I. BIRDS HAVING REMARKABLE CRIES
Call
Name of Bird
No. of Bird in Part II
A loud metallic coch-lee, coch-lee, or cogee, cogee
Indian Tree-pie [5]
Squeaks like that of a revolving axle that requires oiling
The Seven Sisters [6]
A striking whistle, like that of a human being
The Idle Schoolboy [11]
A sweet little tinkling song
A cheery whistle, heard chiefly at dawn, which Cunningham describes as “chēyk, chĕchi chĕyk, chēȳk chĕchi chēȳ chēȳh”
The King Crow [25]
A loud to-wee, to-wee, to-wee
The Tailor Bird [28]
A snapping noise
Ashy Wren-warbler [31]
A pretty, mellow tanti-tuia
The Woodshrike [38]
A loud, mellow, peeho, peeho
Keeky, keeky, keeky . . . churr, churr, kok, kok, kok
The Common Myna [52]
A whistle of about six notes, like the first bars of the “Guards Valse”
The Fantailed Flycatchers [58]-[60]
A song like that of a canary
Purple Sunbird [107]
A loud, screaming call
Golden-backed Woodpecker [111]
A loud, monotonous, penetrating kutur kutur, kuturuk
Green Barbet [113]
A monotonous, metallic tonk, tonk, tonk, like the tapping of a hammer on metal
The Coppersmith [114]
A loud, rattling scream
White-breasted Kingfisher [120]
A low ūk, ūk, ūk
The Hoopoe [123]
A shrill, trembling scream
The Swift [124]
A sound like a stone sliding over ice
The Common Nightjar [126]
Chuk, chuk, chuk, like the tapping of a plank with a hammer
Horsfield’s Nightjar [127]
A crescendo “brain-fever, brain-fever, BRAIN-FEVER”
Brain-fever Bird [128]
A crescendo “ku-il, ku-il, KU-IL”
The Koel [130]
A low, sonorous, owl-like whoot, whoot, whoot
The Crow-Pheasant [131]
Loud screams uttered during flight
“A torrent of squeak and chatter and gibberish,” kucha, kwachee, kwachee, kwachee, kwachee rapidly uttered in a shrieking, chattering tone
The Spotted Owlet [135]
A weird screech, heard at night
The Barn Owl [136]
A single hoot repeated monotonously at regular intervals of ten seconds, oomp
The Scops Owl [138]
At early dawn. “Turtuck, turtuck, turtuck, turtuck, turtuck, turtuck, tuckatu, chatucka tuckatuck. The words or dissyllables sounding rather low at first and with considerable pauses between, and the intervals decreasing and the tone getting louder till they end rapidly” (Tickell)
The Jungle Owlet [139]
Loud resonant calls uttered when the bird is high up in the air
Peculiar squeaking wail uttered while the bird is sailing in the air
The Brahminy Kite [151]
A mournful wailing trill, chee-hĭ hĭ hĭ hĭ hĭ hĭ, uttered on the wing
The Pariah Kite [152]
A sharp double whistle
The Shikra [158]
A plaintive cūkoo-coo-coo
The Spotted Dove [166]
A soft subdued cuk-cuk-coo-coo-coo
The Little Brown Dove [167]
Kŭ-kŭ—kŭ
The Indian Ring Dove [168]
A deep grunting coo-coo-coo
The Red Turtle Dove [169]
A loud pe-haun, rather like the miau of a cat
The Peafowl [170]
A harsh, high-pitched, rapidly uttered juk-juk, tee-tee-tur
The Black Partridge [172]
Three single harsh notes followed by a succession of shrill, ringing pateela-pateela-pateelas
The Grey Partridge [173]
A very loud, hoarse, reiterated call, not easy to describe
The White-breasted Water-hen [174]
Loud, penetrating, trumpet-like calls
Wild-sounding cry, heard at night
The Stone Curlew [180]
A loud, shrill “Did he do it? Pity to do it!”
The Red-wattled Lapwing [183]
Like the above, but shorter
The Yellow-wattled Lapwing [184]
Clappering of the beak
A soft but penetrating chakwa or á-onk (Stuart Baker)
The Brahminy Duck [229]