and the Dhyal Bird 95 



He is easier to keep in health than a nightingale. 

 Teach him to come out of his cage by putting a meal- 

 worm outside his door, and he will soon learn to 

 fly about the room. The exercise will add much to 

 his health and strength. A mealworm thrown into 

 his cage will soon bring him home again ; hurrying 

 in as quickly as a lady in her best frock, when a 

 thunder shower has caught her in her garden. 



Now shamas live in India — in jungle country, so 

 they say — and I know little or nothing about the 

 jungle ; but I suppose it to be a more or less big 

 tangle of trees and shrubs, and giant grasses and 

 creepers, amongst which are apes and peacocks, tigers 

 and elephants, leopards and cats of different kinds, not 

 to mention snakes, tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, 

 and other poisonous and revolting creepy- era wlies. 

 There dwell the shamas, probably the finest songsters 

 of the bamboo groves, their mellow notes ringing out : 

 the nightingales of India. 



It is a very fine voice, at one time soft sotto-voce 

 warblings ; at others, loud and flute-like. 



His note of alarm is a sharp " tzet-tzet-tzet," 

 uttered vociferously as he chucks his long tail high 

 over his back, and down again, showing conspicu- 

 ously the white tail coverts as he does so. 



His flight is strong and quick. 



In a cage he will burst into song at unexpected 

 moments, perhaps long after he has been apparently 

 silenced by the drawing of curtains and lighting of 

 lamps. 



The notes, when he has the loud pedal down, are 



