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INDIAN SONG-BIRDS 295 
plumage. Dame Nature is inclined to be parsimonious, 
If she arrays a bird in very handsome clothes, she is 
usually content to allow it but a poor song. In the 
same way, most of the birds which are endowed with 
sweet voices are plainly attired. She has, however, 
been very generous to the oriole. She has lavished 
upon it with no unsparing hand the most brilliant 
yellow and golden tints to be found in her paint-box, 
and, in addition, has taught the bird to utter a note 
very agreeable to human ears. The mellow peeho, 
peeho, or loriot, loriot, as the French syllabize the 
note, is perhaps the most pleasing of the sounds which 
issue from the mango tope. 
The Malabar whistling thrush ({Zyiophonus horsfieldit), 
commonly known as “the idle schoolboy,” is one of the 
most characteristic song-birds of Southern India. But 
he does not visit Madras ; his haunts are “ far from the 
madding crowd.” He is abundant on the West Coast. 
I do not know what constitutes his eastern boundary, 
but probably he does not occur east of the Shevaroy 
Hills. He is seldom found far from water. He loves 
to whistle his merry tune to the accompaniment of 
running streams, “Few birds,” writes Eha, “ have been 
endowed with so rich a voice, and it would be world- 
famous as a songster if it could only learn a tune. It 
is always practising, but makes no progress.” It com- 
mences to whistle a cheery lay and then suddenly 
stops short ; it is this habit which has earned for it the 
name of “the idle schoolboy.” 
The Bhimraj or larger racket-tailed drongo (Dizs- 
semurus pavadiseus) deserves a place of honour among 
