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[Illustration: THE GREY PELICAN. (PELECANUS PHILIPPENSIS)]




                                BIRDS OF
                               THE PLAINS


                    BY DOUGLAS DEWAR, F.Z.S., I.C.S.
                       WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
                    FROM PHOTOGRAPHS OF LIVING BIRDS
                   BY CAPTAIN F. D. S. FAYRER, I.M.S.


                   LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
                   NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMIX

           WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH




                                PREFACE


It is easy enough to write a book. The difficulty is to sell the
production when it is finished. That, however, is not the author’s
business. Nevertheless, the labours of the writer are not over when he
has completed the last paragraph of his book. He has, then, in most
cases, to find a title for it.

This, I maintain, should be a matter of little difficulty. I regard a
title as a mere distinguishing mark, a brand, a label, a something by
which the book may be called when spoken of—nothing more.

According to this view, the value of a title lies, not in its
appropriateness to the subject-matter, but in its distinctiveness.

To illustrate: some years ago a lady entered a bookseller’s shop and
asked for “Drummond’s latest book—_Nux Vomica_.” The bookseller without a
word handed her _Lux Mundi_.

To my way of thinking _Lux Mundi_ is a good title inasmuch as no other
popular book has one like it. So distinctive is it that even when
different words were substituted the bookseller at once knew what was
intended. That the view here put forward does not find favour with the
critics may perhaps be inferred by the exception many of them took to the
title of my last book—_Bombay Ducks_.

While commending my view to their consideration, I have on this occasion
endeavoured to meet them by resorting to a more orthodox designation. I
am, doubtless, pursuing a risky policy. Most of the reviewers were kind
enough to say that _Bombay Ducks_ was a good book with a bad title. When
criticising the present work they may reverse the adjectives. Who knows?

                                                                   D. D.




                                CONTENTS


                                                                     PAGE
  I. British Birds in the Plains of India                               1
  II. The Bird in Blue                                                 10
  III. Sparrows in the Nursery                                         16
  IV. The Care of Young Birds after they leave the Nest                23
  V. The Adjutant Bird                                                 29
  VI. The Sarus                                                        35
  VII. The Stability of Species                                        40
  VIII. The Amadavat                                                   46
  IX. The Nutmeg Bird                                                  52
  X. The Did-he-do-it                                                  56
  XI. Cobbler or Tailor?                                               62
  XII. A Crow in Colours                                               68
  XIII. Up-to-date Species Making                                      73
  XIV. Honeysuckers                                                    78
  XV. A Hewer of Wood                                                  84
  XVI. A Feathered Sprinter                                            89
  XVII. A Bird of Character                                            94
  XVIII. Swifts                                                        99
  XIX. Birds as Automata                                              104
  XX. Playing Cuckoo                                                  111
  XXI. The Koel                                                       117
  XXII. The Common Doves of India                                     124
  XXIII. Doves in a Verandah                                          130
  XXIV. The Golden Oriole                                             135
  XXV. The Barn Owl                                                   140
  XXVI. A Tree-top Tragedy                                            145
  XXVII. Two Little Birds                                             150
  XXVIII. The Paradise Flycatcher                                     156
  XXIX. Butcher Birds                                                 163
  XXX. Ducks                                                          168
  XXXI. A Dethroned Monarch                                           173
  XXXII. Birds in the Rain                                            178
  XXXIII. The Weaver Bird                                             183
  XXXIV. Green Parrots                                                190
  XXXV. The Roosting of the Sparrows                                  197
  XXXVI. A Gay Deceiver                                               202
  XXXVII. The Emerald Merops                                          208
  XXXVIII. Do Animals Think?                                          213
  XXXIX. A Couple of Neglected Craftsmen                              219
  XL. Birds in their Nests                                            224
  XLI. Bulbuls                                                        229
  XLII. The Indian Corby                                              235




                              ILLUSTRATIONS


  The Grey Pelican (_Pelecanus philippensis_), a Bird
          of the Plains                                    _Frontispiece_
  The White-breasted Kingfisher (_Halcyon smyrnensis_)                  4
  The Redshank (_Totanus calidris_), one of the British Birds found
          in India                                                      8
  The Indian Roller, or “Blue Jay” (_Coracias indica_)                