BIRDS 



Beneficial 



Protective 

 Legis- 

 lation. 



Legal Definition 

 of Wild Birds. 



Prohibition of 

 Exports. 



The Boiler. 



The Sun-bird. 



THE ECONOMIC BIKDS OF INDIA 



be referred to several sections, of which the following, taken up in alpha- 

 betical sequence, may serve to exemplify the chief facts and products 

 of value : 



1. Birds associated with Agricultural and Horticultural 

 operations, either beneficially or injuriously. W. L. Sclater (Ind. 

 Mm. Notes, ii., 119) gives the following as the chief insectivorous or 

 helpful birds : 



Accentorinm, the Hedge Sparrows ; Braciiyptci-yginw, Ground Babblers ; 

 Cafrimtilgitlo', Goatsuckers ; CertMtdte, Creepers ; Cornelian, Rollers ; 

 Crateropoaime, Babbling Thrushes ; Cueultam. Cuckoos ; Ci/p*e1iaee, Swifts ; 

 merit ritlai, Drongos or King Crows ; suriiittttniate, Swallows ; isnnHaw, 

 Shrikes and Minivets ; Liotrie.tti.Hai, loras and Green Bulbuls ; Meropiiitv, 

 Bee-eaters; jaotaeiinaat. Wagtails and Pipits; Muscienpiam. Fly-catchers; 

 Parti aoa-omitiii urn. Crowtits ; Piciitas, Woodpeckers ; FlttMat, Ground Thrushes ; 

 HiitifHiiiHe. Red-starts and Robins; Snxicoilnas, Chats; 8j/ivMm, Warblers ; 

 TiiHfiUnif, Solitary Babblers ; T'offoirfe,Trogons ; and rjmpifitv, the Hoopoes. 



In addition to these the following partake of a mixed diet, and are partly 

 insectivorous and partly fruit and grain feeders: .UamUdm, Larks; 

 Brachypoilime. Bulbuls ; Dica-idw, Flowerpickers ; FriugUliaas, Finches; 

 Gruitiat, Cranes; Xtiin.ie.oia>., Waders of all sorts; yectnriiiiam, Sun-birds; 

 Orlolidfe, Orioles ; ntiaiiias, Bustards ; PaHnw. Tits ; PHasiatiiaat, Pheasants ; 

 itiriiitin-. Rails ; siniinas Sibias, White-eyes, etc. ; sittltiw, Nuthatches ; 

 stiirnifiie. Starlings and Mynas ; Tetmonltia>, Partridges ; Tm-attife, Thrushes ; 

 and Turnifiiite, Button Quails. 



It is highly important that the majority of the above-enumerated families of 

 birds should be protected against ruthless destruction. The conditions and 

 necessities of India are, however, so very different from those of Europe that 

 legislation, easy of application in the latter, often becomes next to impossible in 

 the former, where the customs of the people, their complex vested interests, their 

 immense numbers and the vastness of the territory they occupy, are facts of 

 supreme moment in the enforcement of even urgently needed legislation. To 

 Surgeon-General George Bidie, C.I.E., is due much of the credit for bringing about 

 the existing Indian legislation for the protection of birds. In 1887, however, the 

 Government of India brought into force a law for the " Protection of Wild Birds 

 and Game " (Act xx. of 1887) : this allowed Local Governments to define 

 Wild Birds and to fix the required close season within which it became illegal 

 to possess or sell certain birds. But as its operations were more or less restricted 

 to Cantonment and Municipal limits it exercised little repression on the most 

 objectionable aspects of the traffic, namely, the slaughter of plumage birds in 

 the rural tracts. Accordingly first the Madras, then the Bombay and finally 

 the Pan jab Government sought permission to extend the provisions of that 

 Act. Philanthropic institutions and individuals also continued to press on 

 the attention of the Government of India the desirability of amending the 

 Act. After a full consideration of all the circumstances and evidence His 

 Excellency Lord Curzon in Council issued a Notification (Sept. 19, 1902) which 

 prohibited the taking by sea or by land out of British India skins and feathers 

 . of all birds other than domestic except (a) feathers of ostriches and (6) skins 

 and feathers exported as bona fide specimens illustrative of natural history. 

 Thus an effectual check has been given to the reprehensible and destructive 

 traffic, for since no foreign market is now open to the fowler, the trade is prac- 

 tically destroyed. [Cf. Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., iv., 124.] 



But fortunately few of the purely insectivorous birds are either attractive 

 in plumage or in demand as edible birds. The exceptions are all the more 

 regrettable, viz. (a) The Blue Jay or Indian Roller, Coracian itiaica, the 

 nilkant, sabzak, tas, pdlu pitta, kattu kadei, etc. one of the most abundant 

 and typical of Indian birds. It is sacred to Siva and a constant associate of 

 the homestead and village lands. Its brilliantly coloured blue plumage led to its 

 wholesale destruction, many thousands of skins being annually sent to Europe. 

 (6) The Purple Sun-bird or Honey-sucker, the shakar khora, jugi jugi, than kudi, 

 etc. ; recently a deplorable trade had been organised in exporting the skins of 

 this beautiful and most useful bird. Happily the roller and the sun-bird will no 

 longer be trapped and snared, for the loss of the foreign market practically 

 means the discontinuance of the demand. 



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