Hosts selected Of the 5 bird species autopsied, Sturnus contra, Acridotheres tristis, and A. fuscus belonged to the same family (Sturnidae: Passeriformes), Pycnonotus cafer to a different family (Pycnonotidae: Passeriformes), and Streptopelia chinensis to even a different order (Columbidae: Columbiformes). S. contra, A. tristis, and A. fuscus were predominantly insectivorous. However, A. tristis also included a good amount of human food items, such as rice, loaf, etc., consistent with their living near human habitation. P. cafer was predominantly a herbivore, eating also some insects. Being an absolute granivore, S. chinensis was entirely different from the above 4, as it was also phylogenetically. The host animals were collected from two localities – a rural remote area of Chandpur (CP) district (riverine plain land) and the Chittagong University Campus (CUC) and the adjoining places (a mixed area of hilly and plain lands with rural, as well as somewhat semi-urban characteristics). A total of 317 specimens (33 S. contra, 34 A. tristis, 32 A. fuscus, 34 P. cafer and 30 S. chinensis from Chandpur, and 32 S. contra, 32 A. tristis, 30 A. fuscus, 30 P. cafer and 30 S. chinensis from CUC) were shot during June 2007 to February 2009. Collection of parasites The host birds were shot by an air gun. After shooting, all feathers of the host birds were removed from the body and examined very carefully by naked eye for collection of ecto– parasites. The viscera of the birds from CP were preserved in 6 % formaldehyde solution, whereas, samples from CUC were autopsied fresh. Food habit of host was determined by analysing the stomach contents by gravimetric method. Parasites were collected, fixed, preserved and cleared for study following Cable (1961). Analysis of food habit of host Food habits of the birds were analysed by the following formula (Lawlor 1980) Identification Identifications were mostly done following keys by (Adams et al. 2005; Ansari 1956; Hellenthal & Price 2003; Price 1977; Watt 1970) for ecto– parasites, and (Ellis 1969; Frantova 2001; Yamaguti 1961) for endo–parasites. Community structures of parasites Indices like Species Richness (SR), Shannon Wiener Species Diversity Index (H?), Maximum Species Diversity (Hmax), Community Dominance (DC), Evenness (E), and Quotient of Similarity (QS) were used (formulae in (Krebs 1972; Odum 1973). Statistical analyses As the data of the parasite fauna of any of the five host species, e.g., S. contra, of the two studied places, did not follow normal distribution; they were subjected to the non-parametric MannWhitney U Test. The test revealed that of the 25 cases (of parasite species or taxa), data of 22 belonged to the same populations. That means in each of those 22 cases there was no spatial difference between the data of CP and CUC. The three deviatory cases were of Baruscapillaria carbonis (of S. contra), Menacanthus eurysternus (of A. tristis), and B. rudolphii (of P. cafer), whose data of CP were significantly different from those of CUC. However, these 3 cases were regarded avoidable, and it was concluded that there was no spatial difference, generally, in the parasite fauna of any of the host species of the two studied places. So, the data of CP and CUC were merged for subsequent statistical analyses, which were done using the SPSS programme (version 16.0). For analyses, the parasite names were abbreviated, for example Microtetrameres helix as M. h. Association pattern of parasite species was first analysed by frequency of their occurrence in a host – separately for ecto– and endo–parasites. Multiple infection cases were further investigated only with the numerical data of endo–parasites, as that for ecto–parasites may not be fully reliable, because of their tiny size and hidden nature. The analyses done were simple and partial correlations, and multiple regressions.