THE BABBLERS. 15 
They vary a good dealin size, but there is something 
about their general style which marks them off at 
once when seen in life, though, as skins in a museum 
collection, they are not so easy to separate. They 
have very short rounded wings, and rather long tails 
as a rule; their plumage is lax and fluffy, not close 
and sleek, and their legs and feet are strong, not to 
say coarse. Their bills are moderate in size; not 
actually slender, but not thick like a Crow’s. The 
Peko or Chinese Mocking-bird on Plate III (Fig. 3) 
will give a good general idea of them, and few are 
larger than this. 
They usually go about in parties; and havea weak 
flight, never going far at a time, and often whirring 
and skimming alternately, like Partridges. They feed 
mostly on insects, and take hold of their food in one 
foot, if they wish to break it up. On trees oron the 
ground they are very active, moving about by long hops, 
for very few of them run. Malesand females are alike in 
colour, and the young remsemble them. They are very 
affectionate and constantly caress each other with 
their bills. 
THE Sat-Bual (Crateropus canorus) is the most familiar 
of the larger Babblers, the native name, which of 
course means seven brothers, having been practi- 
cally accepted as English. I have not thought it 
necessary to figure this common bird ; everyone must 
have noticed it, with its pale-drab, dust-coloured 
plumage, cunning-looking white eyes, and sickly-white 
legs and bill. It is found all over India in the plains 
