292 BOMBAY DUCKS 



walks as we do in our own land, we should soon learn 

 to recognize and to love the tunes of the commoner 

 singing birds. But alas ! a country walk in India 

 without grassy downs, gay hedgerows and leafy 

 glades, is apt to have a depressing effect on the exiled 

 European, so he takes his exercise in the form of 

 games. 



The plumage of the cock dhyal is glossy black, 

 except the breast, abdomen, and sides of the tail, which 

 are white. The bird is also marked by a broad white 

 band on each wing, seen when the latter is closed. The 

 animal has, therefore, a smart appearance ; it is always 

 spick-and-span, and struts about in a most sprightly 

 manner ; its jaunty air is heightened by the fact that 

 the tail is carried erect. In the female the black of the 

 plumage is replaced by a slaty colour. 



The magpie robin will live in captivity ; it, however, 

 is not often seen as a caged bird, for its cousin, the 

 shama, having a more beautiful song, is more highly 

 esteemed. The dhyal spends a good deal of its time in 

 trees, as often as not among the bare branches, so that 

 it is always easy to see. From such a position it will 

 pour forth its song in one continuous stream. Its notes 

 are bright and joyous ; they exhibit great compass and 

 variety, while the volume of sound emitted is consider- 

 able for so small a bird, yet the bird just misses being 

 a really great singer. Its notes are not marked by that 

 absolute purity which constitutes so much of the beauty 

 of the song of the nightingale, nor is its voice so mellow 

 or sympathetic as that of the blackbird. 



The magpie robin, like many great human singers. 



