NOISY BIRDS 287 



The peacock is another Indian bird whose histrionic 

 efforts " take a lot of beating." Like so many noisy 

 birds, he prefers to raise his voice in the night time. 

 His note resembles a loud, plaintive, very much 

 drawn-out " miau," such as a lusty cat might emit. In 

 some parts of India pea-fowl are accounted sacred 

 birds and are often semi-domesticated, roosting in the 

 trees near a village and feeding on the crops. When 

 camping near such a village, for the first time, one is 

 apt to pass a sleepless night, thanks to the pea-fowl, the 

 jackals, and the village dogs. 



The boisterous screams of those ruffians the " green 

 parrots " are not often heard in Madras ; nevertheless, 

 these birds must be numbered among the noisy members 

 of society. They are very numerous in many mofussil 

 stations, while in the city of Bombay they are as 

 abundant as mynas. The voice of the green parrot 

 does not get on the nerves ; it is, on the contrary, 

 pleasant to the ear, being heard only for an instant as 

 a flight of the birds dashes overhead upon felony intent. 

 Of all the cultivator's enemies, the green parrot is the 

 chief. 



Another noisy bird, which is very common in most 

 parts of India, but which, for some reason or other, 

 avoids Madras, is the Indian magpie {Dendrocitta rufd). 

 Although nearly related to the English magpie, this 

 bird is of very different appearance, being dark brown 

 with greyish wings and tail. This latter is over a foot 

 in length. The Indian pie lives chiefly in trees. It 

 goes about in small companies, which spend half the 

 day in loudly squabbling among themselves and the 



