THE BABBLERS. 15 



They vary a good deal in size, but there is something 

 about their general style which marks them off at 

 once when seen in life, though, as skins in a museum 

 collection, they are not so easy to separate. They 

 have very short rounded wings, and rather long tails 

 as a rule ; their plumage is lax and fluffy, not close 

 and sleek, and their legs and feet are strong, not to 

 say coarse. Their bills are moderate in size ; not 

 actually slender, but not thick like a Crow's. The 

 Peko or Chinese Mocking-bird on Plate III (Fig. 3) 

 will give a good general idea of them, and few are 

 larger than this. 



They usually go about in parties, and have a weak 

 flight, never going far at a time, and often whirring 

 and skimming alternately, like Partridges. They feed 

 mostly on insects, and take hold of their food in one 

 foot, if they wish to break it up. On trees or on the 

 ground they are very active, moving about by long hops, 

 for very few of them run. Males and females are alike in 

 colour, and the young remsemble them. They are very 

 affectionate and constantly caress each other with 

 their bills. 



THE SAT-BHAI (Crateropus canorus) is the most familiar 

 of the larger Babblers, the native name, which of 

 course means seven brothers, having been practi- 

 cally accepted as English. I have not thought it 

 necessary to figure this common bird ; everyone must 

 have noticed it, with its pale-drab, dust-coloured 

 plumage, cunning-looking white eyes, and sickly-white 

 legs and bill. It is found all over India in the plains 



