THE BATHING OF THE BIRDS 171 



The smaller birds naturally require less water for 

 their bath. Sparrows are quite content with a puddle. 

 It affords fine safe bathing. The blithe little tailor- 

 birds and the sprightly honeysuckers bathe in palm 

 leaves, filled during the night with 



" . . . that same dew, which sometimes on the buds 

 Was wont to swell, like round and orient pearls." 



Fairy baths, these, and surely filled by the elf who 



cried * 



" I must go seek some dewdrops here. 



And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear." 



Other birds prefer a dust to a water-bath. The beau- 

 tiful little bee-eaters bathe in this way, as does the 

 hoopoe, and our friend the barn-door fowl. 



When driving into the Adyar Club, Madras, you may, 

 if you are fortunate, come upon two or three bee-eaters 

 squatting with ruffled feathers in the dustiest part of the 

 road, and rubbing their plumage in the soft dust with 

 the utmost enjoyment. Then, after much preening of 

 feathers, the little company of birds take to their wings 

 and, uttering their faint little twitters, perform graceful 

 curves in the air, becoming alternately green and gold 

 with the changing angles of their wings. 



There seems no reason why some birds should like 

 water-baths, while others prefer nettoyage a sec. It is 

 presumably merely a matter of taste. Some birds take 

 both kinds of bath. 



In addition to their ordinary evening bathe, most 

 birds indulge in a shower-bath whenever it rains, and I 

 think they enjoy this form of bathing best of all, pro- 

 vided the rain be not too heavy. They literally revel 



