Birds of the Indian Hills 



brief descriptions of four species, each of which 

 is to be seen daily in every hill station of the 

 Western Himalayas. 



The green-backed tit {Parus monticola) is a 

 glorified edition of our English great tit. It is 

 a bird considerably smaller than a sparrow. 



The cheeks are white, the rest of the head is 

 black, as are the breast and a characteristic line 

 running along the abdomen. The back is 

 greenish yellow, the lower parts are deep yellow. 

 The wings are black with two white bars, 

 the tail is black tipped with white. This is 

 one of the commonest birds in most hill 

 stations. 



Like the sparrow, it is ever ready to rear up 

 its brood in a hole in the wall of a house. Any 

 kind of a hole will do, provided the aperture 

 is too small to admit of the entrance of birds 

 larger than itself. 



The nesting operations of a pair of green- 

 backed tits form the subject of a separate 

 essay. 



Another tit much in* evidence is the yellow- 

 cheeked tit, Macblolophus xanthogenys. I apolo- 

 gise for its scientific name. Take a green- 

 backed tit, paint its cheeks bright yellow, and 



give it a black crest tipped with yellow, and 



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