24 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



ridiculous before the object of their affections, and 

 possibly these are among the number — a Babbler 

 <!Ould not be dignified if he tried. Their nest is just 

 about the sort of abode one would expect them to 

 buOd, a simple cup, more or less loose and untidy, 

 placed almost anywhere in shrubs or trees. But 

 the eggs are the one beautiful thing about the bird, 

 being of that lovely blue so noticeable in the hedge- 

 sparrow's at home, and very glossy in addition. As 

 above imphed the young ones fledge off very like 

 the old, but they have dark brown instead of white 

 eyes. A very plump one I experimentally ate tasted 

 much like a quail, and herein perhaps lies an 

 economic possibility for the " Seven Sisters "; the 

 clan would just about fill a pie. The French in 

 Algeria regard the local Babbler there {Argya Juka) 

 as gihier, but their notions in that matter are known 

 to be liberal ; witness the colonists in New Caledonia 

 who used to eat the local crow, until one day a native 

 asked one of these sportsmen why the white men 

 ate what they religiously avoided, giving as a reason, 

 when questioned, that the said crows ate them when 

 exposed dead on platforms in the forest according 

 to custom. After this crow ceased to figure in the 

 Colonial menu. 



The said Algerian Babbler is the nearest of the 

 family to Europe, and generally speaking. Babblers 



