Birds of the Indian Hills 



and the hills of South-west India ; hence 

 Jerdon called this species the Nilgiri or Ghaut 

 black bulbul. Men of science in their wisdom 

 have given the Himalayan bird the sibilant 

 name of Hypsipetes psaroides. The inelegance 

 of the appellation perhaps explains why the 

 bird has been permitted to retain it for quite a 

 long while unchanged. 



I have been charged with unnecessarily mak- 

 ing fun of ornithological nomenclature. As a 

 matter of fact, I have dealt far too leniently 

 with the peccadillos of the ornithological 

 systematist. Recently a book was published 

 in the United States entitled The Birds of 

 Illinois and Wisconsin. Needless to state that 

 while the author was writing the book, ornitho- 

 logical terminology underwent many changes ; 

 but the author was able to keep pace with 

 these and with those that occurred while the 

 various proofs were passing through the press. 

 It was after this that his real troubles began. 

 Several changes took place between the interval 

 of the passing of the final proof and the appear- 

 ance of the book, so that the unfortunate 

 author in his desire to be up to date had to 

 insert in each volume a slip to the effect that 



the American Ornithologists' Union had in the 

 142 



