88 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



Both of them are truly delightful, the Otocompsas l 

 especially being so attractive that one feels quite 

 sorry for any one who is not familiar with their cheery 

 notes and dainty ways. The mere sound of their 

 call is enough to drive care away ; and the sight of 

 a pair of them coming leaping in through the air to 

 pitch lightly on the summit of a shrub ought in 

 itself to make for light-heartedness. It would be 

 hard indeed to imagine anything more delicately 

 gay than their plumage is, the rich brown of their 

 wings, the clear white of their under parts, and 

 the shining black of their high and pointed crests, 

 harmonising so well with one another, and being 

 accentuated by the spots of bright scarlet on the 

 sides of the head. They are so alluringly tame 

 and confiding in their favourite haunts, constantly 

 coming quite close to houses, entering verandahs, 

 and even nesting in plants in them or under 

 porticoes, that it seems strange that they should 

 hardly ever venture out of the suburbs to visit 

 gardens within the town, whilst their relatives, who 

 are by no means so familiar in the country, are 

 regular visitors of many urban enclosures. In 

 most suburban gardens Otocompsas are always 

 present, and if there be any caged birds, and 

 specially any caged birds of their own kind there, 

 they are constantly in and out of the verandahs in 

 order to visit them. It is curious that, whilst they 



1 They are a little larger than the common red-backed shrike. 



