IV 



MINIVETS 



WERE a beauty show held open to all the 

 birds of India, the minivets would, I 

 think, win the first prize. To say this 

 is to bestow high praise, for India teems 

 with beautiful birds. 



All the colours of the rainbow appear in our avian 

 population. Indeed, the Indian pitta {Pitta brachyura) 

 — the bird of nine colours — is a rainbow in himself, dis- 

 playing as he does red, yellow, grey, and various shades 

 of blue and green, to say nothing of black and white. 



Most of our beautiful birds, however, pin their 

 affections more especially to one colour. The parakeets, 

 the chloropses, the green pigeons, the bee-eaters, and 

 the barbets wear sufficient green to satisfy the most 

 patriotic Irishman. 



Golden yellow is affected by the orioles and the 

 ioras. 



The kingfisher, the roller and the purple porphyrio 

 are as blue as Putney on boat-race day. 



Sunbirds, pheasants, and peafowl favour us with a 

 gorgeous display of metallic hues. 



The rose-coloured starling and the flamingo wear 

 their pink as proudly as a Westminster boy. 



19 



