Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/35

Rh field notes, which it is hoped will add to the value of the work both for field naturalists and the non-scientific lover of birds, for whom they are principally written.

As regards the classification, this is founded mainly on Gadow's work, but I have also had the valuable assistance of W. P. Pyeraft, and the results of his personal work will be found in almost every order, family and genus. I must, however, take upon my own shoulders any criticisms which may be made on the minor divisions in the Passeres, though, here again, my constant object has been to disturb as little as possible the careful work of Blanford and Oates.

Ornithological work in India has hitherto been divisible into very definite periods. The first period was that prior to the publication of Jerdou's 'Birds of India' in 1862 and the subsequent eight or ten years when the leading figures were Jerdou himself, Hodgson and Blyth, who may be considered the fathers of Indian Ornithology.

An account of the chief writers on Indian birds up to 1862 was given by Jerdou in the Introduction to the first volume of the 'Birds of India.' The principal authors mentioned were Franklin, Tickell, Sykes, McClelland, Burgess, Adams, Tytler, Kelaart, Layard and Hutton, in addition to the three already mentioned.

The next period, from about 1872 to 1898, may be termed Hume's period, the other most notable workers being Tweeddale, Wardlaw-Ramsay, Biddulph, Anderson, Elwes, Beavan, Scully, Sharpe, Stoliczka, Godwin-Austen, Brooks, Ball, King, Vidal, McMaster, Blanford, Legge, Oates and Barnes, with many other minor writers.

The third period is that of Blanford and Oates, both leading Ornithologists in the preceding period but completely dominating the position on the publication of the 'Avifauna of British India.' Since these volumes saw the light no big work has been published on Indian birds but Harington's 'Birds of Burma,' Oates' 'Game-Birds of India,' many popular works by Dewar, Finn and others, and the present writer's different works on Indian Ducks, Pigeons and Game-Birds have appeared. In addition to these the 'Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society' contains a mass of details on field ornithology by Harington, Osmaston, Davidson, Bell, Barnes, Inglis, Bailey, Whistler, Jones, Hopwood,