PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 





THE SHAMA 



(CITTOCINCLA MACRURA) 



The Shama, as a songster, is entitled to 

 the first place in the whole feathered com- 

 mnnity of India, and for the matter of that, 

 in Bengal. Eor a competitor to whom it 

 yields in song, we have to look to regions 

 which are, strictly speaking, outside India, 

 to that unassuming bird which, despite its 

 homely beauty, has been rendered immortal 

 by its- vocal chaims — the Nightingale. 

 Though the Shama is overstepped by this 



