BIRDS 



Industrial 



Roller. 



Bustards. 



Plumes. 



Florican. 



Most Delicious 

 of Game Birds. 



Bustard 

 Feathers. 



Jungle-fowl. 



Manufacture of 

 Fishing-flies. 



Large Egret. 



Seasons. 



Decomposed 

 Feathers. 



Aigrette. 



Trade. 



Adjutant. 



THE ECONOMIC BIRDS OF INDIA 



the skins fetching Rs. 15 to Rs. 20. This for the entire village would make a 

 destruction of thousands a year. Decoys are used, namely, live birds with their 

 eyes sewn up. 



Coracias indica (I.e. Hi., 103), the Indian Roller, the Blue Jay of 

 Europeans or nilkant, sabzak, ids, pdlu pitta, kattu kadei. As already men- 

 tioned, this is perhaps the most extensively killed for its beautiful plumage of 

 all the Indian birds, and as it is helpful to the cultivators, its destruction is to 

 be greatly deplored. 



Eupodotis edwardsli (I.e. iv., 192 et seq.), the Great Indian Bustard, 

 the sohun, hukna, hum, tokdar, tugdar, bat-meka, kanal-myle, etc. Met with 

 throughout India except in Bihar, Chota Nagpur, Orissa, Bengal. It is usually 

 found singly or in twos or threes, and keeps chiefly to the open dry country, especi- 

 ally wastes covered with low grass and scattered cultivation. It feeds on insects, 

 especially grasshoppers, small reptiles, fruit, grain, shoots of grass, etc. In 

 the Ain-i-Akbari mention is made of the okar feathers of Kashmir. Baden- 

 Powell gives the name onkar to the feathers used in making kalgi, the plumes 

 of the khod or helmet. These were probably the black feathers of a Bustard, or 

 of the Snake-bird (see below). onftr Macwteeni, the Houbara bustard or 

 hobdra, tilur, talur, etc. A cold- weather visitor to North -Western India, Panjab, 

 Sind, Rajputana, Kach and Northern Gujarat. otin tetnix, the Little Bustard 

 or chota tilur, met with in the Panjab. Lastly, .*>i//ieo/i atu-ita, the Lesser 

 Florican or likh, chota charat, charas, barsdti, ker mor, tan-mor, chini-mor, niala 

 nimili, etc. Also .*. i>rugaienniti. the Bengal Florican. These birds are found at 

 times throughout India from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, but the former 

 chiefly inhabits the Peninsula south of the Godavari in whiter, and breeds in the 

 Deccan, Western and Central Provinces, Central India, Rajputana, etc. The 

 latter occurs in the country from the foot of the Himalaya and the Ganges to 

 the plains of Assam. Blanford observes of the former that the numbers are 

 being greatly reduced by the unsportsmanlike practice of shooting during the 

 breeding season. And of the latter he remarks that it is one of the most delicious 

 of game birds. 



But it may be said that most of the above-mentioned birds are or rather 

 have been killed on account of their plumage as well as for then* flesh. Bustard 

 feathers constantly appear in the Madras trade reports. 



Callus ferrugineus (I.e. iv., 75), the Red Jungle-fowl or jangal-murgh 

 (male), jangli-murghi (female) ; common throughout the Lower Himalaya from 

 Assam to Kashmir. Also *'. sou--/i, the Grey Jungle-fowl or komri, koli, 

 etc., of South, West and Central India. 



The wild fowls, though killed mainly for food, afford skins that are as a 

 rule preserved and sold. The wild fowl ot South India is specially valued for 

 making artificial fishing-flies; its golden or ferruginous spotted feathers are 

 unsurpassed for certain purposes, and fetch higher prices than do most other 

 feathers met with in the market. 



Herodias alba (I.e. iv., 385), the Large Egret, mallang-bagla, tar-bagla, 

 bara-bagla, pedda-tella-konga, mala-konga, vella-koku, etc. Found throughout 

 India and Burma ; often seen solitary but in association with either of the next 

 two species. In North India and Burma it breeds in July and August, 

 and in the Karnatak in December to February. Also MI. gnrxetta the 

 Little Egret or kilchia, nella-nucha-konga. Common throughout India and 

 Burma. Lastly n. intn-tm-rtia. the Smaller Egret, patokha bagla, patangkha, 

 etc. Met with throughout India and Northern Burma. The breeding season 

 is the same as that of the large egret. These pure white, slim herons 

 develop temporarily during the breeding season a dorsal train of feathers, which 

 elongates and becomes " decomposed," as it is expressed, that is to say, the 

 barbs are separate and distant from each other, thus forming the ornamental 

 plume or aigrette for which these birds are much sought after and ruthlessly 

 destroyed . 



The present trade in Egret and Bustard feathers seems to be chiefly in the 

 hands of Madras traders. Some time ago Commercolly in Bengal was famed 

 for its egret feathers, and these were used for head-dresses, tippets, boas and 

 muffs. Although this trade still exists in Darbhanga, Purneah and Maldah, 

 the birds are becoming very scarce. It would seem that at the present day the 

 chief Indian supply is from Madras. 



Leptoptilus dublus (I.e. iv., 373), the Adjutant, or hargild, garur, chaniari 

 dhauk,.dusta, pinigala-konga, don-zat, pir-e-dang, etc. A useful scavenger that 



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