22 chapters
4 hour read
Selected Chapters
22 chapters
A BIRD CALENDAR FOR NORTHERN INDIA
A BIRD CALENDAR FOR NORTHERN INDIA
I am indebted to the editor of The Pioneer for permission to republish the sketches that form this calendar, and to Mr. A. J. Currie for placing at my disposal his unpublished notes on the birds of the Punjab. Full descriptions of all the Indian birds of which the doings are chronicled in this calendar are to be found in the four volumes of the Fauna of British India devoted to birds; popular descriptions of the majority are given in my Indian Birds . H ARROW , J anuary 1916 . J ANUARY F EB
46 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
JANUARY
JANUARY
Take nine-and-twenty sunny, bracing English May days, steal from March as many still, starry nights, to these add two rainy mornings and evenings, and the product will resemble a typical Indian January. This is the coolest month in the year, a month when the climate is invigorating and the sunshine temperate. But even in January the sun's rays have sufficient power to cause the thermometer to register 70° in the shade at noon, save on an occasional cloudy day. Sunset is marked by a sudden fall o
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
FEBRUARY
FEBRUARY
Even as January in northern India may be compared to a month made up of English May days and March nights, so may the Indian February be likened to a halcyon month composed of sparkling, sun-steeped June days and cool starlit April nights. February is the most pleasant month of the whole year in both the Punjab and the United Provinces; even November must yield the palm to it. The climate is perfect. The nights and early mornings are cool and invigorating; the remainder of each day is pleasantly
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
MARCH
MARCH
In March the climate of the plains of the United Provinces varies from place to place. In the western sub-Himalayan tracts, as in the Punjab, the weather still leaves little to be desired. The sun indeed is powerful; towards the end of the month the maximum shade temperature exceeds 80°, but the nights and early mornings are delightfully cool. In all the remaining parts of the United Provinces, except the extreme south, temperate weather prevails until nearly the end of the month. In the last da
24 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
APRIL
APRIL
The fifteenth of April marks the beginning of the "official" hot weather in the United Provinces; but the elements decline to conform to the rules of man. In the eastern and southern districts hot-weather conditions are established long before mid-April, while in the sub-Himalayan belt the temperature remains sufficiently low throughout the month to permit human beings to derive some physical enjoyment from existence. In that favoured tract the nights are usually clear and cool, so that it is ve
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
MAY
MAY
May in the plains of India! What unpleasant memories it recalls! Stifling nights in which sleep comes with halting steps and departs leaving us unrefreshed. Long, dreary days beneath the punkah in a closed bungalow which has ceased to be enlivened by the voices of the children and the patter of their little feet. Hot drives to office, under a brazen sky from which the sun shines with pitiless power, in the teeth of winds that scorch the face and fill the eyes with dust. It is in this month of Ma
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
JUNE
JUNE
There are two Indian Junes—the June of fiction and the June of fact. The June of fiction is divided into two equal parts—the dry half and the wet half. The former is made up of hot days, dull with dust haze, when the shade temperature may reach 118°, and of oppressive nights when the air is still and stagnant and the mercury in the thermometer rarely falls below 84°. Each succeeding period of four-and-twenty hours seems more disagreeable and unbearable than its predecessor, until the climax is r
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
JULY
JULY
In July India becomes a theatre in which Nature stages a mighty transformation scene. The prospect changes with kaleidoscopic rapidity. The green water-logged earth is for a time overhung by dull leaden clouds; this sombre picture melts away into one, even more dismal, in which the rain pours down in torrents, enveloping everything in mist and moisture. Suddenly the sun blazes forth with indescribable brilliance and shines through an atmosphere, clear as crystal, from which every particle of dus
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
AUGUST
AUGUST
The transformation scene described in July continues throughout August. Torrential rain alternates with fierce sunshine. The earth is verdant with all shades of green. Most conspicuous of these are the yellowish verdure of the newly-transplanted rice, the vivid emerald of the young plants that have taken root, the deeper hue of the growing sugar-cane, and the dark green of the mango topes . Unless the monsoon has been unusually late in reaching Northern India the autumn crops are all sown before
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER
September is a much-abused month. Many people assert that it is the most unpleasant and unhealthy season of the year. Malarial and muggy though it is, September scarcely merits all the evil epithets that are applied to it. The truth is that, after the torrid days of the hot weather and the humid heat of the rainy season, the European is thoroughly weary of his tropical surroundings, his vitality is at a low ebb, he is languid and irritable, thus he complains bitterly of the climate of September,
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
October in India differs from the English month in almost every respect. The one point of resemblance is that both are periods of falling temperature. In England autumn is the season for the departure of the migratory birds; in India it is the time of their arrival. The chief feature of the English October—the falling of the leaves—is altogether wanting in the Indian autumn. Spring is the season in which the pulse of life beats most vigorously both in Europe and in Asia; it is therefore at that
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER
The climate of Northern India is one of extremes. Six months ago European residents were seeking in vain suitable epithets of disapprobation to apply to the weather; to-day they are trying to discover appropriate words to describe the charm of November. It is indeed strange that no poet has yet sung the praises of the perfect climate of the present month. The cold weather of Northern India is not like any of the English seasons. Expressed in terms of the British climate it is a dry summer, warme
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
In the eyes of the Englishman December in Northern India is a month of halcyon days, of days dedicated to sport under perfect climatic conditions, of bright sparkling days spent at the duck tank, at the snipe jhil , in the sal forest, or among the Siwaliks, days on which office files rest in peace, and the gun, the rifle and the rod are made to justify their existence. Most Indians, unfortunately, hold a different opinion of December. These love not the cool wind that sweeps across the plains. T
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
Amadavat. See Red munia Babbler, common ( Crateropus canorus ), 36, 49, 68, 82, 89, 108, 120, 124, 142, 156, 162, 163, 183 —large grey ( Argya malcomi ), 162 Barbet, green ( Thereiceryx zeylonicus 7, 20, 53, 66, 68, 82, 89, 106, 108, 121, 138, 155, 168, 185, 192 Baya. See Weaver-bird Bee-eater, 3, 73, 74, 108, 120, 125, 139, 157, 169, 172, 182 —blue-tailed ( Merops philippinus ), 43, 89 —little green ( M. viridis Blue Jay. See Roller Blue-throat, 172 Brain-fever bird. Hawk-cuckoo Bulbul, 5, 20,
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE
ANIMALS OF NO IMPORTANCE
Nature .—"We may commend the book as an excellent example of 'Nature teaching.'" Literary World .—"Mr. Dewar makes us laugh while he teaches us.... These twenty essays are in all ways delightful." Saturday Review .—"A number of excellent books on Natural History ... proceed from Anglo-Indian authors; and certainly this ... is worthy of its predecessors." Academy .—"A chatty anecdote book ... showing a sense of humour and kindly insight ... many amusing stories." Indian Daily News .—"Brightly and
58 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
BOMBAY DUCKS
BOMBAY DUCKS
Standard .—"The book is entertaining, even to a reader who is not a naturalist first and a reader afterwards.... The illustrations cannot be too highly praised." Daily News .—"A charming introduction to a great many interesting birds." Scotsman .—"Like a good curry, it is richly and agreeably seasoned with a pungent humour." Manchester Guardian .—"A series of clever and accurate essays on Indian Natural History written by a man who really knows the birds and beasts." Daily Chronicle .—"A series
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
BIRDS OF THE PLAINS
BIRDS OF THE PLAINS
Daily Chronicle .—"Here is a work worthy of all commendation to those who love birds." Daily Graphic .—"... a work which all bird lovers will welcome ... beautifully illustrated." Daily Express .—"... light, sprightly and thoroughly entertaining." Globe .—"Mr. Dewar ... is gifted with the descriptive art in a high degree, and his vivacious style communicates the characters and habits of the birds with unerring fidelity and infinite spirit." Sportsman .—"Mr. Dewar has a delightfully simple and qu
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
INDIAN BIRDS
INDIAN BIRDS
Pall Mall Gazette .—"This practical and useful work ... is a key to the everyday birds of the Indian plains, in which birds are classified according to their habits and outward differences ... and familiarity with these pages would enable the average man in a few weeks to know all the birds he meets in an Indian station." Daily Mail .—"The plan of this clever little volume ... is as simple as it is ingenious.... It is a safe and thorough guide." Athenæum .—"Mr. Dewar is a capable guide." Manches
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
JUNGLE FOLK
JUNGLE FOLK
Westminster Gazette .—"Mr. Dewar writes brightly and cleverly about these lesser jungle folk." Scotsman .—"... interesting and delightful." Evening Standard .—"The author ... writes not only out of the fulness of his knowledge, but in a pleasant unpedantic style." Liverpool Daily Post .—"... most readable and enjoyable." Sunday Times .—"We give his book the highest praise possible when we say that it will serve as a matter-of-fact commentary to Mr. Kipling's 'Jungle Books.'" Irish Independent .—
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS
GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS
Globe .—"Mr. Dewar gives us something more than 'glimpses' of Indian bird-life in his very interesting volume." Standard .—"Not the least merit of the book is the author's unwillingness to take anything for granted." Spectator .—"We know nothing better to recommend to an amateur ornithologist who finds himself in India for the first time." Guardian .—"... vivid and delightful." Observer .—"... full of special knowledge." Scotsman .—"... a lively and interesting series of short studies." Daily Gr
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
BIRDS OF INDIAN HILLS
BIRDS OF INDIAN HILLS
Sunday Times .—"Excellent is hardly good enough a term for this volume." Times .—"Mr. Dewar writes accurately and vividly of his selected group of birds in the Himalayas and Nilgiris, and adds a list of those to be found in the Palni Hills." Field .—"Mr. Dewar gives short descriptions of the most notable species, not in wearisome detail as affected by some writers, but in a few sentences which carry enough to enable the reader to recognise a bird when he sees it." Aviatic Review .—"... a very us
49 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE MAKING OF SPECIES
THE MAKING OF SPECIES
PRESS OPINIONS Truth .—"'The Making of Species' will do much to arrest the fossilisation of biological science in England." Outlook .—"... a book of knowledge and originality. Messrs. Dewar and Finn are capable investigators. This work is thoroughly characteristic of our day. A long volume full of interest and very clearly written." Literary World .—"The book is certainly to be welcomed for the concise way in which it deals with the greatest problem of zoology." Aberdeen Free Press .—"The book i
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter