PREFACE

It is not of the bigger jungle folk that I write—oflions, tigers, leopards, bears, bison, or even deer andantelopes; for of these it is vouchsafed to no man—noteven to the shikari, who spends years in the jungle—toobtain more than an occasional fleeting glimpse.

The subjects of my theme are the lesser fry—vivaciousmynas, noisy babblers, vociferous cuckoos, silentherons, beautiful pittas, graceful wagtails, elegantterns, melodious rock-chats, cheeky squirrels.

A cheery crowd are these. The man who passes hisdays in India without knowing them misses much of thepleasure of life.

D. DEWAR.

CONTENTS

PAGE

I. Of Indian Birds in General 3

II. Respectable Cuckoos 9

III. The Brown Rock-Chat 16

IV. The Scavenger-in-Waiting 21

V. Indian Wagtails 28

VI. The Teesa 32

VII. Falconry in India 37

VIII. Hawks in Miniature 45

IX. The Roosting of the Bee-Eaters 51

X. Owls 56

XI. A Bundle of Iniquity 62

XII. The Interpretation of the Actions of Animals 68

XIII. At the Sign of the Farash 72

XIV. The Coot 78

XV. The Beautiful Porphyrio 84

XVI. The Cobra 89

XVII. The Mungoose 94

XVIII. The Swan 99

XIX. Kites of the Sea 104

XX. River Terns 110

XXI. Green Bulbuls 116

XXII. Cormorants 121

XXIII. A Melodious Drongo 126

...