THE KING-CKOW. 29 



appears never to touch vegetable food, he has been known 

 to take small birds as well as insects, and even to capture 

 small fish ; a feat of which no one will deem him incapable 

 who has seen him taking his bath by plunges like a swallow, 

 a method of performing ablutions much favoured by birds 

 which are ready of wing. And the King-Crow is remark- 

 ably good at aerial evolutions, whence he is enabled to 

 maintain that authority over birds great and small which 

 the Deccanis have neatly expressed by calling him kotwal, 

 superintendent of police. Armed with very punishing 

 beak and claws, he is a terror to evil-doers like the kite 

 and crow, who cannot catch him, much as they would like 

 to I have seen a sickly King-Crow fall a prey to a kite 

 but also, it is to be regretted, at times a nuisance to the 

 more peaceful portion of the bird community, robbing 

 them when he can of their insect prey ; although perhaps 

 he feels that this is merely an exaction of a tribute due to 

 his energetic exertions against the criminal classes, which 

 the public would churlishly withhold. 



It must be admitted that he is sometimes very unscru- 

 pulous ; a King-Crow has been known to give the alarm of 

 a hawk in order to frighten off a bird which was capturing 

 an insect which he wanted himself, though such an action 

 shows intelligence of no mean order ; and also exempli- 

 fies the vocal powers of the King-Crow, which, like many 

 other birds possessed of a powerful and flexible voice, has 

 considerable aptitude for variations. His notes are very 

 pleasant, and he is almost the earliest bird to tune up in 

 the morning. The male and female King-Crows are quite 

 alike, and even the young aie fledged black at first, 



