Produced by Ron Swanson BIRDS OF THE INDIAN HILLS BY DOUGLAS DEWAR _A COMPANION VOLUME TO THE BIRD VOLUMES OF "THE FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA"_ LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY TORONTO: BELL & COCKBURN MCMXV _All rights reserved_ Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh Considerable portions of this book have already appeared as articles in one or other of the following newspapers or periodicals: _The Pioneer_, _Madras Mail_, _Englishman_, _Indian Field_, _Bird Notes_. I am indebted to the editors of the above publications for permission to republish the portions of the book that have already appeared in print. CONTENTS PART I BIRDS OF THE HIMALAYAS . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 THE HABITAT OF HIMALAYAN BIRDS . . . . . . 13 THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS . 29 THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE EASTERN HIMALAYAS . 105 TITS AT WORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 THE PEKIN-ROBIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 BLACK BULBULS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 A WARBLER OF DISTINCTION . . . . . . . . . 145 THE SPOTTED FORKTAIL . . . . . . . . . . . 151 THE NEST OF THE GREY-WINGED OUZEL . . . . . 158 THE BLACK-AND-YELLOW GROSBEAK . . . . . . . 164 THE GREAT HIMALAYAN BARBET . . . . . . . . 174 PART II THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE NILGIRIS . . . . . . . 181 PART III THE COMMON BIRDS OF THE PALNI HILLS . . . . . . 233 APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 _PART I_ _Birds of the Himalayas_ _INTRODUCTION_ The avifauna of the Himalayas is a large one. It includes birds found throughout the range, birds confined to the eastern or western portions, birds resident all through the year, birds that are mere seasonal visitors, birds found only at high elevations, birds confined to the lower hills, birds abundant everywhere, birds nowhere common. Most ornithological books treat of all these sorts and conditions of birds impartially, with the result that the non-ornithological reader who dips into them finds himself completely out of his depth.