Squawking and screeching, tiny songbirds flutter around a fighting ring in a centuries-old Indian tradition decried by some as cruel but returning after an eight-year ban was overturned. Bird fights at the Haigriva Madhav temple in Hajo in northeast India's Assam state returned on Monday, after a ban was scrapped because Hindu priests argued it was part of their tradition. "Our fathers and great-grandfathers had been participating in games with these birds. I am now following this tradition," says Biswajit Biswasi, a bird fighter. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES