THH TTJTI 271 



every six months, a dash of considerable 

 length across the country. The long and 

 arduous journeys undertaken by it do 

 not imply that it possesses an intrepid 

 nature like the Bhimraj or the Kastura. 

 The bird is, on the contrary, a bundle 

 of nerves. When it is feeding in a field 

 on the fringe of a grove or wood, it 

 takes alarm at the least sound and the 

 whole flock flies helter-skelter into the 

 neighbouring shrubs for concealment. The 

 screech of some bird or the shadow of 

 a large bird flying overhead gives the 

 Tutis the blue funk and sends them 

 into the shelter of trees. After a minute 

 or two when they see that there 

 is no real danger, they again noiselessly 

 drop down like falling leaves to the 

 ground in fours or fives. Their existence 

 seems to be one of constant terror. 

 They hide themselves more than a dozen 

 times in an hour and most times for no 

 apparent reason. The much criticised 

 'protection' theory will probably explain 



