THE
DHAYAL
oriental magpie-robin
(
COPSYCHUS SAULARIS )
If
there is a bird, very familiar in an
Indian
village, and has a voice exquisitely
sweet,
it is the Dhayal. The black and
white
markings of its body correspond so
nearly
to those of the Magpie, that it is
known
as the Magpie-Robin. The bird resembles
the
English Robin in many of its
habits.
Constantly jerking up its tail, it
loves,
like the Robin, to frequent places close
to
human habitation. Bold and vivacious,
it
steps into our verandahs, and nests in the
holes
and crannies of human dwellings. As
a
songster it has no rival in the plains of
India,
the Shama. being a bird of the forest
depths.
Its notes are clear and varied.
They
greet our ears the very first thing in
the
morning, and when all nature is silent
in
the evening, their cheerful music ring.
out
a farewell to the departing day.
The
Dliayal is indeed a superb singer.
With
its presence in the gardens, orchards,
burnsides,
and the backyards of houses, it is
The
semi-domestic nature of the
bird
has left it in comparative liberty, and
though
it is often caged, people have not
the
same rage for it as they have for the
more
unfamiliar Shama. Legge says that,
like
the latter, the Dhayal is a mimic ; it
can
roll its tongue in imitation of other
birds.
Layard also records that its power
of
mimicry manifests itself in its wild life as
well.
This, if true, is singular, as it is unlike
other
birds that have similar habits. Even
the
parrots do not show this trait while at
large.
The Dhayals in my own aviary,
however,
do not "degrade" their voice, a.s
has
been observed also by Gould, ''by apish
tricks
of imitation." The Dhayal'.s pugnacious
instinct
makes it a special favorite
with
the rich in Nepal where it is kept like
gamecocks
for fighting.
Distribution:
It
is one of the most widely distributed
birds
in India and is found everywhere
except
in the extreme North-west beyond
the
Punjab. In Rajputana and westwards,
the
desert tracts are too arid for its
habitation.
It is, however, found
in
Kathiawar, Sind, and in and
around
Karachi, whence it departs in April
with
the advent of summer. Eastwards it
is
abundant and is an inevitable feature of
bird
life everywhere—both in the Sub-Himalayan
regions
from Mussoorie eastwards, and
the
hills and plains of Aryavarta. In Bengal,
no
place is unrepresented up to the very
base
of the Himalayas, where it is not seen
higher
up than the Terais. Thence its range
extends
up to Burma. Though not so
abundant
in the Deccan, it is pretty
numerous
along the Hills in the West, and
in
the lowlands of the Madras Presidency
in
the East. It is distributed throughout
the
whole island of Ceylon.
Field Notes:
The
characteristic difference between the
Shama
and the Dhayal is that while the
former
confines itself solely to the most
secluded
depths of forests, the latter, though
not
unknown in the solitude of
woods,
seldom strays very far from
the
vicinity of man. Its graceful
form
is always in evidence around us. Early
at
dawn, before other members of the fledged
tribes
are astir, it pours forth its music in
a
continuous stream from the foliage. At
noon
it is generally busy, silently foraging
for
food in the chequered shades of gardens
and
orchards. While thus engaged, the
approach
of man does not seem to ruffle its
composure,
and except bestowing a half amusing
quizzical
look, it cares no more for
your
presence than for that of any other
living
thing. At the same time, it will not
allow
you to take any undue liberty with it.
If
it notices that you are trying to come very
near,
it will fly away a few yards, and perching
on
the branch of a tree, regard your
discomfiture
with a sublime complacency or
defy
you by a musical rebuke for thoughtlessly
disturbing
it at its midday meal. In
the
evening when the day's labour is over,
it
resumes its rapturous strain of music till late at dusk.
This
habit of keeping early and late
hours
is true also of the more retired Shama.
In
fact, we observe many traits common to
both
these birds. The Dhayal is as voracious
an
insect-feeder as the Shama. It
seeks
its prey near the ground and generally
selects
the low branches of trees for perching,
though
it is not uncommon to find it
seated
on the top of some large tree or other
elevated
spots. In pugnacity, it is almost
a
cousin-Q:erman to the Shama. Like all
pugnacious
birds, the Dhayal is unsociable
to
a degree, staying alone throughout the
greater
part of the year, and only occasionally
in
the company of its mate.
Sometimes
one may notice a deviation
from
this habit of exclusiveness on the part
of
the Dhayal. But this is seasonal only.
Prompted
by a freshly roused combative
instinct,
the bird suddenly develops a
gregarious
impulse during the mating
period.
It is not unusual to observe a
number
of Dhayals congregating in an open
space
in a garden or a grove to fight out
duels
like the knights of mediaeval Europe.
As
each bird comes out a winner, its success
is
received with such an uproar of applause
that
the uninitiated may easily mistake it
for
some disaster in the avine world.
Amidst
such din and commotion, each competitor
engages
in combat till one is left the
sole
champion of the field. Then, mighty
pleased
with themselves and their performances,
the
birds retire to their roosts,
chattering
the while and discussing perhaps
the
merits of different competitors. The
Dhayal's
bullying tendency very often be trays
it
into bondage. Bird-catchers take
advantage
of this propensity and employ
tame
birds to entrap it. .. Among the various
devices
which are resorted to, one is to bring
a
caged Dhayal to the place where wild ones
abound.
Small sticks smeared with bird
lime
are attached to the cage. As soon as
the
captive bird begins to sing, the wild
Dhayals
while coming down to challenge the
newcomer
perch upon the sticks and get
fastened
to the bird-lime. Sometimes the
tame
bird is taken out of the cage and tied
to
a long piece of string. While combating
its
wild antagonist, it holds the latter in such
a
firm grip with its beak and claw that the
catcher
has no difficulty in securing the bird.
The
Dhayal is full of activity. Watch it
feeding
on the ground in the alleys and by lanes
of
our countryside, you cannot fail to
notice
its quick and animated movements.
With
its wing half open or almost drooping,
it
hops about in search of its prey, and at
each
hop, stops with a jerk of its tail instantly
spread
out and turned to the sky. If
cattle
pass by at the moment, it flies up to
a
low twig and keeps a sharp eye on any
insect
or grub that may chance to be
brought
to light. The moment it is noticed,
it
comes down to snatch it up and after
beating
it to death, returns with it to its
former
perch. Always in motion, it raises
and
depresses its body accompanied by
a
flirtation of its tail. This tail-play is
most
in evidence during the mating season
and
specially at the time when several of
Dhayals
are engaged in fighting out their
duels.
The display consists in expanding the
tail
like a fan so as to show the white outer
feathers,
and continually jerking it up and
down.
Although far from shy, the bird
likes
the security of a thicket and revels in
the
shade. While warily working its \\'ay
along
the hedge, it betrays its presence by
uttering
its shrill note every now and then.
It
seldom sings in full view of man whose
sudden
intrusion would check its flow of
vocal
music ; and when thus interrupted,
it
assumes a still attitude, fixing its cold
look
upon him. If you advance nearer, it
will
fly up to a higher perch or a more
distant
twig. When flushed, it is seen to
fly
directly from its perch in the cover of
the
thicket to a more remote hiding place.
The
hen bird is not slow to follow her
mate's
example, but if she flies, she keeps
aloof
from her lord and loses herself amidst
dense
cover. While at ordinary times the
Dhayal
seldom indulges in protracted flights,
it
has been observed to develop a tendency
for
sustained serial gyrations in the mating
season.
The female Dhayal is far less
obtrusive
than the male, and as she has a
less
striking appearance, she easily eludes
detection.
In conformity with the etiquette
of
pugnacious birds, she knows what distance
to
keep between herself and her lord. This
explains
why the males appear singly so
often,
but if you take a little pain to watch
carefully,
you are likely to detect its retiring
partner
not very far off. The Dhayal is
conscious
of its right to its territory and
tenaciously
keeps to its hunting ground.
It
is not timid. Pond of insects as it is, it
may
be easily encouraged to closer familiarity
with
man, if we care to put now and
then
a few grubs or disabled worms in its
way,
or fix up in some safe place close to
our
habitation little boxes or even earthen
pots
which will be readily acceptable to the
bird
as its nesting site. It is a beneficial
bird
as far as its insect-feeding habit goes ;
and
so, the more it is left to its liberty and
allowed
to multiply, the better.
The
Dhayal does not appear to sing in
the
same way all the year round. It has
been
observed to be in fall choral activity
chiefly
during the mating period viz., in
April
and May. The bird seems at that
time
to be possessed with a musical mania,
warbling
forth its amorous notes, which by
reason
of their volume, depth, variety, and.
sweetness
sound perfect to the human ear.
From
August, its song begins to lose much
of
its sweetness until in mid-winter it ceases
to
fascinate us as before. And lo ! when
February
comes, its voice begins again to
get
into form and emerge once more into
full-throated
melody towards the close of March.
Nests and
Eggs:
period
and for nearly four months it is busy
rearing
up its family. The bird seems to
have
a remarkably monogamous instinct.
Observations
of its habits in the
aviary
substantiate the fact that a
cock-bird
which has lost its hen
refuses
to chum up with any other female,
and
feels so much enraged as to kill all
subsequent
wives submitted for its approval.
The
Dhayal breeds throughout the plains of
India
; but many birds resort to the Dhoons
and
Terais of the Himalayas during the
nesting
season. Holes in trees, walls, banks,
corners
of the under-roof or the eaves of a
verandah
are the places generally selected
for
nesting. The nest is invariably placed
in
a secure and sheltered position and is
made
up of roots, grass, fibers, feathers—in
fact
anything that is to hand is utilized for
the
purpose. In the hills, the nest is a
shallow
loosely-built cup of moss, small
twigs,
and dry leaves. The Dhayal develops
a
great fondness for particular places.
However
far it may stray from its abode in
other
seasons, it will come back year after
year
to the same spot as soon as the nesting
season
arrives, and build its nest in exactly
the
same place. Five is the usual complement
of
eggs, which are oval, neither broad
nor
very narrow, somewhat elongated, with
a
moderately glossy surface. The ground
colour
is sometimes greenish or greenish
white,
and sometimes greenish-blue with rusty blotches.
Cage-life:
In
the cage, the Dhayal is no less attractive
than
the Shama. It becomes tame and
docile,
and appears very happy, seeming to
realize
that ''iron lavs
do not a prison make'’
and
sings away its time as sweetly
as
when at liberty. Young, hand reared
birds
grow up very hardy
and
make very nice pets, but adult birds seem
to
feel their loss of liberty very keenly just
after
capture. The provision of a bath in
the
cage delights it immensely, for it enjoys
a
dip in water as much as the Shama. Its
treatment
in captivity is almost similar to
that
of the latter. The food prepared for
the
one is well suited to the other. Only a
little
more insect-food is necessary in order
to
keep it in health. This discourages many
people
from caging it. Apart from this question
of
its insect -food, there are good o-rounds
for
leaving it at liberty. The bird is so much
attached
to the vicinities of human habitation
that
it seems not to be a gain to deprive
it
of its freedom. The growth of civilization
with
the concomitants of modern
town-planning
is working such a havoc on
bird-life
that even many of the commonest
birds
have chosen to leave our company for
ever.
It is not advisable, therefore, to make
life
unbearable even for those few that still
adhere
to us. In Bengal such a large number
of
nestlings of this bird is caught during
the
nesting season that the law meant to
prevent
it by declaring the season a closed
period
for bird-catchers utterly fails in its
object.
One effect of this indiscriminate
Capture
is that in Calcutta what was once a
familiar
garden-bird a few years back is now
a
rare avis.
It
is not very difficult to get the Dhayal
to
breed in captivity. Any small wooden
box
comes handy to it for nesting. It is
known
to have done so successfully in England.
In
a few instances, however, the
nestlings
were killed by the cock-bird, which
had
to be separated from the hen soon after
she
had laid eggs. When it is housed in
an
aviary with other birds, care should be
taken
to eliminate the smaller and weaker
birds,
as the latter are likely to be worried
by
the bad-tempered Dhayal.
Coloration:
The
bird is very well-proportioned, has a
graceful
form, and looks very bold for its
tail
which is almost always carried erect.
The
upper part of its body is black with
a
blue metallic gloss, the white
wing-coverts
forming a broad band.
The
under-surface is white from
the
chest downwards. The two median pairs
of
tail-feathers are black, the others white:
the
fourth pair is either white with a small.
black
tip, or white with a greater or less
amount
of black. The bill is black, iris hazel-brown,
and
the legs dark plumbeous.
ln
the female, the upper part of the
body
is uniformly dark-brown glossed with
blue.
In the wings and tail, the white is
distributed
as in the male. Chin, throaty
breast,
and sides of the neck are grey ;
forehead
and cheeks mottled with white
and
grey ; sides of the body, vent, under
tail-coverts
pale flavescent, and middle of
the
abdomen whitish.
In
the young, the upper plumage is dark
brown
streaked with rufous ; the white in the
wings
being as that in the adult ; the tail
brown
with similar white patches. Throat
and
breast grayish brown streaked with
rufous.
The rest of the lower body is white.
The
young assume adult plumage as soon
as
they are fully fledged.
The
Dhayal is considerably smaller in size
than
the Shama, being only about eight
inches
from the tip of its bill to the end of
its
tail. But if we leave the tail in both
cases
out of account, the Dhayal becomes
larger
than the Shama, the reason being
that
the latter has a longer tail. The
Dhayal's
tail which is much shorter equals
its
wings in length. In both t he Dhayal and
the
Shama, the two central pairs of
tail-feathers are black.
