136 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



spirits. At first he fed almost entirely on the nectar 

 and small insects obtained from the flowers with 

 which he was regularly supplied ; but latterly he 

 developed a strong taste for the sattu, or gram- 

 paste, provided for the benefit of various of his 

 soft-billed fellow- prisoners, and usually insisted on 

 having the first turn at any fresh supply of it. 

 He was quite delightful from his sprightly, confident 

 ways and cheery little songs, and, whenever a fresh 

 supply of his favourite flowers was given to him, 

 hastened to greet the donor and feed from his hands. 



There is not much opportunity of becoming 

 familiar with the ways of the purple honey suckers, 

 Arachnechthra asiatica, in Calcutta, because, although 

 so common in many other parts of India, they are 

 there almost entirely replaced by the species just 

 described. From the limited experience that I have 

 had of them, however, I am not inclined to think 

 that the exchange is a bad one, as they do not seem 

 to be nearly so lively and attractive as their smaller 

 relatives. 



Whenever memory reverts to the experiences 

 of summer in the plains of India, it can hardly 

 fail to recall the loud shouts of the tailor-birds, 

 Orthotomus sutorius, 1 as they travel about ceaselessly 

 among the shrubs. Even at those times of day 

 when the breathless heat and cruel glare have 

 reduced almost all other birds to relative silence; 

 when even the crows sit about in pairs in the shade, 



1 They also are very small birds, but are somewhat larger than the 

 common honeysuckers. 



