42 THE DENIZENS OF THE FOREST 



the hum and crackle of insects. In this respect we 

 are disappointed. 



But the birds of Sikkim, if few in number, are 

 great in variety. Birds feed on fruits, berries, 

 seeds, insects, grubs, caterpillars, small animals, and 

 even little birds. Some birds like a still, hot, damp 

 climate. Other birds like a cold, dry climate. 

 Some birds like the shade and quiet and protection 

 of the forest. Others like the open and the sun- 

 shine. Some birds find their food in the water, 

 others on the land. And the Sikkim Himalaya, 

 from the plains to the mountains, provides such a 

 rich variety of plant and insect life, such a variety 

 of climate and of country, and so plentiful a supply 

 of water, that birds of the widest difference of 

 requirements can here be provided with their needs. 



Consequently birds of numerous different species 

 make Sikkim their habitat, either permanently or for 

 certain seasons of the year. And Gammie, who has 

 specially studied the natural history of Sikkim, says 

 in the " Sikkim Gazetteer " that in no part of the 

 world of an equal area are birds more profusely 

 represented in species. The birds may not be so 

 numerous as in other parts, but they are more 

 varied. Between five and six hundred species are 

 represented, varying from the great vulture known 

 as the lammergeyer, which is 9 J feet across the out- 

 stretched wing, down to the tiny flower-pecker, 

 barely exceeding 3 inches from the end of its beak 

 to the tip of its tail. 



Of the birds found in the forest itself, the honey- 

 suckers or sun-birds are perhaps the most beautiful. 

 There are no gorgeous birds of paradise, and even 



