The Spotted Forktail 



they pick up each leaf, turn it over, and cast 

 it aside just as the seven sisters do. They 

 seem to like to work upstream when seeking 

 for food. Jerdon states that he does not re- 

 member ever having seen a forktail perch ; 

 nevertheless the bird frequently flies on to a 

 branch overhanging the brook, and rests there, 

 slowly vibrating its forked tail as if in deep 

 meditation. 



Spotted forktails are often seen near the 

 places where the dhobis wash clothes by bang- 

 ing them violently against rocks, hence the 

 name dhobi-birds, by which they are called by 

 many Europeans. The little forktail does not 

 haunt the washerman's ghat for the sake of 

 human companionship, for it is a bird that 

 usually avoids man. The explanation is prob- 

 ably that the shallow pool in which the dhobi 

 works and grunts is well adapted to the feeding 

 habits of the forktail. I may here remark that 

 in the Himalayas the washerman usually pur- 

 sues his occupation in a pool in a mountain 

 stream overhung with oaks and rhododendron 

 trees, amid scenery that would annually attract 

 thousands of visitors did it happen to be within 

 a hundred miles of London. Not that the 

 prosaic dhobi cares two straws for the scenery — 

 153 



