Descriptive List of the Common Birds 
rather smaller than a kite, but this would con- 
vey a very misleading idea of the magnitude 
of the bird, the body of which is about the. 
same size as that of the bulbul. I shall accord- 
ingly describe the paradise flycatcher as I, 
i.e. a bird of the same size as the bulbul, but 
shall note that the cock has a very long tail. 
In cases where birds build very characteristic 
nests or have very characteristic songs or 
habits, I shall mention these as aids to identifi- 
cation. It must be remembered that this 
little book is not a natural history of birds, 
but merely a key to the identification of our 
commoner Indian feathered friends. Having 
identified a bird, the reader should refer to 
some other writer for information regarding 
its habits, etc. 
In order to simplify identification I shall 
roughly indicate the distribution of each 
species. If nothing is said about the distribu- 
tion of any bird this means that it may be 
found anywhere in the plains of India. If a 
species occurs in all parts save one or more the 
words “ Not found in ——” will occur in 
the description. If the distribution be local, 
the description will contain the words “ Found 
in ——.” 
gl 
