THE BORI FOREST 301 



gresses screeching, with a series of blue flashes, to the next 

 pole. Called by the Hindu nil kant* the sacred bird of 

 Siva the Cruel, he is liberated annually in Hindu cere- 

 monial, like the scapegoat, to bear away the smaU-pox 

 and other inflictions. Everysvhere flying is the lovely 

 little metallic sunbird,f which dances as it flies, wings 

 expanded like a butterfly, and then sails kite-like with 

 angular tail, spiked with two long centre feathers. There 

 are twenty different species of sunbirds distinguished by 

 Indian naturalists, so profuse is the supply with which 

 nature decorates the landscape. Some are purple and 

 some yellow, and they shine in every sun-ray. Their 

 little nests, shaped like pears, hang by a cord from the 

 ends of boughs near the ground, and are beautifully 

 woven. High up in the dark recesses of the banian-tree 

 one hears all day the ' coppersmith ' striking his anvil 

 with metallic twang, the crimson-crested green barbett 

 with thick, strong bill. There are several sorts (sixteen 

 species), smaller and greater, and they are very in- 

 dustrious. 



This great fig-tree is in itself a whole aviary, affording 

 both shade and figs, and insects and grubs, and safety 

 from numerous enemies of the hawk tribe. There is the 

 golden oriole {Oriolus kundoo), which makes a melodious 

 whistle very like the ring of glass, short, single, and de- 

 scending two octaves. In the heat of the day, as we sit 

 in the broad tent verandah, many little squirrels, exactly 

 like American chipmunks, come skipping and cocking high 

 their bottle-brush ringtails, boldly venturing to our very 

 feet to pick up stray crumbs as we take our tiffin, and 

 scuttling away with a shrill whistle when too great 



* Coracias Indica. 



•f ^thopyga sehericB, green sunbird or honey-sucker. 



X Xantholcema hcematocephala. 



