HOBBLEDEHO VS. 1 05 



literal faux pas. It is most amusing to watch the efforts of 

 a young myna as it tries to catch a locust. The chase is 

 invariably a long one, and, as likely as not, the insect 

 escapes. Thus the myna makes its debut, looking smart and 

 sprightly as though it had just come out of the proverbial 

 band-box ; there is nothing of the hobbledehoy about the 

 youngster. What is still more wonderful, the myna seems 

 never to grow old. Who has ever seen a hoary-looking, 

 worn-out myna? The bird may well be envied by human 

 beings, for it seems to have discovered the secret, if not of 

 perpetual youth, at any rate of permanent good-looks. 



How different is the lot of the chicken. He has no nest 

 to protect him, so that were he to hatch out of the egg in 

 a state similar to that of the myna he would not survive an 

 hour. He is obliged to a great extent to look after himself 

 from the moment he is born, so he emerges from the egg 

 covered with down, able to see and run about, nevertheless 

 very unlike either of his parents. All the while that his 

 feathers and comb are growing he is earning his living, 

 and so has to appear in public as a hobbledehoy half 

 downy chick and half feathery fowl. In this condition 

 he may be seen outside any dak bungalow, and is neither 

 beautiful to the eyes nor tender to the teeth. 



