this species is often called the hill-wagtail.
The name is not a particularly good one, because wagtails proper occur
in the Himalayas.

The forktail, however, has many of the habits of the true wagtail.
I was on the point of calling it a glorified wagtail, but I refrain.
Surely it is impossible to improve upon a wagtail.

In India forktails are confined to the Himalayas and the mountainous
parts of Burma.

There are no fewer than eight Indian species, but I propose to confine
myself to the spotted forktail. This is essentially a bird of mountain
streams. It is never found far from water, but occurs at all altitudes
up to the snow-line, so that, as Jerdon says, it is one of the
characteristic adjuncts of Himalayan scenery. Indeed I know of few
things more enjoyable than to sit, when the sun is shining, on the
bank of a well-shaded burn, and, soothed by the soft melody of running
water, watch the forktails moving nimbly over the boulders and stones
with fairy tread, half-flight half-hop.

Forktails continually wag the tail, just as wagtails do, but not with
quite the same vigour, possibly because there is so much more to wag!

Like wagtails, they do not object to their feet being wet, indeed
they love to stand in running water.

Forktails often seek their quarry among the dead leaves that become
collected in the various angles in the bed of the stream; when so
doing they pick up each leaf, turn it over, and cast it aside just
as the seven sisters do. They seem to like to work upstream when
seeking for food. Jerdon states that he does not remember ever having
seen a forktail perch; nevertheless the bird frequently flies on to
a branch overhanging the brook, and rests there, slowly vibrating
its forked tail as if in deep meditation.

Spotted forktails are often seen near the places where the _dhobis_
wash clothes by banging them violently against rocks, hence the name
dhobi-birds, by which they are called by many Europeans. The little
forktail does not haunt the washerman's _ghat_ for the sake of human
companionship, for it is a bird that usually avoids man. The
explanation is probably that the shallow pool in which the _dhobi_
works and grunts is well adapted to the feeding habits of the forktail.
I may here remark that in the Himalayas the washerman usually pursues
his occupation in a pool in a mountain stream overhung with oaks and
rhododendron trees, amid scenery that would annually attract
thousands of visito