40 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



is never at rest. From one perch it will 

 fly down to the ground, pick up an insect 

 and at once carry it to the same or another 

 perch — all done in a flash. There the insect 

 is swallowed; next, the tail is jerked up as a 

 sign of self-satisfaction and, lastly, a strain 

 of pleasant chirrups is sent forth. Then 

 after looking round in the mo>st self-asser- 

 tive manner with one or more tail-move- 

 ments, it sallies forth again. The extremely 

 mobile tail of the Piddah is a remarkable 

 feature of its anatomy and seems to have 

 spring-adjustments from the way it is con- 

 tinually worked up and down. But this 

 movement is not altoo^ether mechanical. 

 Every up-jerk of the tail is expressive of an 

 emotion — pleasure or displeasure. The tail- 

 play is most frequent during its meals, the 

 tail indicating with barometrical precision 

 its pleasure at every morsel of food acquired. 

 The tail-jerks again, accompanied by angry 

 fchat, fchat sounds, are expressive of anger 

 when intruded upon by man or beast, or 

 when foiled in an attempt to catch a parti- 



