20 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



or less loose and untidy, placed almost anywhere in shrubs 

 or trees. But the eggs are the one beautiful thing about 

 the bird, being of that lovely blue so noticeable in the 

 hedge-sparrow's at home, and very glossy in addition. 

 As above implied the young -ones fledge off very like the 

 old, but they have dark brown instead of white eyes. 

 A very plump one I experimentally ate tasted much like a 

 quail, and herein perhaps lies an economic possibility for 

 the "Seven Sisters ;" the clan would just about fill a pie. 

 The French in Algeria regard the local babbler there (Argya 

 fulva) as gibier, but their notions in that matter are known 

 to be liberal ; witness the colonists in New Caledonia who 

 used to eat the local crow, until one day a native asked one 

 of these sportsmen why the white men ate what they reli- 

 giously avoided, giving as a reason, when questioned, that 

 the said crows ate them when exposed dead on platforms 

 in the forest according to custom. After this crow ceased 

 to figure in the Colonial menu. 



The said Algerian Babbler is the nearest of the family to 

 Europe, and generally speaking, babblers inhabit Africa 

 and the Oriental region only. Our familiar suburban 

 friend, which is found all over India, is the only one about 

 here in a wild state, though several of his more or less close 

 relatives may be met with at bird-dealer's places, includ- 

 ing the abovementioned huamei of China, recognizable 

 by its russet plumage and white eyebrows, and another 

 species common to that country and Further India, the 

 slate-coloured, white-cheeked Chinese mocking-bird or 

 peko (Dryonastes chinensis), which, though obviously of the 

 vulgar babbler family, is a finer songster than almost any 



