Common Birds of Western Himalayas 



but a blood relation of the kingfishers and bee- 

 eaters. 



Two true jays, however, are common in the 

 Western Himalayas. These are known to 

 science as the Himalayan jay {Garrulus bis- 

 pecularis) and the black-throated jay (G. 

 lanceolatus). The former is a fawn-coloured 

 bird, with a black moustachial streak. As 

 birds do not usually indulge in moustaches, this 

 streak renders the bird an easy one to identify. 

 The tail is black, and the wing has the charac- 

 teristic blue band with narrow black cross-bars. 

 This species goes about in large noisy flocks. 

 Once at Naini Tal I came upon a flock which 

 cannot have numbered fewer than forty in- 

 dividuals. 



The handsome black-throated jay is a bird 



that must be familiar to every one who visits a 



Himalayan hill station with his eyes open. 



Nevertheless no one seems to have taken the 



trouble to write about it. Those who have 



compiled lists of birds usually dismiss it in 



their notes with such adjectives as " abundant," 



and "very common." It is remarkable that 



many popular writers should have discoursed 



upon the feathered folk of the plains, while 



few have devoted themselves to the interesting 



33 c 



