Bird entered the East India College, after preparation by a tutor, and with the support of George Smith; and passed out ninth in its first leaving class, the class of 1808. He arrived in India on 9 November 1808. There was more time in college, at Fort William, after which he took the judicial route, one of the two main specialisations for the civil servants of the East India Company. He began service as an assistant to the registrar of the Sadr Diwani Adalat in Calcutta.
