THE SEVEN SISTERS 
‘The seven birds... that never part.” 
ABBLERS are the Bohemians of bird society. 
The Seven Sisters are to the rest of the 
fowls of India what the denizens of the 
Quartier Latin are to the remainder of 
Parisian Society. There is much to be said for an 
unconventional, restraint-free life. The poets, from 
Horace downwards, have hankered after such an exist- 
ence. 
It is, indeed, no small thing to be able to eat what 
one likes, drink what one likes, say what one likes, and 
do what one likes, Babblers enjoy all these advan- 
tages, and many more. Were there ever before, through- 
out all the geological ages, any birds so utterly in- 
different to personal appearance? If a crow were to 
show himself in public in the unkempt condition of 
the average babbler, he would be forthwith socially 
ostracized ; he would be blackballed by every corvine 
Club and never receive an invitation to dinner. Crows 
are great sticklers for etiquette, whereas babblers care 
not a fig for appearances, 
“Liberté, Fraternité, Egalité” is the motto of these 
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