194 JUNGLE FOLK 



They certainly do not feed, but they constantly flit 

 about from branch to branch, and do a great deal of 

 feather preening, and, during the whole day, they 

 give forth a joyful noise. Their note is a sibilant twitter 

 which is not very loud ; indeed, considering the efforts 

 put into it, there is remarkably little result, but the 

 notes are so persistent, and so many birds talk at once, 

 that they can be heard from afar. The song of the 

 rosy starling is not musical, not more so than the 

 " chitter, chitter " of a flock of sparrows at bed-time, 

 yet it is not displeasing to the ear. There is an exuber- 

 ance in it which is most attractive. It cannot be 

 conversational, for all the birds talk at once, and their 

 notes lack expression and variety. Their clamour is 

 not unlike the singing of the kettle as it stands on the 

 hob ; in each case the sound is caused by the letting 

 off of superfluous energy. Starlings literally bubble 

 over with animal spirits. There can be no question 

 as to their enjoyment of life. 



Rosy starlings are the favourite game birds of the 

 natives of Northern India, for they are very good to eat 

 and easy to shoot. When a thousand of them are 

 perched in a bare tree, a shot fired into '* the brown " 

 usually secures a number of victims. It is, therefore, 

 not difficult to obtain a big bag. Needless to say, the 

 natives shoot these birds sitting. The way in which 

 Europeans persist in firing only at flying objects is 

 utterly incomprehensible to the average Indian ; he 

 regards it as part of the magnificent madness which is 

 the mark of every sahib. I once asked a native Shikari 

 if he had ever fired at a flying bird. He was a gruff 



