Preface 
book are short ones, and each is an attempt 
to depict the bird as it looks when perched in 
a tree or during flight. Sometimes the de- 
scription given may appear to differ from 
those given in The Fauna of British India, or 
in Jerdon’s Birds of India. ‘The reason of the 
apparent discrepancy is that the descriptions 
of the birds in these latter books are those of 
the skins of dead birds, while mine are at- 
tempts to depict the bird as he appears in 
the flesh. 
In a few cases I have described birds from 
memory, and sometimes my memory may 
have played me false. I shall be most grate- 
ful to anyone who will be kind enough to 
point out to me any errors. One of the 
greatest of the difficulties I have experienced 
is to know what birds to insert and what to 
leave out of this book. It is a key only to the 
common birds of the plains, and deals with 
about one-fifth of the feathered inhabitants. 
I have purposely omitted the game birds 
from my list. ‘These are usually shot at sight ; 
it is therefore not necessary for me to burden 
this book with them. There is no lack of good 
books that enable the sportsman to identify 
the birds he has shot. I may mention Marshall 
8 
