INTRODUCTION. xili 



holes in wells, caverns, and in old decayed trees ; Woodpeckers in 

 holes in trees; Kingfishers in the banks of streams; the Swallow tribe 

 build nests composed of mud plaster and feathers against the face of a 

 wall, or under a roof or bridge, while others again, as the Byah or 

 Weaver-bird, Honeysuckers, &c., build pensile nests, and all song- 

 sters nearly, of the Timeliinae, group make small nests in bushes or 

 shrubs; and with an instinctive knowledge endeavour to hide their 

 nests by various artifices, as covering them with cobwebs, lichen, or 

 plaster to give them the appearance of the surroundings of the nest. 



Of the Avian inhabitants of India nearly one-half are known to 

 breed in the country. A great number go no further than the 

 Himalayan range, while the rest may be said to be resident members, 

 and to breed on the plains. 



It is not necessary to refer to the geographical distribution of 

 species, nor to divide the country into geographical regions, as the 

 table at the end of the volume will sufficiently show the first, and the 

 text the latter, while it is patent to all that humid countries comprise 

 birds of bright plumage, and those of the plains of duller plumage, 

 and in consonance with the nature of the surroundings. The geogra- 

 phical distribution of species has been worked out from all the 

 materials available. 



It is above half a century since Major Franklin, who was the 

 first writer on Indian Ornithology, published a paper on the Ornitho- 

 logy of India. This paper appeared in the Proceedings of the 

 Zoological Society of London. Colonel Tickell soon followed by pub- 

 lishing in the Asiatic Society's Journal a list of the Birds of Bhorabum 

 and Dholbum. Another equally energetic naturalist was Col. Sykes, 

 who in 1832 began his Catalogue of the Birds of the Deccan, and 

 continued his studies and publications for some years, not only of 

 birds but of the mammals and fish of the Mahratta Country so desig- 

 nated, while Mr. Brian Hodgson, who was attached as Resident 

 at the Court of Nepaul, added largely to the store of knowledge 

 of the avian inhabitants of the Himalayas. His contributions are 

 spread both in the Indian and Home scientific periodicals, and his 

 valuable MSS. and drawings, so largely referred to in every Orni- 



