88 



JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



list of those birds which in his opinion ought to be protected. He divided his list 

 into two classes, thus ; — 



Class A.— Birds which destroy insects and other pests injurious to vegetation. 



Class B. — Birds the flesh of which is used for human food. 

 Class A again was sub-divided into — 



(1) Birds which prey upon mice and rats, animals which are injurious to 



agriculture 5 and 



(2) Birds which eat insects as their natural food. 

 Class B was sub-divided thus : 



(1) The so-called game birds. 



(2) Other birds not ordinarily treated as game, but the flesh of which is 



eaten by certain castes. 



Birds of Class A he proposed to protect at all seasons of the year s of Class B 

 only during the breeding season. 



In submitting these lists, Mr. Thompson remarked that he had followed Jerdon's 

 nomenclature, as Jerdon's works were to be found 111 all District libraries. He 

 also pointed out that in the Central Provinces the natives were singularly indis- 

 criminatiug in their nomenclature of birds— and had indeed no terms at all to 

 denote many species. Mr. Thompson added that his lists did not pretend to 

 scientitic accuracy, as his object was entirely practical. 



I!. The lists were returned to Mr. Thompson with some criticisms and sugges- 

 tions by Mr. Fuller, Commissioner of Settlements and Agriculture, and Mr. 

 Thompson was asked to revise and settle them, and also to report on the proper 

 close seasons for those Mammals which ought to be protected. 



4. Mr. Thompson has now submitted four lists as follows : — • 



A. — A list of the more common Insect-eating birds of the Central Provinces. 



This list comprises : — 



Systematic name. 



(1) Vernacular name. 



(2) Common English 



name. 



Brief note of habitat. 



Breeding season 

 (close season). 



1. Swallows and 

 Swifts- 

 llirumlo rustica .... 



,, filifera .... 



,, daiuica..., 

 Cotvle sinensis .... 



,, concolor 



Ababil. Common 



Swallow. 



Ababil. Leislira. 



Wire-tailed Swal- 

 low. 



Ababil. Red-rumped 

 Swallow. 



Abali. Bank Martin. 



Abali. Crag Mai tin 



4.11 three swallows 

 are permanent 

 inhabitants of 

 wooded and hilly 

 districts of the 

 Central Provin- 

 ces. 

 Lives in the vicinity 



of sandy rivers and 



nallas 

 Bare. Hilly and 



wooded districts. 



From March to 

 October, accord- 

 ing to locality. 



From November 

 to June. 



