i64 JUNGLE FOLK 



on the housetop. Indeed, they are quite robin-hke 

 in their habits, and the species, thanks to its reddish 

 abdomen, looks more Hke the famihar Enghsh robin 

 than does the Indian robin. 



The Indian redstart, hke all its family, has a peculiar 

 quivering motion of its tail, which is especially notice- 

 able immediately after it has ahghted on a perch ; 

 hence its Hindustani name, Thir-thira, the trembler. 

 Its Telugu name is said to be Nuni-budi-gadu — the 

 oil-bottle bird — a name of which I am unable to offer 

 any explanation. Eurasian boys call it the ** devil 

 bird," for reasons best known to themselves. 



The redstart stays in India until May, when it goes 

 into Tibet and Afghanistan to breed. A few in- 

 dividuals are said to spend the summer in India. 

 There are in the British Museum specimens supposed 

 to have been shot at Sambhar in July and Ahmed- 

 nagar in June. I have never observed this bird in 

 India between the end of May and the beginning of 

 September, and am inclined to think that the above 

 dates have been incorrectly recorded. 



