172 PET BIRDS OP BENGAL 



know full well the use and value of its 

 protective colour. While perched on a tree, 

 it instinctively drops down to the ground, 

 at the slightest sign of alarm or intrusion, to 

 hide the brighter tinge on its lower body ; 

 and before you catch a glimpse of the bird, 

 it puts every available bush and tree 

 between it and yourself, silently taking 

 shelter in the darkness of a thick foliaofe. 

 Reginald Phillips says, "it is probably 

 from its customary habit of seeking conceal- 

 ment on the ground at the approach of man 

 that it has unfairly earned the reputation 

 of being a ground-bird''. Sometimes, 

 however, it would hide itself away in the 

 hollow of a tree. I have already said that 

 this bird neither runs nor walks. Its 

 method of progress is by means of very rapid 

 hops. But though it does not use its legs 

 alternately like true running birds, it can 

 progress with a swiftness and rapidity 

 remarkably astonishing. When on the 

 ground, it proceeds rapidly forward and 

 then stops, makes another advance and 



