The Congregation of Birds 



In the case of assemblages of winter birds 

 in temperate climates, the flycatching species 

 cannot take a hand in the game, inasmuch as 

 there are no flies to catch, and the birds them- 

 selves have all gone south ; but the motive for 

 feathered assemblages, of either the same or 

 different species, is no doubt identical in all 

 climates. As Bates pointed out with regard 

 to the Amazonian birds, they are much safer 

 in numbers, since a hundred heads are better 

 than one where a look-out has to be kept. 

 And enemies being so much more numerous 

 in the tropics, it is not surprising to find that 

 birds are far more sociable there than in our 

 own latitudes. The Eastern babblers represent 

 the thrushes of our woods in general habits, 

 but they are markedly more sociable, being 

 almost always in large or small flocks, which 

 are reluctant to break up even in the breeding 

 season. A party of white-crested jay-thrushes 

 was once observed to be having a dance in 

 full view of a sitting bird, who was doubtless 

 cheered by the entertainment ; and every one 

 who has kept foreign finches must have noticed 

 how, from the Java sparrow to the avadavat, 

 they are far more attached to each other than 

 our own finches ; even two odd males, or a 

 pair of different species, will strike up a friend- 

 ship and cuddle and preen one another. The 



