Byi'ain and Ghopal. 



151 



off, the woods are likely to be vocal with 

 their sweet notes. The song continues 

 from the time of their arrival in spring 

 until the late summer, which is perhaps only 

 another way of saying that it lasts through 

 the breeding season. 



At the approach of autumn the families 

 break up, and from this time on the birds 

 are seen only singly. Now their diet un- 

 dergoes a change, and they feed more on 

 berries, those of the dogwood, the choke 

 cherry and the juniper being favorites with 

 them. 



When migrating, the Wood Thrush never 

 moves in flocks. Each bird pursues its 

 journey by itself, and all move deliberately 

 southward, seeming to prefer to travel by 

 short stages along hedgerows and through 

 the woods rather than to take — at least dur- 

 ing the hours of daylight — more extended 

 flights. 



The investigations of Professor S. A. 

 Forbes have shown that the Wood Thrush 



destroys some useful insects, those which 

 prey upon noxious species, but on the whole 

 it is probable that the balance is in favor of 

 this beautiful songster. Certainly, even if 

 this were doubtful, his sweet voice should 

 turn the scale in his favor, and he should 

 be sedulously protected. 



The Wood Thrush is about 8 in. in length, 

 and measures 13 across its extended wings. 

 The tail is short and is composed of twelve 

 feathers. The feathers of the head can be 

 erected into a slight crest. The color above 

 is a bright reddish brown, the tail and 

 wings a little darker, and the rump inclining 

 to olive. The eyes are surrounded by a 

 whitish ring. The lower parts are white, 

 thickly spotted, except on the throat, middle 

 of the breast, belly and under tail coverts, 

 with blackish brown. The bill is brown 

 above and flesh color below, and the feet 

 and legs flesh colored. The iris is dark 

 brown. Our illustration is after Audubon's 

 plate. 



BYRAM AND GHOPAL. 



THE following morning the Faquirs 

 arose betimes, and as there were 

 numerous travelers at the Serai, it was not 

 long before meat offerings and drink offer- 

 ings were laid before Byram. 



Byram ate sparingly, but Ghopal, who 

 had never had so well-spread a table, ate 

 voraciously. After he had filled himself 

 with bread and milk and rice, he was very 

 skillful in finding corners for the dried dates; 

 but all things earthly must come to an end, 

 and so at last did Ghopal's breakfast. As 

 on the previous morning, there were poor 

 women of low caste in waiting, who removed 

 all that remained, and our travelers were 

 abroad betimes, making the round of the 

 bazaar, where the news of their arrival had 

 been published over night. The shop- 

 keepers gave their coppers freely, but the 



bazaar was not a large one, and the whole 

 collection barely reached one rupee (fifty 

 cents). 



Near the outskirts of the town they heard 

 a woman weeping bitterly, and Byram said, 

 "Let us go in and inquire into this matter." 



They entered the door, which led by a 

 narrow passage into a small court yard, 

 where a woman was sitting on a charpoy, 

 weeping. 



"What ails thee, good woman?" asked 

 Byram. 



"Alas, holy Faquir," said she, "my hus- 

 band is far away, and my only child is dead, 

 and I have no money to buy wood to burn 

 his body.' 



"What caste are you ? " asked Byram. 



" We are of the goldsmith caste, natives 

 of the Bhagirathi Valley," said the' woman, 



