BIRDS IN A GROVE 5 



dura alhifrontata) — the prima donna of the tope^ — 

 presented herself. Like a fairy in a pastoral play, 

 she comes into view from some leafy bower, announcing 

 her appearance by five or six joyous notes that mount 

 and descend the musical scale. Dainty as a wagtail 

 she is arrayed in black and white like some motacillas. 

 She is dancer as well as singer, and she pirouettes up 

 and down a horizontal branch, bowing now to right 

 and now to left, spreading her tail into a fan and 

 suddenly breaking off her dance to make a flight after 

 an insect. 



Even more beautiful was the next flycatcher 

 to introduce itself — TickeU's blue flycatcher {Cyornis 

 tickelli). The upper parts of this exquisite Uttle 

 creature are ghstening royal blue ; the throat and 

 breast are flaming orange, and the lower parts are 

 white. After flitting from bough to bough in search 

 of quarry, it stood still and uttered its lay, which con- 

 sists of a chik, chik, followed by a httle triU, not unlike 

 that of the fan-tailed flycatcher. Having delivered 

 itself of its melody, it vanished into the green canopy. 

 Its place was taken almost immediately by a red- 

 breasted flycatcher {Siphia parva), a bird very hke the 

 English robin in appearance. Ere long it moved away. 



Shortly after another flycatcher took its little part 

 in the pageant. This was the grey-headed flycatcher 

 {CuHcicapa ceylonensis) , " a tiny brownie bird," with 

 the head grey and the lower parts bright yellow. With 

 the exception of the Rhipidura, all these flycatchers 

 had come down from the Himalayas. 



While watching their graceful movements, my 



