BIRDS IN INDIAN HOUSES. 329 



some of the wilder birds of prey; and in this way 

 again, the friendly neighbourhood of mankind is an 

 evident security to the bird ; a hawk indeed will rarely, 

 if ever, dare to carry off a bird when it is surrounded 

 by human beings actively pursuing their daily occu- 

 pations; though they may do so when everything 

 is still. 



As for the birds which follow man, they do not 

 scruple to enter inhabited rooms, in search of food or 

 shelter from the sun, and if not frightened or inter- 

 fered with will often remain some time. In the Indian 

 hotels and rest houses, we have frequently known 

 birds to enter the dining rooms and go under the tables 

 to pick up crumbs, while a large company was at 

 table, and in Africa we have had birds frequently 

 entering our quarters, both in dwelling houses and 

 also in tents. The bird is essentially the ally and the 

 friend of man: he attends him in his gardens and in 

 his fields ; he preserves his crops from the devastations 

 of insect pests; he follows the plough, and eats up 

 the larvae of injurious grubs, etc., which are most de- 

 trimental to the crops; he makes the sylvan glades 

 bright with the merry voices of feathered songsters. 

 Again in the depth of winter when the snow lies deeply 

 on the ground, when he hears his human friend tramping 

 through the woods or working in the fields, forthwith 

 he flies to meet him, in order to profit by the insects, 

 larvae, etc., which become exposed by the act of human 

 movement. In Great Britain the robin is particularly 

 marked in his attentions of this kind, and any kind 

 of noise made by man in the course of his occupations, 

 is sufficient during such " hard times" to bring all the 

 little redbreasts within hearing to his vicinity. Finally, 



