PREFACE. 
ARRAAR Aw ae 
Tue first volume by Mr. Oates on the Birds of British 
India was pnblished in 1889 under the editorship of Dr. 
W. T. Blanford and it was then estimated that in this 
and the three succeeding volumes the number of species 
dealt with would exceed those enumerated in Jerdon’s 
classical ‘* Birds of India” by more than one half. Mr. 
Oates had been able to come to England on furlough and 
was thus able to utilize the collection of Indian birds in 
the British Museum, which included amongst other large 
collections Mr. Hume’s collection of 60,000 skins. The 
second of the volumes written by Mr. Oates appeared the 
following year but as he was unable to obtain an extension 
of his two years’ furlough he had to be content with issuing 
a somewhat smaller volume than usual. Still, he sueceeded 
in covering the whole of the Passerine birds, the largest 
and most difficult of all the great orders. 
The two remaining volumes on Birds were written by 
Dr. W. T. Blantord and published respectively in 1895 and 
1895. 
These volumes on Birds have been for many years out of 
print, and there has been a constant demand for a re-issue of 
them. It is therefore with great pleasure that with the 
sanction of the authorities of the India Office I have been 
able to secure the services of Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker in 
preparing this much needed new edition. 
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