XXI 



of the king of songsters, the Nightingale, 

 in a volume on song-birds may need some 

 explanation, specially when it is so often 

 seen in Bengal as a caged pet. It is never 

 found in a wild state here. In fact, there 

 was, and perhaps still is, some doubt as to 

 its being an Indian bird ; but I find that 

 Mr. Stuart Baker has included it in his 

 Hand-list of Indian birds. Another cao-ed 

 pet, not treated of in this book, is the 

 Calandra Lark {Melanocori/pha maxima ), 

 known to Indians as the "Jal". It is 

 largely imported from China and is never 

 found in the plains of India. Though an 

 allied species of this Lark — Melanocorypha 

 himaculata — is a winter visitor to the 

 north-western parts of India, it is seldom 

 caught for the cage, people preferring the 

 Chinese bird. Among other birds not 

 noticed here are a few songsters like the 

 Fantail Fly-catcher ( Rliipidura alhifron- 

 tata) and the Purple Sun-bird {Arachne- 

 cJithra asiatica) which, though found 

 plentifully in Bengal, are unknown as pet 



