Nature's music

Is there a person in the urban high castles who wouldn't like to hear the sounds of jungle birds piped in through his cable? A sonic expert, S Sivaprasad, has made this possible. His recordings of birdsong are the first in the subcontinent. In An Audio Guide to the Birds of South India, he has captured on a 90-minute tape the calls of 66 birds. Preceding each chirrup or honk is an introduction -- with the scientific name of the bird and its reference number in the Salim Ali and Ripley's Handbook. With a microphone glued to his hand, Sivaprasad spent years roaming in the wilderness of the Western Ghats.