ii PREFACE. 



In the first volume, part of the first great division of the 

 Avifauna of British India was treated of viz., the carnivorous 

 and rapacious kinds, which by the aid of their piercing sight 

 and some by their developed sense of smell discover their 

 prey from immeasurable heights. Several groups of Passeri- 

 forme birds were also dealt with. In the present volume, 

 which is more than double the size of the first, the remaining 

 divisions are treated of, beginning with some of the Turdidae 

 and Timelidae, or birds which though ordinarily less noticed, 

 are nevertheless of much service in the economy of nature, in 

 keeping down the myriads of insects which infest the earth 

 and atmosphere. The total number of species as now as- 

 certained and dealt with in this work is 1,460, or 452 in excess 

 of the number described by the late Dr. Jerdon in his u Birds 

 of India." The distribution in India of this number, so far 

 as it has been possible to collate information, is shown in the 

 following table : 



Sind 419 Guzerat 296 



Punjab 476 Concan 323 



N.-W. Provinces 623 Deccan 334 



Bengal 541 South India 557 



Oudh 401 British Burmah 754 



Rajputana 286 Nepaul 541 



Kutch 328 Beloochistan 299 



Central India 348 Persia 263 



Central Provinces , 302 Afghanistan 275 



It will be seen from the distribution table that it is chiefly 

 the migrant forms which are more generally distributed, as the 

 Motacillidae, Emberizidae and the waders and swimmers, and 

 naturally, following in their wake, the rapacious species. As- 

 similation of climatic conditions as affecting this distribution 

 may be easily judged from the number of species occurring 

 in each of the countries above named, while the number 



