COPSYCHUS SATJLAEIS. 435 



animation displayed by the males ; these consort together when not breeding, and meet continually towards 

 evening in little troops, which perform a sort of tournament on the grassy swards ; this consists in a series of 

 prodigious hops towards and away from each other, accompanied by a jerking completely over the back of the 

 tail, and a corresponding spasmodic down-strutting of the wings, which movements are enlivened with loud, 

 cheerful whistles ; at a given signal the meeting suddenly disperses, and darting off in opposite directions, all 

 will alight on adjacent branches or roofs, except, perhaps, one, who appears, by common consent, to be left 

 master of the field. These displays are said to be for the entertainment of some coveted female. I have at 

 times observed one looking on, but just as often not; and I believe the habit to be merely an inherent one in 

 all males. During the breeding-season, the cocks are very pugnacious, furiously assaulting any rival that may 

 approach their nests. 



The Dayal is very fond of locality, taking up its abode in particular spots, and there remaining throughout 

 life, breeding and rearing its young. Its song in Ceylon is considered, and justly so, one of the finest of any 

 bird in the island ; its notes are most varied and very sweet, and are all the more attractive from the late and 

 early hours which this pretty songster keeps. Its clear voice is heard the first thing in the morning and the 

 last at night, sometimes from the green lawn in front of the bungalow verandah, and as often from the top of 

 a Casuarina or cotton-tree overshadowing the roof ; its powers of imitation are considerable, tempting it to 

 mock the voice of fowls and other birds in the vicinity of its domicile. In the breeding-season so continued 

 is its song that it will mount to the top of a tree and warble forth its love-notes in a pour of rain. Layard 

 relates the following anecdote, which serves to illustrate its elocutionary powers :■ — " On the top of a towering 

 cotton-tree, opposite my last residence in Colombo, a Magpie Robin daily for some weeks charmed me with 

 his song, whilst his mate sat brooding her eggs or callow nestlings in the roof of a native hut beneath him. 

 One morning, after the young had left their cradle and betaken themselves to the neighbouring compounds, 

 I was attracted by cries of distress from various birds and squirrels, and above all I heard the seemingly 

 plaintive mewing of a cat. I had no living specimen of the last in my museum, so wondering what could be 

 the matter, went into the garden to see. I found the mewing proceeded from my friends the Robins, who were 

 furiously attacking something in a bush, whilst the birds and squirrels screamed in concert. There I found 



one of the young robins caught, as I thought, in the tendrils of a creeper. I put out my hand to release 



it, when, to my surprise, I saw the glittering eyes of the green whip-snake {Trimesurus viridis), in whose fangs 

 the bird was struggling. I seized the reptile by the neck and rescued the bird, but too late ; it lay panting 

 in my hand for a few moments, then fluttered and died. On skinning it I found no wound, except on the 

 outer joint of the wing by which it had been seized, and am confident that fear alone deprived it of life." 



In India its pugnacious disposition assists the bird-catchers in capturing it. Hodgson, in writing on this 

 subject, says that the professional bird- keeper, availing himself of the propensity the male birds have of calling 

 each other in the breeding-season, " takes out his tame male on his fist, and proceeds to the nearest grove or 

 garden ; the bird at his bidding presently challenges, and a desperate contest ensues between the two, during 

 which the fowler readily secures the wild bird with the tame one's assistance ; for the latter will deliberately 

 aid his owner's purpose, seizing the wild bird at the critical moment with both claws and bill, and retaining it 

 until his master comes up, in case it has not been so exhausted by the previous contest as to be disabled from 

 flying away at the man's approach. Fighting the tame birds is a favourite amusement of the rich ; nor can 

 any race of game-cocks contend with more energy and resolution than do these birds." 



The diet of this Robin consists of insects of all sorts ; but when tame it will come into verandahs of 

 bungalows and pick up crumbs or any thing that may be thrown out to it. 



Nidification.— -In the west and south of Ceylon this Robin breeds between the months of February and 

 July, having apparently more than one brood in the season. In the north it nests as early as November, and 

 continues breeding throughout the north-east monsoon. In towns and about houses the nest is placed in 

 holes in walls, under roofs, in decaying cocoanut- or jack-trees, and in the jungle in stumps and hollow trees, &c. 

 The nest is usually an ample, shallow, loosely made cup of grass, dry roots, and fine twigs, measuring about 

 3 inches in diameter ; sometimes, however, when placed in a niche in an old wall, it is a flat, pad-shaped 

 structure, and is often lined with hair, pieces of rag, cotton, or other substance gathered about human habi- 

 tations. A nest I found, built in the ordinary plaited cocoanut-leaf basket, used by the natives to protect their 



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