PREFACE 



I FEAR that the patience of those who have been 

 ■awaiting this Httle book must be well-nigh ex- 

 hausted, so long has it been in appearing. I 

 began it two years ago, but had to put it aside 

 during the last few months spent in India 

 prior to taking furlough, on account of the 

 heavy work the threatening famine entailed ; 

 and when one is on furlough one only works 

 at the rare times when there is nothing better 

 to do ! 



The object of this book is to enable people 

 interested in our Indian birds to identify at 

 sight those they are likely to meet with in 

 their compounds and during their excursions 

 into the jungle. 



There are several good systematic works on 

 Indian ornithology, but the descriptions in 

 these presuppose that the reader has the 

 specimen in his hand and is able to examine 

 it leisurely, feather by feather. To do this 

 it is necessary to kill the bird in question 



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