Those who are responsible for issuing these volumes may well congratulate themselves on having secured the services of Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker. Mr. Baker is well known to all those in India who take an interest in ornithology and big game shooting. He is equally known to Ornithologists all over the world as a regular contributor for more than thirty years to the "Ibis" and "Bombay Natural History Society's Journal." His volumes on Indian Game Birds are standard works and all who read these pages will recognise in his vivid descriptions of the habits and song of birds the work of a first-hand authority.
The author has produced a work which combines the highest scientific standard with a system which readily enables the sportsman or amateur to identify the various birds of British India. He has himself drawn attention to the imperative need of the trinominal system of nomenclature and he has modernised the generic and specific names in accordance with the rules of the International Congress.
In some cases it will be noticed that there is no name following the words "vernacular names." In these cases none have been recorded, but it is hoped that sportsmen and naturalists in India may in time be able to fill up these blanks. The extremely accurate and living drawings for the plates are the work of the author. They have been admirably reproduced by Messrs. Bale & Danielsson.
7th July, 1922.
