BIEDS AND THE AETS 107 



in saying that I have heard a wild jay imitating the 

 half -bark, half -whine of a hapless yard-dog on the chain 

 to a nicety. My own experience of the starling is that 

 he imitates many sounds and notes imperfectly ; but I am 

 bound to say that a starling once completely deceived me 

 in plagiarizing a lapwing. The song-thrush I have heard 

 rendering the loud yell of a captive parrot in a house near 

 his perch to perfection, and this was to be expected of 

 him, for his tribe are great mimics. It is a fair 

 generalization, I think, to say that the finer the singer, 

 the greater the mimic, and vice versa. The nightingale 

 is certainly an exception, being preoccupied, as he well 

 may be, with his own finished artistry. But it is true of 

 most of the other distinguished bird melodists and par- 

 ticularly of the marsh-warbler and the American mocking- 

 birds (Mimus). Time and again I have noticed how 

 eagerly birds listen to the song of an individual either of 

 their own species or another. 



THE BALLET OF THE CRANE 



Among " animals which play games " the saras, or 

 Indian crane (Ardea Antigone), is, I think, entitled to a 

 place. Some twelve or fourteen years ago, in the 

 Shahjahanpur district of Eohilkhand, I witnessed a dance 

 by three of these birds, in which one, a female, stood in 

 the centre while the other two, males, described figures 

 of eight round her, all three bowing to one another at 

 regular intervals. The movements throughout were per- 

 fectly uniform and very graceful, and the birds were so 

 absorbed in their dance, which lasted for several minutes, 

 that they took no notice of me, though I was within forty 

 or fifty yards of them. I have also seen what I can 

 only describe as a boxing match between two of these 

 cranes, which was a most ludicrous sight. Twelve or 

 fifteen saras formed a ring, in the middle of which the 

 two combatants fought a number of rounds, squaring up 



