36 PET BIRDS OF BENGA.L 



very confiding and readily adapts itself to 

 cage-life, — a trait which does not fail to 

 please the bird-lover. 



The Piddah is far from ugly and its beau- 

 tiful appearance and vigorous actions bring 

 to our countryside a spirit of brisk animation. 

 As in the Dhayal, black and white are the 

 only colours in the general appearance of the 

 Piddah, which is, strictly speaking, clothed 

 principally in black, the white colour being 

 confined to the parts near the lower abdomen 

 and the rump, and a conspicuous longitudinal 

 bar on the wing. 



The Piddah, otherwise called Kalapiddah, 

 (black piddah) from its colour, is a perma- 

 nent resident in Burma and all over India 

 except the extreme South where, as also in 

 Ceylon, it is replaced by a species 

 istri u- ^vhich in habits and appearance is 

 identical with the Indian variety, 

 but the latter is smaller by an inch or two. 

 In Bengal, it is not so common in the Deltaic 

 portion as in the region to the West of the 

 Hooghly, and in Northern Bengal, through 



