. Bombay ducks; an account of some of the every-day birds and beasts found in a naturalist's Eldorado . eto open his mouth and shut his eyes and see whatsomebody sends him—for it is Utopian, impossible ofattainment—he does what in the end comes to muchthe same thing. He stands with his mouth shut andeyes open until a juicy frog passes his way, when heseizes and swallows it. Up-country the paddy-bird is so absurdly tame as toreceive the name of blind heron. Those that dwellin Madras are far more wary. I suspect that they arehighly esteemed as table-birds by the unsophisticatedMadrassi ; hence t
. Bombay ducks; an account of some of the every-day birds and beasts found in a naturalist's Eldorado . eto open his mouth and shut his eyes and see whatsomebody sends him—for it is Utopian, impossible ofattainment—he does what in the end comes to muchthe same thing. He stands with his mouth shut andeyes open until a juicy frog passes his way, when heseizes and swallows it. Up-country the paddy-bird is so absurdly tame as toreceive the name of blind heron. Those that dwellin Madras are far more wary. I suspect that they arehighly esteemed as table-birds by the unsophisticatedMadrassi ; hence the unusual shyness. The paddy-bird flies as little as possible. He takesthe minimum amount of exercise necessary to keephimself in good health, just sufficient, indeed, to staveoff attacks of liver. During most of the day he takesup his position in some puddle, where he stands motion-less for hours, by preference in a strange attitude. Hewould make a perfect artists model. If he could onlylook pleasant he would be a subject after the heart ofthe photographer. But so sad a bird is he that I fear. PADDY BIRD PADDY-BIRDS AND EGRETS 237 the exhortation, Think of er, would scarcely raise asmile from him. As he stands and contemplates his image in themurky waters of the village pond, he forms a strangecontrast to dhobis—the other denizens of the tank—whoseem to work with might and main, the livelong day,trying to dash garments to pieces against a ruggedstone, under the impression that they are doing a littlewashing. The look of silent contempt which the paddy-bird bestows on the perspiring, grunting washermanwould make the latter feel very uncomfortable if he onlyhad the leisure to notice it. The dhobi and the paddy-bird form perfect contrasts ; yet they have one commonfeature. They are both anomalies. The washerman isthe exception which proves the rule that Orientals areplacid individuals who never do a stroke of unnecessarywork. The blind heron is the exception which proves
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirdsin, bookyear1906
