114 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



of protest, there is much flapping of white wings, and 

 eventually one or both the birds have to leave the 

 branch. 



But it is not until the tree is filled with birds that the 

 real fun begins. When about forty paddy birds are 

 squatting on the lower branches and over 300 mynas 

 on the upper ones, it will be well understood that there 

 is not much accommodation available for new arrivals. 

 When a belated myna appears on the scene and 

 plunges into the midst of his brother starhngs, he is 

 greeted with such a torrent of abuse that, although, 

 in the gathering gloom, one cannot see what is going 

 on amid the foliage, one feels convinced that the 

 abuse is backed up by assault and battery. If, on the 

 other hand, the luckless myna pitches into the tree 

 at a lower elevation, he is liable to find himself trans- 

 fixed by the stiletto-hke beak of the nearest paddy 

 bird, the savage thrust being accompanied by a lugu- 

 brious croak which seems to be the only note of the 

 paddy bird. Nine out of ten mynas prefer incurring 

 the wrath of their own kind to bringing down upon 

 themselves the less noisy but more formidable anger 

 of the pond heron. 



If the mynas are packed like sardines in a box, the 

 paddy birds lower down are not much more comfort- 

 able. It is true that the paddy birds are not squeezed 

 together after the manner of the mynas, for the simple 

 reason that if more than two of them attempted to 

 squat on any but the stoutest of the branches they 

 would all find themselves immersed in the slimy, 

 unsavoury water beneath. The discomfort of the 



