234 JUNGLE FOLK 



Members of Parliament wear frock-coats and top hats, 

 so are there some well-dressed members of the babbler 

 clan. The yellow-eyed babblers belong to this class ; 

 and the most widely distributed of these — Pydorhis 

 sinensis — is the subject of the present discourse. This 

 bird is, according to Oates, found in every portion of 

 the Indian Empire up to a height of 5000 feet. As a 

 matter of fact I have not seen it in or near the city of 

 Madras, but that, perhaps, was not the fault of the 

 bird, because we have Jerdon's testimony that he saw 

 it in every part of South India. 



The yellow-eyed babbler is a sprightly little creature 

 not much larger than a sparrow. Its upper plumage 

 is a rich reddish brown, changing to cinnamon on some 

 of the quill feathers. The chin, throat, cheeks, and 

 breast are as white as snow. The conspicuous orange- 

 yellow eye is set off by a small white eyebrow. The 

 abdomen is cream-coloured. The bill is black and the 

 legs a curious shade of dull yellow. The tail is 3 J inches 

 long, at least the median feathers thereof are ; the 

 outer ones are barely two inches in length. This grada- 

 tion in the size of the caudal feathers is, of course, 

 visible only when the tail is spread during flight. The 

 yellow-eyed babblers that inhabit Ceylon differ from 

 those of the mainland in some unimportan+ details ; 

 hence systematists, with their usual aptitude for 

 species-making, call the former Pydorhis nasalis to 

 distinguish them. In many parts of India the yellow- 

 eyed babbler is quite a common bird. It is especially 

 addicted to tall grass and hedgerows, and wiU occa- 

 sionally enter a garden that is well provided with 



