4 INTRODUCTORY, 



Crawford Market, which wander about the island in 

 vagabondage until the crows kill them, or settle 

 down and make themselves comfortable among us. 

 I have heard a cockatoo making the primasval forests 

 of Cumballa Hill echo with the joyful roar of free- 

 dom. A Persian Bulbul once escaped from one of 

 my own cages and re-appeared next morning with a 

 companion ! If I remember I caught them both. 

 Canaries of course are common. I once caught a 

 fine one with my hand in one of our churches, I 

 had better not say which, though the Bishop 

 and the Archdeacon of that time have both re- 

 tired. It came in during the service and perched 

 above the pulpit, where the sermon soon put 

 it to sleep. But the most perplexing foreigners 

 are those which find that the climate suits them 

 and make themselves at home. The Blue Java 

 vSparrow is an example. I should not be much 

 surprised if I found that bird making its nest in some 

 bush about Worlee or Sewree. In these circum- 

 stances I have decided to protect myself with the title 

 The Common Birds of Bombay. If anybody con- 

 victs me of omitting a well-known bird, I can 

 maintain that it is not "common " as I understand 

 the term. And if I succeed in making it even a little 

 easier for any one to take an intelligent and kindly 

 interest in the lives of those bright beings which do 

 so much to enliven our surroundings, still more if I 

 succeed in any measure in staying the hand of 

 slaughter, whether raised in the name of sport or 

 science, I shall have my reward. 



Birds constitute the second class of the vertebrate 

 animals, being higher than the reptiles in that their 



