I90 JUNGLE FOLK 



attendant king crow. Usually the two species are on 

 good terms, but sometimes the king crow gets ** above 

 himself," and then there is trouble. The other day I 

 saw a bank myna {Acridotheres fuscus) hop on to a 

 king crow's back and administer unto him chastise- 

 ment in the shape of a couple of vigorous pecks 

 on the back of the head. On being released the 

 king crow did not attempt to retaliate, but flew meekly 

 away. 



Among the elite of the insect-hunters we must 

 number the swifts. Strange birds are these. Not once 

 in their lives do they set foot upon the ground. For 

 hours at a time they pursue their speedy course 

 through the thin air, snatching up, as they move at 

 full speed, minute insects. 



But even their powerful pinions cannot vibrate for 

 ever, so at intervals they betake themselves to the 

 verandah of some bungalow, and there hang on to the 

 wall close under the roof. Their claws are simply hooks, 

 and this is their rest — clinging to a smooth horizontal 

 wall ! 



So long is the list of insect-hunters, and so varied 

 are their methods, that I am unable to so much as 

 mention many of them. I must content myself, in 

 conclusion, with noticing the tits, cuckoo-shrikes, 

 minivets, and white-eyes, which flit from leaf to leaf, 

 picking up tiny insects ; babblers and laughing 

 thrushes, which spend the day rummaging among 

 fallen leaves for insects ; nuthatches and tree-creepers, 

 which run up and down tree-trunks on the hunt for 

 insects ; and woodpeckers, which seize, by means of 



