206 BOMBAY DUCKS 



hence the popular name Seven Sisters, or Brothers, 

 applied to the commoner forms. " The man in the 

 street" has no word by means of which he can speak 

 of a single member of the species. It is impossible to 

 talk about "a seven sister." Nor is this defect in the 

 popular vocabulary a serious one, for where, outside a 

 museum, do you see a solitary babbler? Is it possible 

 to think of one of these birds without a friend to which 

 it can babble ? 



These little Clubs are not mere family affairs, for a 

 babbler is a monogamist, and has at the most four 

 children ; and two and four make but six. Each little 

 company of Seven Sisters is just an informal, free- 

 and-easy, go-as-you-please Club, composed of members 

 drawn together by identity of interest. Every babbler 

 is greatly attached to its Club ; even when bringing up 

 a family the parents feed in company. The reason for 

 this is not far to seek. 



A babbler is a feeble little bird. Its beak is but a 

 puny weapon, and its power of flight is so limited that 

 it is probably unable to take an uninterrupted journey 

 of a hundred yards. It is, therefore, obvious that, 

 had the species not learned to profit by the homely 

 proverb " union is strength," it would long ago have 

 been swept off the face of the earth in the fierce 

 struggle for existence. Thanks, however, to their clan- 

 nishness, babblers are among the most widely distributed 

 of birds in India. 



It requires a very smart fowl to circumvent a party of 

 Seven Sisters. Directly one of them espies an enemy 

 it gives the cry of alarm. This is followed by a general 



