AH rights reserved. May, 1911. 



BIRD NOTES: 



THE 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



Indian Sunbirds. 



By Douglas Uewar, I.C.S., F.Z.S. 



Sunbirds or Honeysuckers as they are sometimes called, 

 are to the tropics of the Old World what Humming Birds are 

 to the ^varmer portions of the New World. 



Sunbirds are tiny feathered exquisites which vary in 

 length from 3-J to 5 inches, including a bill of considerable 

 length for the size of the bird. 



They are numbered among the most familiar birds 

 of India, owing to their abundance, and their partiality to 

 gardens. They occur all the year round in the warmer parts 

 of the peninsula, but leave the coldest regions for a short 

 time during the winter. 



Twenty-nine species of Sunbirds are described as be- 

 loiiging to the Indian Empire, but most of them are only local 

 in their disti'ibution. Three species, however, have a consider- 

 able range. These are the Arachnechthra asiatica, the Purple 

 Snnbird, which occurs throughout India and Burma, ascending 

 the hills to 5,000 feet; A. zeylonica, the Purple-rumped Sun- 

 bird, which is the commonest Sunbird in all parts of Southern 

 India, except Aladras, where the third species A. lotenia — 

 Loten's Sunbird, is perhaps more abundant. 



The genus Arachnechthra is characterised by a great 

 difference in appearance between the sexes. The hens of all 

 the species are very like one another, all are homely-looking 

 birds; dull greenish-brown above and pale yellow below. The 

 cocks of the various species are arrayed in metallic colours as 

 resplendent as those that decorate humming birds. The cock 

 Purple-rumped Sunbird is thus described by Mr. E. H. Aitken. 



" Seen at a distance and in a dull light, it is a tiny bird of 

 " a (lark Iirown colour, except on the breast and lower parts, which 



