BIEDS OF INDIA DEWAR. 621 



A few must suffice. Pied wagtails {Motacilla maderaspatensis) , 

 brown rock chats {Cercomela fusca), which some believe to be the 

 " sparrows " of Scripture, sparrows proper, mynas (Acridotheres 

 tristis), spotted owlets {Athene hrama), doves (Turtur cambayensis) , 

 roller birds {Coracias indica)^ tits {Parus monticola), swifts {Cyp- 

 selus afjinis), and robins {Thamnohia camhaiensis) , have all, at some 

 time or other, elected to share my bungalow with me, building in the 

 walls, under the roof of the veranda, or on a window ledge. Simi- 

 larly hoopoes (Upupa indica) and magpie robins {Copsychus sau- 

 laris) frequently have nested in holes in the mud walls of servants' 

 houses in the compound. Tailor birds {Orthotomus sutorius), sun- 

 birds of two species {Arachnechthra asiatica and A. zeylonica) and 

 bulbuls of three {Molpastes hoemorrhous^ M. hengalensis, and 31. 

 intermedins) have constructed their nests amid the leaves of plants 

 growing in pots on my veranda. In the garden, within 30 or 40 

 yards of the house, the following have brought up their families: 

 King doves {Turtur risorius), paradise flycatchers {Terpsiphone 

 paradisi), fantailed flycatchers {Rhijndura alhifrontata) ^ house 

 crows {Corvus splendens), corbies {Corvus macrorhynchus) , tree 

 pies {Dendrocitta rufa), crow pheasants {Centropus sinensis), 

 paddy birds {Ardeola grayi)^ green barbets {Thereiceryx seylonicus) , 

 coppersmiths {Xantholmma hcematocephala) , woodpeckers {Bra- 

 chypternus aurantius), green parrots {Palceornis 7iepale7isis and P. 

 torquatus), shikras {Astur hadius), kingfishers {Halcyon smyrnen- 

 sis, Alcedo ispida, and Ceryle 7'udis), babblers {Crateropus canorus 

 and Argya caudata) ^\ntQS {Milvus govinda), orioles (Oriolus kundoo, 

 O. melanocephala) ^ king crows {Dicrurus ater), and others which I 

 either omitted to notice or fail to recollect. 



Verily is the Indian avifauna one of superlatives. Judging from 

 what I have read of the feathered folk that inhabit other parts of 

 the world, it seems to me that the birds of India are more interesting 

 than those of America, Africa, or Australia, and infinitely more so 

 than the poverty-stricken collection found in Europe. This opinion, 

 I would add, is shared by Mr. Frank Finn, whose knowledge of the 

 birds of the world is as great as that of any man living. 



WEALTH OF SPECIES. 



Not the least important feature of the avifauna of India is its 

 wealth of species. Oates and Blanford describe over sixteen hun- 

 dred of these. Among Indian birds are numbered 108 different kinds 

 of warbler, 56 woodpeckers, 30 cuckoos, the same number of ducks, 

 28 starlings, 17 butcher birds, 16 kingfishers, and 8 crows. 



The richness of the fauna is accounted for by the wide differences 

 in the climate of the various provinces of India, and by the fact 



