204 BOMBAY DUCKS 



birds, and they flourish under their republican con- 

 stitution. There must be close upon a hundred 

 species of babblers scattered over India. The family 

 is an enormous one, and the most characteristic ornitho- 

 logical feature of the country. Go where you will in 

 the " Land of Regrets," you will not be able to dodge 

 the babblers. In every station, whether on the hills or 

 plains, you will be confronted by companies of Seven 

 Sisters. 



In scarcely any two provinces will the same species 

 greet you, but you will have no difficulty in recognizing 

 each new form as a near relation of those you have 

 already met. " I have often amused myself," says 

 Jerdon, writing of the sisterhood, " in imagining that 

 they are not inapt representatives of the Hindus ; 

 certainly as far as their frequent congregating together, 

 and their incessant noisy chattering and gabbling, 

 they agree ; and were I disposed to carry on the 

 similitude further, it would not, I think, be a difficult 

 task. It is not a little remarkable, too, that in southern 

 India there are several kinds which in some measure 

 correspond in geographical distribution with the princi- 

 pal Hindu races of this part of the country." 



What gives these birds so strong a family likeness 

 is the slovenly appearance they all present. Babblers 

 represent all the degrees of untidiness. First and 

 foremost comes the Crateropiis caftorus, the common 

 babbler of the plains of Upper India. This bird looks 

 as though it were in imminent danger of falling to 

 pieces ; its tail appears to hang by a mere thread, and 

 its wings droop as if they were broken. 



