A BIRD^OF MANY ALIASES 107 



Before proceeding further, let me, for the benefit 

 of those who are unacquainted with the avifauna of 

 India, describe the bird. It is much smaller than the 

 common heron, being about the size of a curlew. The 

 head, neck, and the whole of the upper plumage are 

 greenish brown, each feather having a darker shaft 

 stripe. The under parts are white, as are the larger 

 wing feathers, but these latter are so arranged as to 

 be altogether invisible when the wings are closed, so 

 that the bird, when it flies, seems suddenly to produce 

 from nowhere a pair of beautiful white pinions and 

 sail away on them. Before it has flown far it usually 

 performs the vanishing trick. This, Hke most effective 

 conjuring tricks, is very easy to perform when one 

 knows how to do it. The bird merely folds its wings, 

 then the dark coverts alone are visible. These are of 

 the same hue as the damp sand or mud on which the 

 paddy bird spends a considerable portion of the day. 

 The dingy hues of the paddy bird are the outcome of 

 its habits ; it is a shikari that stalks its prey or Ues in 

 wait for it. If it were as showy as the cattle egret its 

 intended victims would " see it coming " and mock at 

 it. Hence the necessity for its workaday garb. 



The paddy bird is a very sluggish creature ; it 

 comes of a lazy family. There is not a single member 

 of the heron tribe that does sufiicient work to disquaUfy 

 it for membership of the most particular trade imion. 



Most herons, however, do stalk their prey, which is 

 more than the paddy bird usually does. One may 

 sometimes see him progressing through shallow water 

 at the rate of six inches a minute ; but more commonly 



