THE SEVEN SISTERS. 17 



the only hue visible in their attire, and is not particularly 

 well set off by a white eye like a jackdaw's and whitish 

 legs and bill of an unpleasantly anaemic appearance. There 

 is, however, a real interest attaching to these disre- 

 putable-looking birds. We are all familiar with Lamb's 

 appallingly ugly lady whose facial turpitude was supposed 

 to be atoned for by the possession of superlative moral 

 excellence ; and unquestionably fraternal affection is the 

 strong point of the babbling brotherhood. In the grave 

 pages of the Asiatic Society's Journal a friend of mine has 

 recorded his frequent experience of the devoted courage 

 with which these feeble-winged creatures will rush to the 

 defence of a comrade held in the grip of a trained hawk . 

 on one occasion the victim was actually rescued by its com- 

 rades before the hawk could receive its master's assistance, 

 and on another, one of the Babblers was caught by hand 

 as it clung to the back of its relative's murderer. No one, 

 so far as I am aware, has recorded behaviour anything 

 like this on the part of our song-thrush (Turdus musicus), 

 who appears to be rather a coward, although his near rela- 

 tive the missel -thrush (Turdus viscivorus) will show fight 

 boldly in defence of his home and mate. And with regard 

 to these Babblers courage appears to be a variable quality 

 even in this particular species ; for Dr. Jerdon expressly 

 states that the Jungle Babbler will not attack a trained 

 hawk flown at the flock as the bolder Mahratta Babbler 

 (Argya makolmi) will. Dehra Dun, therefore, where the 

 above incident occurred, must be inhabited by a peculiarly 

 warlike clan of Crateropus canorus, and certainly they 

 are very numerous there and obtrusively noisy. That 

 K, BC. 2 



