Minivets. 153 
have suggested in The Makijig of Species, we must look to the 
principle of tlie correlation of organs for the explanation of 
many, if not all, instances of sexual differences in colouring. 
The beauty of the Minivet is not merely that of colour. 
The elegance of its slender, well-proportioned form rivals that of 
the Wagtail. 
Minivets are veritable Wandering Jews. They seem never 
to remain for many hours in any one locality, except when nest- 
ing. They go about in little flocks, which are usually composed 
of both cocks and bens, sometimes, however, of one or other sex 
only. They are here to-day and gone to-morrow, .so that one 
never knows when one is going to meet them. During a walk in 
a Nilgiri wood one always has the pleasure of looking out for 
these Cardinal Birds as they are sometimes called. The little 
companies pass from tree to tree, flitting among the leaves, seek- 
ing for insects, now on the topmost branches where the dainty 
forms of the birds stand out sharp and clear against the azure 
sky, — the .sky is usually azure in " The Gorgeous East " — now lost 
to view amid the denser foliage. Few are the lurking insects 
that escape the sharp eye of the Minivet. Even an insect on 
part of the tree where a bird cannot obtain a foothold does not 
escape, for the Minivet flies up to it, and seizes it while hovering 
in the air on vibrating wings. Sometimes, in order to reach a 
tiny victim hidden away on the underside of a leaf, the Minivet 
will hang by its feet, like a Titmouse, from the slender branch 
that bears tlie leaf. At times the Minivet will indulge in a little 
zig-zag flight among the green branches, and it is on such 
occasions that the cock utters his feeble, but pleasing little 
warble. 
The nest of a pair of Minivets is a work of art. It is a 
neat little cup, about three inches in diameter, composed of 
small twigs and grasses, and covered outside with moss and cob- 
webs, so that in colour and general appearance the exterior is 
exactly like the bark of a tree. 
The little cup is often placed on a bough ; if this happens 
to be a thick one the nest is totally invisible to any person look- 
ing into the tree in which it is placed. If the branch happens to 
be a thin one, the nest looks from below like a knot or swelling 
