Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



like another. Unfortunately it does not visit 

 gardens in this country, and is not a very 

 common bird. 



THE FRINGILLID^E OR FINCH FAMILY 



The vulgar sparrow and the immaculate 

 canary are members of this large and flourish- 

 ing family of birds. The distinguishing feature 

 of the finches is a massive beak, admirably 

 adapted to the husking of the grain on which 

 the members of the family feed largely. In 

 some species, as for example the grosbeaks, 

 the bill is immensely thick. Only one species 

 of grosbeak appears to be common in the 

 Himalayas. This is Pycnorhamphus icteroides, 

 the black-and-yellow grosbeak. The colour- 

 ing of the cock is so like that of the black- 

 headed oriole that it is doubtless frequently 

 mistaken for the latter. 



This bird forms the subject of a separate 

 essay, where it is fully described. 



The Himalayan greenfinch (Hypacanthis 

 spinoides) is an unobtrusive little bird that 

 loves to sit at the summit of a tree and utter 

 a forlorn peee fifty times a minute. It is a 

 dull green bird with some yellow on the head, 



7i 



