Animal spirit

Book review of The History of the World in 100 Animals

Bhikaiji Cama Place is one of New Delhi’s more insalubrious crossings, with crowded arterial roads converging on a signal near a jerry-built office complex that does little to flatter memory of the plucky Parsi nationalist for whom it is named. But for a time, it held a certain charm because of a white breasted kingfisher that perched on an overhead wire every day.

Indifferent to the pollution and din of the traffic, the bird focused with fierce concentration on the road below. This was intriguing because there was no water, its customary habitat, to be seen. What was it looking