XXIX CRESTS OR TOP-KNOTS 365 
cranes, which are found in large numbers around the 
lake: they tolerate them in the villages merely for 
their beauty. In the quiet of the evening these birds 
take up positions on the apex of the huts or on the flat 
top of a tall tree near the village, perched motionless 
on one leg, silhouetted against the sky, like sentinels. 
The Helmet-shrike. 
' These birds are pretty, very tame, and most amusing 
when they perform their quaint antics. They dance to 
meet one another with nodding heads, necks advanced, 
and wings outspread, bowing and jumping in a 
grotesque manner. They are as easily approached as 
fowls in a barn-yard. The Nandi are very fond of the 
