Ornithological and Other Oddities 



the avadavat in the wild state, when I saw two 

 cock birds in some long grass, far away from any 

 habitation. Yet, in the Tiretta Bazaar, the bird- 

 market of Calcutta, may constantly be seen scores 

 of the little red, white-dotted fellows and their 

 brown mates, for numbers are captured for sale. 

 So with the other little finches. I once observed 

 a few of the little drab Indian silver-bills coming 

 down to drink at a singularly filthy little pond, 

 and I seem to recollect once coming across 

 the black-headed mannikin. With the spangle- 

 breasted nutmeg-bird, or spice-bird, I met more 

 frequently. Some nested in the grounds of the 

 Forest School at Dehra Dun, in which district I 

 met with the other finches I have mentioned. 

 In travelling by rail, also, one frequently sees 

 trees ornamented with the curious hanging nests 

 of the Indian weaver-birds, conspicuous from a 

 great distance. 



The starlings, unlike the finches, are very 

 much in evidence in India. But here again, the 

 species best known at home, the heavy black 

 yellow-wattled hill-mynah, so renowned as a 

 talker, is not a bird one is likely to come across 

 casually ; I only once saw it, and that was in the 

 Andaman Islands, where I recognised a pair on 

 the wing. The mynah of India, par excellence, 

 is the always charming house-mynah, a brown 

 bird with yellow bill, face and feet, and black- 



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