Indian Sporting Birds

About The Book : But it is of course the pheasants and their allies that are the peculiar glory of Indian sporting birds, and though at present they play a very insignificant part in sport compared to their importance in Europe, systematic protection in the future ought ultimately to render them at least the equals of the water and marsh birds in this connection. Our Indian Empire is beyond comparison the richest of regions in these birds, and is indeed the metropolis of the family, including all the finest groups, except the turkeys, true grouse, and guinea-fowls. Sporting birds are not only of interest to sportsmen, but to naturalists they are not surpassed in interest by any other groups on account of the frequent points of interest in their habits, and the unrivalled beauty of plumage which many of them display. The visitations of the migratory species fluctuations of the commoner kinds and occurrences of the rarer ones are also well worthy of scientific study, and much has been learnt in these particulars since the publication of Hume and Marshall's valuable work, which has of course been largely indented on in the present one, as have also the valuable publications of Mr. E, C. Stuart Baker and other contributors to the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. The scientific names used are those of the "Fauna of British India" bird volumes, now the standard work on general Indian ornithology, and where a species does not occur in these the naming of the "British Museum Catalogue of Birds" has been followed. Where the scientific name on the plate differs from these the fact has been indicated.