206 BOMBAY DUCKS 



hence the popular name Seven Sisters, or Brothers, 

 applied to the commoner forms. " The man in the 

 street " has no word by means of which he can speak 

 of a single member of the species. It is impossible to 

 talk about "a seven sister." Nor is this defect in the 

 popular vocabulary a serious one, for where, outside a 

 museum, do you see a solitary babbler? Is it possible 

 to think of one of these birds without a friend to which 

 it can babble ? 



These little Clubs are not mere family affairs, for a 

 babbler is a monogamist, and has at the most four 

 children ; and two and four make but six. Each little 

 company of Seven Sisters is just an informal, free- 

 and-easy, go-as-you-please Club, composed of members 

 drawn together by identity of interest. Every babbler 

 is greatly attached to its Club ; even when bringing up 

 a family the parents feed in company. The reason for 

 this is not far to seek. 



A babbler is a feeble little bird. Its beak is but a 

 puny weapon, and its power of flight is so limited that 

 it is probably unable to take an uninterrupted journey 

 of a hundred yards. It is, therefore, obvious that, 

 had the species not learned to profit by the homely 

 proverb "union is strength," it would long ago have 

 been swept off the face of the earth in the fierce 

 struggle for existence. Thanks, however, to their clan- 

 nishness, babblers are among the most widely distributed 

 of birds in India. 



It requires a very smart fowl to circumvent a party of 

 Seven Sisters. Directly one of them espies an enemy 

 it gives the cry of alarm. This is followed by a general 



