Descriptive List of the Comiwm Birds 



rather smaller than a kite, but this ^vould con- 

 vey a very misleading idea of the magnitude 

 of the bird, the body of which is about the 

 same size as that of the bulbul. I shall accord- 

 ingly describe the paradise flycatcher as II, 

 i.e. a bird of the same size as the bulbul, but 

 shall note that the cock has a very long tail. 



In cases where birds build very characteristic 

 nests or have very characteristic songs or 

 habits, I shall mention these as aids to identifi- 

 cation. It must be remembered that this 

 little book is not a natural history of birds, 

 but merely a key to the identification of our 

 commoner Indian feathered friends. Having 

 identified a bird, the reader should refer to 

 some other writer for information regarding 

 its habits, etc. 



In order to simplify identification I shall 

 roughly indicate the distribution of each 

 species. If nothing is said about the distribu- 

 tion of any bird this means that it may be 

 found anywhere in the plains of India. If a 

 species occurs in all parts save one or more the 



words " Not found in " will occur in 



the description. If the distribution be local, 

 the description will contain the words '' Found 

 in ." 



91 



