Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



a king-crow of which the black plumage has 

 worn grey like an old broadcloth coat. 



The handsome Bhimraj or larger racket-tailed 

 drongo {Dissemurus paradiseus), a glorified 

 king-crow with a tail fully 20 inches in length, 

 is a Himalayan bird, but he dwells far from 

 the madding crowd, and is not likely to be 

 seen at any hill station except as a captive. 



THE CERTHIIDiE OR WREN FAMILY 



The only member of this family common 

 about our hill stations is the Himalayan tree- 

 creeper {Certhia himalayana). This is a small 

 brown bird, striped and barred with black, 

 which spends the day creeping over the trunks 

 of trees seeking its insect quarry. It is an 

 unobtrusive creature, and, as its plumage as- 

 similates very closely to the bark over which 

 it crawls, it would escape observation more 

 often than it does, but for its call, which is a 

 shrill one. 



THE SYLVIID^ OR WARBLER FAMILY 

 The sylviidae comprise a large number of 

 birds of small size and, with a few exceptions, 

 of plain plumage. The result is that the 



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