Birds of the Indian Hills 



That was almost the only movement I 

 noticed. 



Presently the cock appeared, with his beak 

 full of caterpillars. He alighted on a branch a 

 few feet from the nest, where he caught sight of 

 me ; but instead of flying off as the hen had 

 done, he held his ground and fixed his eye on 

 me, no doubt swearing inwardly, but no audible 

 sound escaped him. 



Whenever I have watched a pair of birds 



feeding their young, I have almost invariably 



noticed that one of them is far more alarmed 



at my presence than the other. The ouzels 



proved no exception to the rule. In this case 



it was the cock who showed himself the bolder 



spirit. He remained watching me for fully ten 



minutes, his legs and body as immobile as those 



of a statue, but he occasionally turned his head 



to one side in order to obtain a better view of 



me ; and I could then see, outlined against the 



sky, the wriggling forms of several caterpillars 



hanging from his bill. I hoped that he would 



pluck up courage to feed his youngsters before 



my eyes ; but his heart failed him, for presently 



he flew to another tree a little farther away, 



whence he again contemplated me. After this 



he kept changing his position, never uttering a 

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