292 BOMBAY DUCKS 
walks as we do in our own land, we should soon learn 
to recognize and to love the tunes of the commoner 
singing birds. But alas! a country walk in India 
without grassy downs, gay hedgerows and leafy 
glades, is apt to have a depressing effect on the exiled 
European, so he takes his exercise in the form of 
games. 
The plumage of the cock dhyal is glossy black, 
except the breast, abdomen, and sides of the tail, which 
are white. The bird is also marked by a broad white 
band on each wing, seen when the latter is closed. The 
animal has, therefore, a smart appearance ; it is always 
spick-and-span, and struts about in a most sprightly 
manner ; its jaunty air is heightened by the fact that 
the tail is carried erect. In the female the black of the 
plumage is replaced by a slaty colour. 
The magpie robin will live in captivity ; it, however, 
is not often seen as a caged bird, for its cousin, the 
shama, having a more beautiful song, is more highly 
esteemed. The dhyal spends a good deal of its time in 
trees, as often as not among the bare branches, so that 
it is always easy to see. From such a position it will 
pour forth its song in one continuous stream. Its notes 
are bright and joyous; they exhibit great compass and 
variety, while the volume of sound emitted is consider- 
able for so small a bird, yet the bird just misses being 
a really great singer. Its notes are not marked by that 
absolute purity which constitutes so much of the beauty 
of the song of the nightingale, nor is its voice so mellow 
or sympathetic as that of the blackbird. 
The magpie robin, like many great human singers, 
