45 



another.' So he wonld hop up to the table and take 

 a fresh piece from the glass finger-bowl, itself a great 

 delio-ht to the o-litter-lovino- birds. To the last the 



C5 O O 



disappearance of the ice was a wonder. But, like 

 that of some other comedians, their conduct was 

 generally low ; the way in which they allowed them- 

 selves to be sent to bed (an old gate in an out-house), 

 though free to fly at will, pacing meekly as good as 

 gold, after a day of variegated crime, was their only 

 lapse into real virtue." 



It is a native superstition that the perching of a 

 crow on the top of a house, or its hopping over it, 

 predicts a visit from a friend or relative ; but its 

 cawing is the forerunner of some bad news. Now 

 there is some humour about this superstition. I do 

 not think it extravagant to assert that on an average 

 twenty or thirty crows perch in the course of the 

 day on every house in India ; what a procession of 

 visiting friends and relatives there must be ! Again, 

 is it not a delightful belief that every time you hear 

 a crovv^ caw you are in for a bit of bad news ? Even 

 as I write there are at least a dozen crows shouting 

 bad news at me. Think of the magnitude of the 

 crow population of India and of the birds' fondness 



