Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/405

 Rh true that the mammalian life of Madagascar is very scanty, I think these descriptions have been somewhat exaggerated; indeed, most of such journeys have been made in the cold season, when the woods are comparatively silent. But they are certainly not so at all times of the year; and during the warmer months, especially from November to January, the note of one bird or another is never silent all the day long, while some are heard also late into the night.

The first bird to be noticed here in the arrangement of this Order is the Collared Crow, a very prominent member of the Madagascar avi-fauna. This bird, called Goàika by the Malagasy, probably from his harsh croak, has glossy black plumage, but with a collar of pure white and a square white patch on his breast, so that he has a somewhat clerical appearance, and is not nearly so sombre and undertaker-like as his English cousin. He is a bold and impudent bird, and, as might be expected, is referred to in many Malagasy proverbs, two or three of which may be here quoted. Thus: "Like the crow's coat: finished while it is young"; "Don't be lustrous outside only, like a crow"; "Many are the crows, and one can't tell which is male and which female, for all have white necks"; "Do . like the soldiers: get up before the crows, awake before the warblers". This bird is also alluded to in a native song, in the verses of which the kite, the brown stork, the lark, and the cardinal-bird are successively mentioned; and the last verse runs as follows: "Where are you from, old fellow, you crow there?" "I come from Antanànarivo." "How about the proclamation there?" said I. "The proclamation", said he, "was severe enough." "What was it all about?" said I. "Thieves," said he, "are to be killed!"

One of the Madagascar Shrikes, called Railòvy or Railòmbo by the natives, is alluded to in several of their fables and tales as "a well-behaved bird, with a long crest, and having a variety of note". One of its provincial names comes from