124 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



cease from watching them, and when they are in 

 all the glory of full dress, they must be to every 

 one a source of wondering admiration as they leap 

 lightly about from twig to twig and float hither 

 and thither among the branches. 



Whilst travelling about over the boughs, they 

 continually utter twittering notes, with occasional 

 louder calls, so like those of the blue flycatcher 

 that, until the birds come into view, it is im- 

 possible to make out which species one is listening 

 to. Now and then, too, the male birds break 

 out into sweet little songs. They are very lively 

 and cheerful birds, always on the move ; and the 

 males constantly flirt their great trains about, 

 separating and closing and undulating the long, 

 trailing plumes in a wonderful way. 



The blue flycatchers, Hypothymis azurea, 1 although 

 not so strikingly conspicuous as the preceding species, 

 are hardly less beautiful and have all the fascinating 

 ways of their relatives. They seem to visit Calcutta 

 only during winter, but are fairly common then, 

 going about among the trees and constantly calling 

 to one another in loudly imperative double notes. 

 They seem to overflow with nervous energy, erecting 

 their crests and jerking and opening their tails as 

 they hunt systematically over the leaves, and every 

 now and then darting out to secure a flying insect. 

 When they are working over trees in fading foliage, 

 the beautifully soft, dusky cobalt of their plumage 



1 This is altogether a smaller bird than the Paradise flycatcher, and has 

 no train like that of the males in the latter species. 



