THE SHAMA/CITTOCINCLA MACRURA/ শ্যামা পাখি

THE SHAMA

(CITTOCINCLA MACRURA)

The Shama, as a songster, is entitled to

the first place in the whole feathered community

of India, and for the matter of that,

in Bengal. Eor a competitor to whom it

yields in song, we have to look to regions

which are, strictly speaking, outside India,

to that unassuming bird which, despite its

homely beauty, has been rendered immortal

by its- vocal chaims the Nightingale.

Though the Shama is overstepped by this

prince of songsters by a long distance, yet

the sweetness of its song is highly remarkable

for its variety, depth, impetuousness,

and modulation, which have made it the

darling of both the high and the low throughout

the length and breadth of India. This

bird was familiar to our ancestors in the long past.

The name Shama signifies `glossy

dark' a predominant colour of the bird.

The name has another fascination for the

Hindus, whose love and reverence for the

goddess of that name are so well-known.

The bird has yet another charm. It is very

docile in captivity, though so bold and fearless

in demean our. This, added to its

beauty and its wonderful capacity for imitating

human voices and calls of other birds

and animals, has greatly enhanced its value

as a caged pet. The attention which it can

thus command from its master is no less

remarkable. It is commonly kept in a

lovely cage of superior workmanship, always

wrapped up with a piece of clean linen,

and taken out every evening for an airing.

Those who can afford, engage servants

specially for this purpose, and it is not an

unusual sight in many an Indian city to

see several such cages taken out to a municipal

park or open ground for the airing.

A covered cage is always looked upon by

the Indians as essential to keeping a bird in

health and song. The belief has taken such

a firm hold on the mind of the masses that

no amount of reasoning can dissuade them

from this practice which is obviously contrary

to all hygienic rules ; for, in fact, birds

in open cages, enjoying air and light, do not

sing the less or fare the worse in health.

In spite of this drawback in caging, the

caged Shama can be pronounced to be an

avicultural success, for the bird grows robust

and lives long in confinement, and, except

for the short moulting period, it sings

throughout the year. And, since the bird

is often caged when young, it gets accustomed

to human intrusion, and acquires a

nonchalant air about it, singing away its

days quite oblivious of the presence of man.

Distribution

The Shama, in freedom, is not a familiar

sight to us. It is a denizen of thick jungles

and dense forests, keeping generally to the

underwood. It loves to frequent thickets in

glades and valleys located in the

midst of hills or mountains. It is,

therefore, absent in the districts

devoid of these natural features. In Bengal,

which is one of the most thickly populated

provinces, this bird confines itself to those

jungly districts where human habitation is

scarce. For this reason, it rarely makes the

Deltaic portion of Bengal its place of abode,

but is often a dweller of the western skirts

of the districts of Midnapore and Birbhum.

Eastwards from the Padma in the verdant

hills of Cachar, Assam, and Tipperah, it is

very numerous. In other parts of India, its

most important ranges are the Terai districts

of the Sub-Himalayan regions from Nepal to

Dibrugarh in Assam. It is also represented

in the well-wooded hills and forests of

Central India, Orissa, Chotanagpur, and the

Bajmahal Hills. In Southern India, it is

a permanent resident of the hill-ranges of

the West as far north as Khandalla in tlie

Sahyadri. Its range extends beyond the

Palk Straits into Ceylon, where it is very

abundant. In the eastern parts of the

Deccan, it is seen in Malabar. It is absolutely

a stranger in the provinces west of

the Ganges, and in Rajputana. It is widely

and abundantly found all over Burma.

Field Notes

It is invariably a resident bird in the

localities to which its range is confined, but

in the hill-tracts of Cachar, it has been observed

to be a winter visitant. It seldom

ascends the hills to any great

height, nor is it ever seen in cultivated

tracts, however well-wooded.

The hills and forests, the jungles around

streams, and woods in valleys and dales

which the bird frequents are hardly considered

by it as its safest retreats ; and so,

by way of further precaution, this wary

bird betakes itself to the most impervious

thickets, underwood, and clumpy bushes,

where it is able to escape the most searching

observations. Almost everywhere within

its range, the bird shows a preference for

l)articular spots, over which it holds sway

and even seems to stick to these favoured

haunts in spite of devastations by occasional

fires, which break out in the forests.

The Shama thus chooses for its habitation

places where Nature is luxuriant and

arrayed in its varied glories. In the mornings

and evenings, from the midst of a

bush or a bamboo scrub for which it seems

to have a partiality it mingles its impetuous

melody with the music of rustling

leaves and murmuring rills. And, while

rapt in its own song, the least sound will

send it scurrying through the air so shy

and easily alarmed it is ! But its flight is

never long ; and re-alighting at a short

distance, it vanishes into leafy cover, whence

it renews its song with as much visors.

When the usual notes are thus suddenly

interrupted, the bird gives out a sort of

monosyllabic sound, which Legged says

resembles churr churr. But to me it hears

more like t'chat t’chat, This peculiar

sound is accompanied by a jerking up of the

tail.It never soars high into the air, nor is it

ever seen perched on the topmost branches

of trees ; but it makes it a point to keep

as near the ground as possible, generally

selecting low branches for perching. Prom

such a position, it is always on the look-out

for any insect which may stray into view.

As soon as it notices its prey, it comes down

to pick it up ; and if, in the act of swallowing

the worm, it happens to spot another,

it hops up to bag this one also. It is chiefly

insectivorous, its menu consisting of grasshoppers,

small beetles, ants, flies and their

congeners.

Solitary in its habits, it aggressively

drives away any member of its own community,

and on the approach of one, it will at

once attack the latter, fighting fiercely till

one gives ground. The unsociability of this

bird falsifies the proverb that birds of a

feather flock together. This peevish

temper makes it shun even the proximity

of its unobtrusive mate, who wisely keeps

aloof, and from a distance, takes silent pride

in the vocal attainments of her enchanter.

If, by inadvertence, she comes too near her

lord, he forgets all codes of chivalry and

does not even hesitate to give her a sound

chastisement.

Nests and Eggs

The only season, when the Shama does

not dislike the company of its mate, is when

instinct obtains mastery over its temper in

the mating period. It mates during April

and June, and the female rears

up the brood. Hollows in trees

or stumps from two to twenty

feet from the ground are selected by it for

nesting, and sometimes she takes advantage

of holes made by other birds. She stuffs up

the hollow with dry leaves about three inches

thick, and makes upon this bed of

leaves a loose nest of twigs and grass. The

eggs laid by her are usually four in number,

rather small in size, and ovate in

shape. The ground colour is dull greenish,

very often a pale sea-green. The whole is

densely freckled with rich brown, thickly

mingled with dull purplish.

Cage-life

If there is any bird which repays the care

bestowed on it, it is the Shama. Its rich

coloration, bold and vivacious movements,

powerful and melodious voice and unlimited

power of mimicry all combine

to make it the most desirable

subject for the cage or the aviary.

Though in India this bird has received the

attention of bird-lovers from time immemorial,

no one seems to have studied it from

an avicultural view-point. We know little

of its wild life ; and we, in India, knew as

little about its life in the cage till Europeans

took up the study.

The Shama is one of those birds which

in a free state shun all intimacy with man.

But once caged, it seems to forget all antipathy

towards him and becomes the most

lovable pet. It never pines for its loss of

liberty ; and its easy and cheerful life indicates

that it fully appreciates the love and

Care of its protector. If hearty cheerfulness

conduces to long life, it is no wonder that

the Shama stands a life of bondage so well

and so long.

When accommodating the Shama, it

should be remembered that it is very restless.

It is always frisking about with its

tail working up and down. It should have

sufficient space inside the cage ; otherwise

its continual tail-play will injure that

beautiful appendage of its graceful person.

While introducing it into the aviary, it

should be kept in mind that this bird, however

tame it may be, has a wonderful combative

temperament.

The presence of another Shama serves as a

 red rag to a bull. It never condescends to accept

others of its kind as chums, and seems to think

that the latter are there to be its uncomplaining fags.

When in a warlike mood, its healthy optimism

would even lead it to give battle to

its keeper, if the latter were to enter

the aviary without the conciliatory dish

of mealworms. It carries its aloofness

to such an extent that it would at first

refuse to chum up with a female Shama if

introduced into its dwelling'. The male does

not seem to be at all anxious for a feminine

companion. You can never thrust a female

Shama near a male without a lengthy introduction.

The female, knowing well the

tyrannical temper of the male, will at first

shrink in fear. Both should at first be kept

in different cages inside the same aviary.

Occasionally, they may be let loose. At

first there is sure to be trouble, but the

male will begin to tolerate the female gradually,

and may even mate in the long run.

Indian experience has seldom recorded

any instance of the Shama breeding in captivity.

A couple of years back I noticed a

pair trying to build a nest in the hollow of

a stump inside an aviary of the Calcutta

Zoological Gardens, but nothing came of it.

A pair of Shamas, in the aviary of Mr. G. C.

Mandal of Calcutta, built a nest and hatched

their young which, however, did not survive

long. But we find mention of several instances

of the Shama having bred in captivity

in England. In this direction, the observations

of Mr. Reginald Phillips are of great

value. The female Shama seems to

take the initiative in nil ding a nest. The

male never responds to the female's

silent appeal until the former is thoroughly

satisfied as to the latter's earnestness. In

selecting materials for the nest, the female

shows much discrimination. In one instance,

it carried dead leaves of Ivy and Euonymus

while it studiedly rejected those of Rhododendrons.

It chose straw and the finest

hay for the inner lining of the nest but

never looked at moss and hair. The period

of incubation seems to last for about eleven

or twelve days. It is only when the nestlings

come out that the keeper will feel

the greatest difficulty as to food. While in

ordinary times the Shama would take to

all sorts of artificial food, it refuses to eat

anything but in.cts at this time. The

keeper will thus be hard put to in maintaining

a sufficient supply of live grubs both

for the chicks and the parents. A regular

supply of mealworms and cock-roaches

should be kept up at this time. The mealworms

need not be cut up into pieces. The

Capacious throat of the young- bird can

receive whole cock-roaches without the least

danger of suffocation. In India we hand rear

captive nestlings with stood made into

soft paste with water, and a few grasshoppers.

It is interesting to note how the

parent-birds try to keep the fact of its nest

a secret. In your presence it will never go

straight to its nest but will make a show of

stopping at different places before finally

entering it. The Shama is very careful about

sanitation, and the male may often be seen

carrying the excreta, and dropping them at

places far from the nest. When the young

are considered able to fly, the mother-bird

gives them a preliminary course of training

by supporting them from beneath, after

shoving them off a perch. As soon as the

aviary-bred nesting’s 'attain their adult

plumage, the question Naturally arises as to

the propriety of in-breeding and even trying

any experiment of cross-breeding a Shama

with an English bird like the Robin.

In this country it thrives well on satoo

prepared with boiled ghee, grass-hoppers,

and a few maggots. In England it is given

cock-roaches, mealworms, gentles, ants' eggs

and the yolk of hard-boiled eggs. Pieces

of raw meat are also given, but this should

be sparingly used, for too much of this food

may bring on diarrhoea. Ordinarily the

Shama does not require any great attention.

But at the time of moulting, careful watching

and feeding are necessary, for then it

is susceptible to a kind of warty growth on

the legs and feet and the space immediately

above the eyes. It should be carefully

guarded against cold and draughts during

the period.

Its song loses none of its charm in confinement.

Besides its usual song, it has a

habit of uttering a few set phrases over and

over again, pausing after each utterance.

These repetitions are rendered in the vernacular

as ''Gopeejee rojee bhejo’’ (Send us

our daily bread, ! Gopeejee). These

sounds are repeated a great number of times

and then suddenly changed. Its imitative

faculty knows no bounds. It can mock any

bird to perfection and can faithfully render

the voices of cocks, crows, and kites. Even

the female Shama is not altogether devoid

of song. My own specimen sings as beautifully

as the male and repeats the abovementioned

set phrases. It is no wonder

therefore that in some countries, the bird

is called '' Hundred-Tongued”

In India the Shama is housed in a cage

which is generally kept covered. But the

aviary with plenty of space, air, and light

is the best place for keeping it. It may

be rough in its dealings with its own

kind, but it seldom gives trouble to others

of the avian community. If you care for

its cheerfulness, you should always provide

for the luxury of a bath, for this bird is

inordinately fond of , a dip in water. It is

curious that if there be two male Shamas in

the same aviary, none would even bathe.

Because a bath means wet plumage which

means damaged armour to a bird, and a wet

bird succumbs easily if attacked. In one

case it cost a Shama its life for bathing in

an aviary where it had a pugnacious

companion.

The Shama is easily available for purchase

all over the country. Birds caught

young in the Terai are brought down in

numbers to Grorakhpur and Monghyr to be

hand-reared. These birds take to cage-life

easily ; but those from Midnapore, generally

Caught while adult, very often pine away

in captivity.

Coloration

The Shama's outward appearance is

beautiful and striking, if not gaudy. The

head, back, and throat with the

neck and breast are black with a

splendid gloss throughout. All

the under parts are a rich bright chestnut

except the thighs which are white. The

rump and the upper tail-coverts are white ;

and during: excitement when the bird

puffs up its whole plumage, the downs on

these two parts show conspicuously in two

fluffy patches of snowy whiteness. The

wings are dark brown, and the primaries

edged with lasher brown. The tail of the

Shama is a very important part of its

anatomy inasmuch as the length of the

tail gives to this extremely graceful bird

much of its grace. The central tail-feathers

are the longest while the lateral are muck

graduated, which means that they gradually

become shorter on both sides. The two

pairs of central tail-feathers are completely

black, while the others are white at the end,

the white increasing gradually on the outer

feathers. The basal end is always black.

The line of demarcation between the black

and the white is drawn in an irregularly

slanting direction.

This pleasing coloration is denied to tlie

less assuming female Shama, in which black

is replaced by slaty brown and chestnut by

rufous. The female birds of Tenasserim are

often darker than their Indian cousins.

The bill of the Shama is slender, compressed

and black, its legs are of pale

flesh-colour, its claws light horn and eyes

deepest brown.

The bal)v Shama is dark brown in its

upper parts with reddish edges to wing coverts;

underneath, it is pale rufous with

brown mottlings on tile throat and breast.

Its colour, however, varies a good deal.

A full-fledged young does not take long to

assume full adult plumage.

The usual length of the Shama is eleven

inches, the female being smaller by an inch

in the tail.

Book Reff: PET BIRDS OF BENGAL

(SATYA CHUKN)1923

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