + +Kundeli salawa . . . Bonelli's eagle + +Kutti pitta . . . . hawk-cuckoo + +Lak muka . . . . . . white-breasted kingfisher + +Likku jitta . . . . tailor-bird + +Machayarya . . . . . fantail flycatcher + +Malla gedda . . . . kite + +Manam badi . . . . . Indian skylark + +Manati . . . . . . . fantail flycatcher + +Manju tiridi . . . . scavenger vulture + +Meta kali . . . . . Indian pipit + +Namala pitta . . . . scimitar-babbler + +Nella borawa . . . . Pondicherry vulture + +Niala pichiki . . . Indian skylark + +Nila buchi gadu . . common kingfisher + +Papa . . . . . . . . scavenger vulture + +Papa parundu . . . . scavenger vulture + +Paria prandu . . . . kite + +Pedda sida . . . . . jungle babbler + +Pigli pitta . . . . red-vented bulbul + +Pit pitta . . . . . ashy wren-warbler + +Pittri gedda . . . . scavenger vulture + +Poda bella guwa . . spotted dove + +Puli pora . . . . . spotted dove + +Rajali . . . . . . . Bonelli's eagle + +Sarrava koli . . . . red spur-fowl + +Sowata guwa . . . . little brown dove + +Tangada goranka . . pied crested cuckoo + +Tella borawa . . . . scavenger vulture + +Than kudi . . . . . sunbird + +Tinna kuruvi . . . . spotted munia + +Tondala doshi gadu . kestrel + +Tondala muchi gedda kestrel + +Tonka pigli pitta . paradise flycatcher + +Torra jinuwayi . . . red munia + +Touta pora . . . . . little brown dove + +Turaka pigli pitta . hill or red-whiskered bulbul + +Uri pichiki . . . . sparrow + +Vichuli . . . . . . white-breasted kingfisher + +Wal konda lati . . . paradise flycatcher + +Yerra belinchi . . . rufous-backed shrike + +Yerra kodi . . . . . red spur-fowl + + + + +INDEX + + +Abrornis superciliaris, 113 + +Accipiter cooperi, 171 + +Aceros nepalensis, 122 + +Acridotheres tristis, 60, 199, 240 + +Actinodura egertoni, 110 + +AEgithaliscus erythrocephalus, 41, 106 + +AEthiopsar fuscus, 61, 199, 239 + +AEthopyga nepalensis, 119 + +-- scheriae, 76 + +Alauda gulgula, 210 + +ALAUDIDAE, 210 + +ALCEDINIDAE, 79, 121, 215, 243 + +Alcedo ispida, 215 + +Alcippe nepalensis, 109 + +Alcurus striatus, 112 + +Alder, 22 + +Almora, 22, 29, 41 _seq._, 51, 54, 59, 65, 67, 87, 97 + +Alseonax latirostris, 63, 115 + +Alsocomus elphistonii, 226, 246 + +Amadavat, 205 + +Amaranthus, 25 + +Amaurornis phoenicurus, 230 + +Anamallis, 236 + +Andaman Islands, 217 + +Anemone, 18, 25 + +"Animal colouration," 171 + +Anthipes moniliger, 116 + +Anthus nilgirensis, 209 + +-- rufulus, 209 + +Aquila helica, 125 + +Arachnecthra asiatica, 210 + +-- lotenia, 212 + +-- minima, 211, 242 + +-- zeylonica, 212 + +Arboricola torqueola, 104, 126 + +ARDEIDAE, 230 + +Ardeola grayii, 231 + +Argul, 92 + +Arisaema jacque-montii, 53 + +Astur badius, 224 + + +Babblers, 42 _seq._, 48, 107, 109, 111, 187, 236 + +Babul, 16 + +Bageswar, 23 + +Baker, Stuart, 84 + +Baldwin, 100 + +Banbakra, 45, 143 + +Barakheri stream, 20 + +Barbets, 26, 79, 121, 174 _seq._, 214, 243 + +Bar-wing, rufous, 110 + +Bee-eater, 27 + +Begonia, 17 + +Benog, 102 + +Berberry, 17 + +Bhabar, 15 + +Bhimraj, 55 + +Bhim Tal, 20 + +Bhotias, 23 + +Birch, 17 + +"Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin," 142 + +Birds of prey, 125 + +Blanford, 85 + +Blood-pheasant, 99 + +Blue jay, 27 + +Borax, 23 + +Boukotako, 85 + +Brachypodinae, 138 + +Brachypternus aurantius, 243 + +Brain-fever bird, 83, 86, 219 + +British Museum, 172 + +Broken Pekoe Bird, 85 + +BUCEROTIDAE, 122 + +Bulbul, 27, 35, 42, 49, 50 _seq._, 112, 138 + +Buller, Sir Walter, 171 + +Buntings, 72 + +Burma, 152 + +Bush-chat, 66 _seq._ + +Butcher-birds, 56 + + +Caccabis chucar, 103 + +Calls of birds, 36 + +Campophaga melanoschista, 114 + +Cape, the, 18 + +CAPITONIDAE, 79, 121, 214, 243 + +CAPRIMULGIDAE, 218 + +Carpodacus erythrinus, 207 + +Catreus wellichi, 101 + +Centauria, 18, 25 + +Centropus sinensis, 219, 244 + +Cephalopyrus flammiceps, 48 + +Certhia discolor, 113 + +-- himalayana, 55 + +CERTHIIDAE, 55, 113 + +Ceryle lugubris, 79, 121 + +Chaetura indica, 216 + +-- nudipes, 123 + +Chakor, 103 + +Chalcophaps indica, 98 + +Chaptia aenea, 237 + +CHARADRIIDAE, 104, 126, 229, 246 + +Cheer, 100 + +Chimarrhornis leucocephalus, 69 + +Chloropsis malabarica, 191 + +Choughs, 25, 29, 30, 106 + +Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus, 83 + +Chrysocolaptes gutticristatus, 214, 242 + +Coccystes jacobinus, 219 + +Collocalia francicia, 217 + +-- fuciphaga, 217 + +Colorado, 18 + +Colt's-foot, 17, 25 + +COLUMBIDAE, 97, 125, 225, 246 + +Columbines, 17, 25 + +Coonoor, 186, 196, 199, 206 _seq._, 212, 214 + +Coppersmith, 26, 215 + +Copschychus saularis, 241 + +Coracias indica, 32 + +Corby, 26, 29 + +CORVIDAE, 29, 105, 185, 235 + +Corvus macrorhyncus, 29, 105, 185, 235 + +-- splendens, 29, 87 + +Coturnix communis, 102, 126 + +Coucal, 219 + +CRATEROPODIDAE, 42, 49, 107, 187, 236 + +Crateropus canorus, 188 + +Crow, 105, 235 + +-- black, 35 + +-- grey-necked, 22 + +-- jungle, 29 + +Cryptolopha Jerdoni, 148 + +-- xanthoschista, 56, 146 + +Cuckoo-dove, 99, 125 + +Cuckoo, European, 26 + +Cuckoos, 82 _seq._, 123, 219, 244 + +Cuckoo-shrike, 114 + +CUCULIDAE, 82, 123, 219, 244 + +Cuculus canorus, 82, 84, 123 + +-- micropterus, 85, 124 + +-- poliocephalus, 123 + +-- saturatus, 85, 123 + +Culicicapa ceylonensis, 63, 202, 241 + +Cuming, E. D., 137 + +Cyanops franklini, 121 + +Cyornis melanoleucus, 117 + +-- rubeculoides, 116 + +-- superciliaris, 63, 115 + +-- tickelli, 202, 241 + +Cypress, 17 + +CYPSELIDAE, 81, 123, 216, 244 + +Cypselus affinis, 81, 244 + +-- melba, 82 + + +Dabchick, 247 + +Daisies, 17, 25 + +Dandelion, 17, 25 + +Darjeeling, 105 _seq._, 107, 109 _seq._, 113 _seq._, 115, 117 _seq._, + 125, 136 + +Darwinian theory, 171 + +Davison, 191, 228 + +Delhi, 24 + +Dendrocitta himalayensis, 31, 106 + +-- rufa, 236 + +Dendrocopus auriceps, 77 _seq._ + +-- cathpharius, 120 + +-- himalayensis, 78 + +Deodar, 17, 22 + +Dhakuri, 24 _seq._ + +Dhanpur, 23 + +Dhobi bird, 67, 153 + +DICAEIDAE, 77, 119, 212, 242 + +Dicaeum concolor, 213, 242 + +-- erythrorhyncus, 213, 242 + +-- ignipectus, 77, 119 + +DICRURIDAE, 53, 113, 196, 237 + +Dicrurus ater, 53, 141 + +-- longicaudatus, 54, 113 + +Dig-dall, 31 + +Dimorphism, 83 + +Dissemurus paradiseus, 55 + +Dove, 26, 97, 125, 225, 246 + +Drongo, 53, 113, 196, 237 + +Ducula cuprea, 225 + + +Eagles, 93, 125, 245 + +Eastern Himalayas, 105 + +Edelweiss, 18, 25 + +"Eha," 50, 139, 204 + +Emberiza stewarti, 73 + +-- stracheyi, 72 + +Eudynamis honorata, 83, 86, 219, 244 + +-- taitensis, 171 + +Eulabes religiosa, 240 + +EULABETIDAE, 240 + +Evergreen oaks, 17 + +"Exile," 95 + + +Fairbank, Dr., 235, 239 _seq._, 244, 246 + +Fairy blue-chat, 64 + +FALCONIDAE, 93, 125, 223, 245 + +Finches, 71, 118, 207, 241 + +Finn, 136, 221 + +Fir, silver, 17 + +Flower-peckers, 77, 119, 212, 242 + +Flycatchers, 22, 27, 56, 62 _seq._, 114 _seq._, 200, 240 + +"Forests of Upper India," 18 + +Forktail, 117, 151 _seq._ + +Francolinus vulgaris, 103, 126 + +FRINGILLIDAE, 71, 118, 207, 241 + + +Gagar, 20 _seq._ + +Galerita cristata, 210 + +Gallinula chloropus, 230 + +Galloperdix spadicea, 228, 246 + +Gallus ferrugineus, 228 + +-- lafayetti, 228 + +-- sonnerati, 228, 246 + +Game birds, 99 + +Garhwal, 76 + +Garrulax albigularis, 44, 107 + +-- leucolophus, 107 + +Garrulus bispecularis, 33, 106 + +-- glandarius, 34 + +-- lanceolatus, 33 + +Garwalis, 23 + +Gecinus chlorolophus, 120 + +-- occipitalis, 120 + +-- squamatus, 78 + +Gennaeus albicristatus, 100 + +-- leucomelanus, 125 + +Gentians, 17, 25 + +Glaucidium brodiei, 89, 124 + +Gneiss, 19 + +Godavery, 228 + +Gola river, 20 + +Grackles, 240 + +Graculus eremita, 30, 106 + +Grammatophila striata, 108 + +Granite, 18 _seq._ + +Grebes, 247 + +Green-pigeon, 26 + +Grey-backed shrike, 58 + +Grey-headed flycatcher, 63, 146 + +Grey-winged ouzel, 158 + +Griffon, 92 + +Griff's pheasant, 220 + +Grosbeaks, 71, 164 + +Gypaetus barbatus, 92 + +Gyps himalayensis, 92, 124 + +-- indicus, 222, 245 + +Gurkhas, 22 + + +Haematospiza sipahi, 118 + +Halcyon smyrnensis, 216 + +Haliastur indus, 224, 246 + +Hawk-cuckoo, 86 + +Hemichelidon ferruginea, 116 + +-- sibirica, 116 + +Henicurus maculatus, 67, 117, 151, 158 + +Herons, 230 + +Hieraetus fasciatus, 125, 223 + +-- pennatus, 93 + +Hierococcyx sparverioides, 86, 124, 219 + +-- varius, 83, 86, 124, 219, 244 + +Himalayas, 13 _seq._ + +HIRUNDINIDAE, 73, 119, 208, 242 + +Hirundo erythropygia, 208 + +-- javanica, 208 + +-- nepalensis, 74, 119 + +-- rustica, 74, 119 + +Hodgson's hawk-eagle, 95 + +Hoopoes, 80, 244 + +Hornbills, 122 + +Horse-chestnut, 17, 22 + +House-crow, 26, 29 + +Houses of the hill folk, 21 + +Hume, 44, 102, 154 + +Hutton, 94, 176 + +Hypacanthis spinoides, 71 + +Hypopicus hypererythrus, 78, 120 + +Hypsipetes, 140 + +-- ganeesa, 195, 237 + +-- psaroides, 51, 112, 140, 142 + + +Ianthocincla ocellata, 107 + +-- rufigularis, 45, 107 + +Ictinaetus malayensis, 125, 223, 245 + +Idle schoolboy, 154 + +Impeyan pheasant, 99 + +Iole icteria, 194, 237 + +Ixulus flavicollis, 110 + + +Jays, 27, 29, 32 _seq._, 36 _seq._, 106 + +Jerdon, 39, 47, 64, 74, 81, 108, 116, 137, 142, 152, 176, 190, 191, + 220 + +Jungle-fowl, 226 + +Jungle myna, 60 + +Juniper, 17 + + +Kalij, 100 + +Kalimat mountain, 22 + +Kashmir, 75, 228 + +Kathgodam, 19, 21 + +Kestrel, 96, 125, 246 + +Ketupa zeylonensis, 221, 245 + +Khairna, 46 + +King-crow, 22, 53 + +Kingfishers, 79, 121, 215, 243 + +Kite, 27, 35, 96, 125, 246 + +Kodikanal, 235 _seq._ + +Koel, 22, 26, 83, 86, 219 + +Kokla green-pigeon, 125 + +Koklas pheasant, 100 _seq._ + +Kosi river, 46 + +Kumaun, 81 + +Kumaunis, 23 + +Kuphini river, 25 + +Kyphulpakka, 85 + + +"Lahore to Yarkand," 148 + +Lal, 205 _seq._ + +Laldana Binaik pass, 21 + +Lammergeyer, 92 + +Landour, 81 + +LANIIDAE, 56, 114, 198, 238 + +Lanius cristatus, 198 + +-- erythronotus, 57, 198, 238 + +-- nigriceps, 58 + +-- tephronotus, 58, 114 + +-- vittatus, 57 + +Larks, 210 + +Laughing-thrushes, 27, 42 _seq._, 107 + +Liopicus mahrattensis, 243 + +Lioptila capistrata, 47, 109 + +Liothrix lutea, 110, 133 + +Lobelia excelsa, 197, 200 + +Lophophanes melanopterus, 41 + +Lophospizias trivirgatus, 224 + +Loriculus vernalis, 221, 245 + +Love-bird, 245 + + +Machlolophus haplonotus, 186, 236 + +-- spilonotus, 106 + +-- xanthogenys, 40 + +Macropteryx coronata, 217 + +Macropygia tusalia, 99, 125 + +Madras, 212 + +Magpie, blue, 27, 30 _seq._ + +Magpie-robin, 22, 27 + +Maidenhair, 17 + +"Making of Species," 171 + +Malabar whistling-thrush, 154, 237 + +Mango, 16 + +Marshall, Colonel, 149 + +Megalaema marshallorum, 79, 121, 174 + +Megalaemas, 175, 178 + +Merula boulboul, 69, 118, 158 + +-- simillima, 204, 241 + +Microcichla scouleri, 117 + +Microperdix erythrorhynchus, 229, 246 + +Milvus govinda, 96, 125, 223, 245 + +-- melanotis, 96 + +Minla igneitincta, 111 + +Minivets, 58, 114, 198 + +Mohrhaita, 94 + +Molpastes, 138 + +-- bengalensis, 50 + +-- haemorrhous, 191, 237 + +-- leucogenys, 51, 112 + +Monal pheasant, 25 + +Monaul, 99 + +Moss, hanging, 17 + +Motacilla maderaspatensis, 208 + +-- melanope, 75 + +MOTACILLIDAE, 75, 119, 208, 242 + +Mountain-thrush, 118 + +Munia, 205 + +Murree, 56, 59, 78, 146 + +MUSCICAPIDAE, 62, 114, 200, 240 + +Mussoorie, 26, 42, 45, 49, 59, 86, 89, 94, 97, 103, 136 + +Mycerobas, 164 + +-- melanoxanthus, 164 + +Myna, 22, 27, 37, 44, 60, 199, 240 + +Myiophoneus horsfieldi, 237 + +-- temmincki, 46, 109, 154 + + +Naini Tal, 20, 33, 42, 46, 51, 53, 56, 59, 64 _seq._, 75 _seq._, 86, + 94, 146, 149, 158, 163 + +NECTARINIDAE, 76, 119, 210, 242 + +Neophron ginginianus, 90, 222, 245 + +Nepalese, 23 + +New Zealand, 171 + +Nightjars, 218 + +Nilgiris, 37, 42 + +-- common birds of the, 183 + +Nilkhant, 31 + +Niltava grandis, 115 + +-- macgrigoriae, 115 + +-- sundara, 64, 115 + +Nim, 16 + +Nucifraga hemispila, 39 + +-- multipunctata, 39 + +Nutcrackers, 38 + +Nuthatch, 42, 52, 113, 195 + + +Oak, 17 + +-- forest, 24 + +Oates, 133, 146, 148, 206, 208 + +Ochromela nigrirufa, 201, 240 + +Oology of cuckoos, 84 + +Ootacamund 186, 206 _seq._, 219, 221, 230 _seq._ + +Orchid, 18 + +Oreicola ferrea, 66 + +Oreocincla dauma, 70 + +-- molissima, 118 + +-- nilgirensis, 205 + +Oreocorys sylvanus, 75, 119 + +Oriental region, 28 + +Orioles, 59, 199 + +ORIOLIDAE, 59, 199, 239 + +Oriolus kundoo, 59, 165, 199 + +-- melanocephalus, 165, 199, 239 + +Orthotomus sartorius, 145, 196, 238 + +Otocompsa, 138, 147 + +-- emeria, 50 + +-- fuscicaudata, 192, 237 + +Otogyps calvus, 222, 245 + +Ouzel, 118 + +-- grey-winged, 69, 158 _seq._ + +Owlets, spotted, 27 + +Owls, 88, 124, 221, 245 + + +Paddy bird, 27 + +Palaearctic region, 28 + +Palaeornis columboides, 220, 244 + +-- cyanocephalus, 88 + +-- schisticeps, 87, 124 + +-- torquatus, 87 + +Palm, 16 + +Palni Hills, common birds of the, 235 _seq._ + +Paradise flycatcher, 64 + +Paroquets, 26 + +Parrots, 87, 124, 244 + +Partridges, 102 + +Partridge, hill, 126 + +Parus atriceps, 42, 106, 186 + +-- monticola, 40, 106, 128 + +Passer cinamomeus, 72 + +-- domesticus, 207, 241 + +-- montanus, 118 + +Pathargarhi muta, 21 + +Pea-fowl, 220 + +Pekin-robin, 110, 133 + +Pericrocotus brevirostris, 58, 114 + +-- flammeus, 199, 238 + +-- peregrinus, 238 + +-- speciosus, 58 + +Petrophila cinclorhynca, 70, 118 + +Pharaoh's chicken, 91 + +PHASIANIDAE, 99, 125, 226, 246 + +Pheasants, 125, 246 + +PICIDAE, 77, 119, 213, 242 + +Piculets, 121 + +Picumnus innominatus, 121 + +Pies, 29 + +Pigeon, green, 97 + +Pindari glacier, 19 _seq._ + +-- river, 25 + +-- road, 23 + +Pine, 22 + +Pinus longifolia, 17 + +Pipits, 75, 119, 209 + +Plantain, 16 + +PLOCEIDAE, 205 + +Plovers, 104, 126, 229, 246 + +Plumbeous redstart, 69 + +Pneopyga squamata, 113 + +PODICIPEDIDAE, 247 + +Podicipes albipennis, 247 + +Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, 45, 108 + +-- horsfieldi, 188, 236 + +-- schisticeps, 108 + +Pratincola atrata, 204, 241 + +-- maura, 67 + +Prinia inorata, 238 + +-- socialis, 146, 197, 238 + +Psaroglossa spiloptera, 49 + +Pseudogyps bengalensis, 91, 124, 222, 245 + +PSITTACIDAE, 87, 124, 220, 244 + +Ptyonoprogne rupestris, 74 + +Pucrasia macrolopha, 101 + +Puli, 49 + +Puttani kurivi, 187 + +Pycnorhamphus, 164 + +-- icteroides, 71, 164 + +Pyrrhocorax alpinus, 30, 106 + +Pyrrhopicus pyrrhotis, 120 + + +Quail, 102, 126 + +Quartz, 18 _seq._ + + +Rails, 230 + +Rajpur, 26, 86 + +RALLIDAE, 230 + +Ramganga stream, 21 + +Ranibagh, 20 + +Raspberries, 17 + +Rattray, Colonel, 167 + +Redstart, 118 + +Red waxbill, 206 + +Red-whiskered bulbul, 50 + +Rhipidura albifrontata, 202, 241 + +-- allicollis, 115 + +-- pectoralis, 202 + +Rhododendron, 17, 21, 24 + +Rhyacornis fuliginosus, 69, 118 + +Ring-dove, 98 + +Robin, Indian, 27 + +Rock-thrush, 70, 118 + +Rohilkhand, 19 + +-- and Kumaun Railway, 19 + +Roller, Indian, 32 + +Rose-finch, 207 + +Rufous-backed shrike, 57 + +-- chinned laughing-thrush, 45 + + +Sal, 16 + +Sarju river, 23 _seq._ + +Sasia ochracea, 121 + +Sath bhai, 188 + +Sat Tal, 20 + +Scavenger vulture, 27 + +Scimitar-babblers, 45, 108 + +Scolopax rusticola, 104, 126 + +Scops spilocephalus, 89, 124 + +Scully, 176 + +Seven sisters, 27, 35, 43 + +Sharpe, 172 + +Shesham, 16 + +Shikra, 224 + +Shorea robusta, 16 + +Shrikes, 56 _seq._, 114, 198 + +Sibia, 42, 47 + +Simla, 31 + +Siphia strophiata, 117 + +Sitta frontalis, 195, 237 + +-- himalayensis, 52, 113 + +SITTIDAE, 52, 113, 195, 237 + +Siva, 110 + +Small-billed mountain-thrush, 70 + +Snow-cocks, 99 + +-- pigeons, 25 + +Sparrow, 72 + +Sphenocercus sphenurus, 97, 125 + +Spilornis cheela, 95, 125 + +Spiraea, 22 + +Spizaetus limnaetus, 93 + +-- nepalensis, 93 + +Sporaeginthus amandava, 206 + +Spotted forktail, 67, 151 + +-- wing, 49 + +Stachyrhidopsis ruficeps, 109 + +Stachyrhis nigriceps, 109 + +Starlings, 60, 199, 239 + +Stoparola albicaudata, 201, 241 + +-- melanops, 62, 115 + +"Stray feathers," 239 + +Streaked laughing-thrush, 43 + +STRIGIDAE, 88, 124, 221, 245 + +Strobilanthes whitiani, 228 + +STURNIDAE, 60, 199, 239 + +Sturnus humii, 60 + +Sual river, 21 + +Sunbirds, 76, 119, 210, 242 + +Suya atrigularis, 114 + +Swallows, 73, 119, 208, 242 + +Swifts, 73, 81 _seq._, 123, 216, 244 + +SYLVIIDAE, 55, 113, 196, 238 + +Syrnium indrani, 89, 124, 221 + + +Takula, 22 + +Tamarind, 16 + +Tarai, 15 + +Temenuchus pagodarum, 240 + +Temperature, 28 + +Terpsiphone affinis, 115 + +-- paradisi, 64, 203 + +Thereiceryx, 175 + +-- viridis, 215, 243 + +-- zeylonicus, 215 + +Thrushes, 35, 37, 46, 66, 117, 204, 241 + +Tibet, 18 + +Tibetans, 23 + +Tinnunculus alaudarius, 96, 125, 224, 246 + +Tits, 27, 29, 35, 39 _seq._, 106, 111, 129 + +Totanus glareola, 230 + +Townsend, 178 + +Tragopans, 99 + +Tree-creepers, 42, 113 + +-- pie, 31, 106 + +-- sparrow, 118 + +Trochalopterum cachinnans, 189 + +-- chrysopterum, 107 + +-- erythrocephalum, 45 + +-- fairbanki, 236 + +-- lineatum, 43 + +-- squamatum, 108 + +Tun, 22 + +TURDIDAE, 66, 117, 204, 241 + +Turtur cambayensis, 98, 226, 246 + +-- ferago, 98 + +-- risorius, 98 + +-- suratensis, 98, 125, 226, 246 + + +Upupa epops, 80 + +-- indica, 244 + +UPUPIDAE, 80, 244 + +Urocissa flavirostris, 31 + +-- occipitalis, 31, 159 + +Uroloncha pectoralis, 206 + +-- punctulata, 205 + + +Violet cuckoo, 83 + +VULTURIDAE, 89, 124, 221, 245 + + +Wagtails, 75, 119, 208, 242 + +Warblers, 42, 55, 113, 196, 238 + +Warbler of distinction, 145 + +Water-robin, 69, 118 + +Weaver-birds, 205 + +Weber (_Forests of Upper India_), 18 + +Western Himalayas, 29 + +Whistling-thrushes, 42, 46, 237 + +White-capped redstart, 69 + +White-cheeked bulbul, 51 + +White-eyes, 35, 42, 47 + +White, Gilbert, 38 + +White-throated laughing-thrush, 44 + +Wilson, 101 + +Woodcock, 126 + +Woodpecker, 27, 42, 77 _seq._, 119, 213, 242 + +Wren, 55, 113 + + +Xantholaema haematocephala, 174 + + +Yuhina gularis, 111 + + +Zosterops palpebrosa, 47, 110, 190, 236 + + + + +_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ + +ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE. +THE INDIAN CROW--HIS BOOK. +BOMBAY DUCKS. +BIRDS OF THE PLAINS. +INDIAN BIRDS. +JUNGLE FOLK. +GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS. + +_IN COLLABORATION WITH FRANK FINN_ + +THE MAKING OF SPECIES. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Birds of the Indian Hills, by Douglas Dewar + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILLS *** + +***** This file should be named 23755.txt or 23755.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/7/5/23755/ + +Produced by 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