228 JUNGLE FOLK 



crowd ; in the north it frequents gardens and loves to 

 disport itself in the middle of the road, and is in no 

 hurry to get out of the way of the pedestrian or the 

 cyclist. Probably many a large babbler has, owing 

 to its tameness, succumbed to the motor-car. Bold 

 spirits, such as the little striped squirrel, which take 

 a positive delight in experiencing a series of hair- 

 breadth escapes, suffer considerably when a new and 

 speedier conveyance is introduced into a locality. 

 They have learned by experience how close to the 

 inch they may with safety allow the ordinary vehicle 

 to approach before they skedaddle, and it takes time 

 for them to discover that with a speedier vehicle a 

 larger margin must be allowed. The little Indian 

 squirrel has not yet learned to gauge the pace of the 

 motor-car. Recently I counted five of their corpses on 

 the road between Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, which is 

 much frequented by motor-cars. 



The Sath Bhai are usually accounted noisy birds, but 

 they are taciturn in comparison with their long-tailed 

 cousins. From dewy morn till dusty eve the large 

 grey babblers vie with the crows in their vocal efforts. 

 The crows score at the beginning of the day, for they 

 are the first to awake, or, at any rate, to begin calling. 

 The king crow [Dicrunis ater) is usually said to be the 

 first bird to herald the cheerful dawn. This is not 

 always so ; the voice of Corvus splendens sometimes pre- 

 cedes that of the king crow. But ere the sun has 

 shown his face the grey babblers join vociferously in 

 the chorus that fills the welkin. And how shall I 

 describe the notes of these light-headed birds so as 



