244 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



summer and winter plumages are alike 

 in this bird. * Sixthly, this bird has no 

 spring moult." 



Motacilla maderaspatensis is the 

 largest bird of the Wagtail group in 

 India. While all the other 

 Distnbu- species of Wagtails move out 

 of India with the advent of 

 summer, this bird has made this country 

 its permanent home, adding its merry 

 and musical voice to the minstrelsy of 

 the Indian countryside. Its range ex- 

 tends from Sind and Kashmir in the west 

 to Behar and Chota Nagpur in the east, 

 and from the lower ranges of the Hima- 

 layas in the north to Ceylon in the south. 

 Though one is likely to meet with the 

 bird everywhere in India, it is more 

 locally distributed than many birds with 

 as wide a range. In certain places they 

 are to be found in large numbers, 

 wdiile in others only a few stragglers are 

 to be seen. For example, in the town 

 of Poona, large numbers of the Large 



