4 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



the year the cocks are in undress plumage. In his 

 full splendour the male is glistening purple ; but 

 in August he loses nearly all his purple gloss and 

 becomes brownish above and ashy grey below, save 

 for a purple stripe running downwards from his chin. 

 The hen is at all times brown above and yellow below. 



The red-whiskered bulbuls (Otocompsa emeria) were 

 as numerous and as full of life and motion as the sun- 

 birds. Their tinkling notes mingled pleasantly with 

 the sharper tones of the other choristers. 



It is superfluous to state that two or three pairs of 

 doves were in that little hagh, and that one or other of 

 them never ceased to coo. 



Further, it goes without saying that there were red- 

 starts in that tope. The Indian redstart (Ruticilla 

 rufiventris) is one of the commonest birds in Oudh 

 during the winter months. During flight it looks like 

 a little ball of fire, because of its red tail : hence its old 

 English name, fire-tail. 



At intervals, a curious tew emanated from the 

 fohage. A short search sufficed to reveal the author — 

 the black-headed oriole (Oriolus melanocephalus) , a 

 glorious golden bird having the head and neck black 

 and some black in the wing. This creature seems never 

 to descend to the ground ; it dwells always in the 

 greenwood tree and its life is one long search for fruit, 

 caterpillars and other creeping things. 



The flycatchers were a pageant in themselves ; 

 there were more species in that tiny bagh than are to 

 be found in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland. 



First and foremost the fan-tailed flycatcher {Rhipt- 



