Common Birds (India - The Land And The People)

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Ornithology or the study of birds is one of the few natural history subjects which has a growing following in this country. It would not be wrong to say that this interest has been mainly due to the books written by Dr. Salim Ali (1896-1987) who possessed the rare ability, among scientists, to communicate his interest to the layman. Based on a study of Indian bird life extending over four decades, Dr. Salim Ali's books and research papers made him an internationally recognized authority on Indian birds, a recognition which was amply confirmed by the honours bestowed on him by learned bodies in India and abroad and by the Government of India.

Laeeq Futehally, the co-author, is an ardent nature lover and freelance writer, who contributes regularly to many cultural magazines and periodicals. Foremost among her other interests is civic landscape gardening to provide a touch of beauty and grace to the drab environment of industrial centres and make them more attractive places for humans and birds to live in. She is the author of an excellent little English reader mainly for young learners of the language and the budding bird-watchers, entitled About Indian Birds.

ALL VERTEBRATE or backboned animal life in the world is divided into two classes, the warm-blooded animals and the cold blooded. The former group includes those whose blood keeps a constant temperature and is little affected by the temperature of the surrounding air. The latter group includes fishes, frogs and reptiles whose blood temperature changes with the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. The warm-blooded animals are further subdivided into Mammals (including human beings), which are covered with hair, bear live young and suckle them, and Birds, which are covered with feathers, lay eggs and as a rule incubate them with the heat of their bodies. It is with the method of classifying this group of Avians or Birds that we are here concerned.

Birds are easy to define. They are the only feathered creatures in the world. At first sight it might seem that all birds have most characteristics in common, since they all fly about, and build nests and lay eggs. A closer look will show that in fact bird life includes many forms which are very different from one another and which sometimes seem to bear very little relationship to one another after all. It includes the tiny humming bird which is not bigger than a man's thumb, and the ostrich which stands as high as a pony. It includes birds which can fly thousands of miles, and others like the penguins which cannot raise themselves off the ground. It includes birds which weave elaborate nests like the weaver birds, and others which lay their eggs straight on the ground without any preparation. It includes birds which require highly specialized food, others like vultures which feed exclusively on carrion, and still others like crows which eat practically anything except metal. It includes birds which make two long distance migratory journeys every year. and others who spend their lifetime in the vicinity of one garden. It includes birds like the domestic hen whose chicks start running about and scratching for themselves as soon they are hatched, and others like the parakeets and eagles whose chicks cannot leave their nests for several weeks. And it includes, finally, birds which seem to be unable to live away from the company of man, and others which retreat and become extinct as soon as humans make inroads into their domains.

**Contents and Sample Pages**