Showcasing some of the best writings on Indian birds, Birds of India: An Anthology takes a fresh look at natural history writings in India. The anthology is unique in that the selected pieces are not just about birds and nature but also about their role in human life from religion to sports, from superstition to wisdom in short, how nature and particularly birds affect us. Though the selected writings are mostly those originally written in English, a few translations from Indian languages have also been included. There are extracts from ancient, medieval, and later-day works such as the Panchatantra, The Baburnama, The Jahangirnama, and Abdul Halim Sharars accounts of bird-keeping in Lucknow. Besides the inimitable EHA, samples of writings from several British naturalists such as Allen O. Hume, R.S.P. Bates, Douglas Dewar, and well known contemporary bird-watchers such as Salim Ali, M. Krishnan, Peter Jackson, Zai Whittaker, Theodore Baskaran, E.P. Gee, Prakash Gole, Madhav Gadgil and Dharma kumar sinhji are included. Pieces by well known writers and public figures such as Mark Twain, Abul Kalam Azad, and Rudyard Kipling also find a place in this volume. This anthology will appeal equally to nature lovers, bird-watchers, environmentalists and conservationists, as also general readers.
