THE BATHING OF THE BIRDS 169 

 these means he would contrive to splash over himself a 

 considerable quantity of water. Next, the bird would 

 fly to a tree near by, shake himself as a dog does, and 

 then begin violently to preen his feathers, dressing in 

 turn all parts of his plumage, twisting his wings about 

 in the most wonderful manner, and undergoing all 

 kinds of acrobatic contortions in his endeavours to 

 make his beak reach the more inaccessible parts of his 

 anatomy. Presently, the crow would fly back to the 

 bath, again duck his head and neck, and then return 

 to the tree to resume the preening of his feathers. 

 Perhaps he would go back to the water a third, a 

 fourth, or even a fifth time, evidently enjoying his bath 

 so immensely that he found it difficult to tear himself 

 away from the water. 



The mynas were more venturesome than the crows. 

 They used to plunge into the water and disappear 

 completely beneath the surface. But even they found 

 that they had to summon all their courage before 

 taking a dive. The bathing myna would perch on the 

 edge of the bath and look for some time wistfully at 

 the water, as much as to say, " Dare I ? " just as a child 

 will do before entering the sea. As a rule the complete 

 immersion would be led up to by a number of half 

 plunges. 



The myna would hop from side to side of the bath ; 

 at the second or third hop he would allow the tip of his 

 tail to touch the water. Then, with each subsequent 

 jump, more of the body would be immersed, until 

 finally the bird would do a tout a fait and disappear 

 entirely. Having made this final effort the myna, look- 



