96 



The Indian Shama 



very rapidly uttered ; there is no trilling, but rather 

 a flowing roulade. 



The hen bird is very prettily and softly coloured ; 

 her mate's bold tints of black and chestnut are 

 " washed " into delicate mouse-brown and grey. 



Her tail is not nearly so long, but long enough to 

 show that she is a shama. 



One very favourite cock, bird that I once had used 

 to sit on our housekeeper's lap — she was an old family 

 nurse in former days, so that he probably felt the 

 sympathy of that lap — where he would sit with one 

 foot tucked up in the feathers of his breast, warbling. 



He was a beauty. 



Shamas have nested in England in captivity, but 

 the great difficulty of successfully rearing insectivorous 

 birds in an aviary is that of being able to supply 

 sufficient insect food. 



You can, if venturesome enough, let a tame shama 

 fly about in the garden, for the mealworm box will 

 generally bring him back again. 



He will thoroughly enjoy a flight of that sort, but 

 of course you must be sure of your bird, and he must 

 first of all be well acquainted with his surroundings. 



There is a bird, a very familiar one in some parts 

 of India and China, which is nearly related to the 

 shama, namely, the magpie robin — as European settlers 

 call it — or dhyal bird — perhaps dayal ? — a bird which, 

 like the shama, makes a capital cage pet, and can be 

 from time to time purchased in England. 



