Two birds and a taxidermist

Though dead, they looked full of life with false beady eyes

The sprawling swamp adjoining the old red-brick bungalow at Vadodara, where I lived with family as the Deputy Commissioner of Police for two years in the 1990s, had swarms of mosquitoes. But on the brighter side, it also sustained a rich bird life. So ibises, herons and egrets roamed freely in the tree-lined compound. One morning, while taking a stroll in the garden, my wife and I spotted a dead white-breasted kingfisher under a tree. We felt sorry for it but could not help marvelling how, even in death, it looked beautiful with its shining blue, brown and white feathers and the long, pointed red beak. “Couldn’t we preserve it somehow,” my wife asked solicitously. I agreed on the spur but later realised that there were two problems. While white-breasted kingfisher occurs commonly in India, I was not sure if it was legal to keep a stuffed bird in one’s house. Forest officials were of no help in settling the legal question but suggested a way out. They advised me to inform them, in writing, just in case. I did that and the first hurdle was crossed.