THE DHYAL. 63 



their daily supply. At the same time, breeding the 

 Dhyal is distinctly a feather in any amateur's cap, 

 ■while it also shows that the bird itself is ready to 

 accept fresh conditions. In a wild state it ranges, 

 indeed, over a very large territory, including all the 

 Indian Empire. It is, however, more especially a 

 plains bird, although it ascends the Himalayas up 

 to about 5,000 feet. At its eastern limits in South 

 Tenasserim the black in the wings and tail begins 

 to increase at the expense of the white, but not in 

 places where it is noticeable on a casual view. 



Nowhere have I seen the Dhyal so common as in 

 Ross Island in the Andamans, where in the morning 

 the air is full of the music of these birds, and they 

 are to be seen everywhere and are particularly tame. 

 I really don't know what they all live upon, for insects 

 were not at all plentiful as far as I could see when 

 1 was there. • 



I have not noticed the Dhyal's music in Calcutta, 

 but he does not get much chance there with the noise 

 constantly kept up by the kites and crows. But he 

 is certainly one of the birds which give the lie to the 

 oft-repeated assertion that Indian birds have no 

 song. Another is his cousin, the shama above 

 mentioned, which is probably more numerous in 

 cages than the Dhyal is in the wild state. The shama 

 is a smaller bird than the Dhyal, but has a longer 



