NESTING IN WESTERN INDIA. 307 



These notes are now finished, and I must ask my brother oologists 

 in the Western Presidency to overlook their many shortcomings ; the 

 omissions and mistakes are possibly many, but this is to be looked for 

 in the present imperfect state of our information. 



Should the publication of them result in calling the attention of 

 naturalists and sportsmen to the meagre extent of the knowledge we 

 possess of the breeding of birds in Western India, more especially in 

 the outlying portions, such as Ratnagiri and Kanara in the south, 

 theRunn of Cutch in the west, and Upper Sind in the north, and lead 

 them to place on record in the pages of the Journal of the Bombay 

 Natural History Society all they already know, and any new facts 

 that they may learn hereafter, the object for which they were 

 written will be accomplished. 



Many of the names used have long been obsolete, but at the time 

 I commenced the compilation, now nearly four years ago, the latest 

 complete information within my reach was Mr. Hume's catalogue, 

 published in Stray Feathers, and as most Indian collections were then 

 arranged on this basis, I thought it best to adhere closely to it, although 

 in many instances I was of course aware that the names were out of 

 date, and it would have been easy to have made partial corrections. 

 The publication of Hume's "Nests and Eggs," 2nd Edition, edited 

 by Mr. Oates, has now made this an easy matter to rectify, and I 

 have added a list that will make the notes intelligible to those in 

 possession of that invaluable book. 



In the earlier parts I had the able assistance of Mr. Davidson, 

 C.S., who kindly examined the manuscript before publication, and it 

 is to his extensive knowledge of birds and their ways that many of 

 the notes are due. Unfortunately for me, he went home on furlough, 

 and I lost his help and advice. 



To Mr. H. Littledale, B.A., of Baroda, my thanks are also due. 

 He generously made over to me all his notes on the breeding of birds 

 in his vicinity. I have most unhesitatingly made use of all infor- 

 mation accessible to me, more especially from the pages of Stray 

 Feathers, where most of the experiences of Captain (now Colonel) 

 Butler and Mr. S. Doig are recorded. 



I regret that I have been unable to make much use of the 2nd 

 Edition of " Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," as almost all of these 

 notes were completed, and indeed printed before its publication. 



