play is practice for the kinds of tasks that the young animal will engage in as an adult

 A

Our outsized fear of ancestral threats, and our excessive consumption

of junk food, are the best-known examples of evolutionary mismatch. But

they’re really just the tip of the mismatch iceberg. One less-discussed

example is found in the classroom. Play is common among mammals and

other intelligent animals, and we’ve got a fairly good idea what it’s for. In a

nutshell, play is practice for the kinds of tasks that the young animal will

engage in as an adult.56 This is also more or less the function of human

schools: They prepare children for the roles they’ll play later in life. Why,

then, don’t children enjoy school more? Why do they enjoy doing

homework about as much as adults enjoy doing taxes? Why would they

rather be playing? Indeed, why isn’t schoolwork viewed as play?

A

84LY

RUFOUS BABBLER Turdoides subrufa 25cm FIELD NOTES: Forages on or

near the ground in thick cover; more often heard than seen; gregarious, usually

in small parties. VOICE: A shrill, whistling tree-tree-tree interspersed with harsh

squeaks. HABITAT: Dense undergrowth, especially when mixed with coarse grass

and bamboo, forest edge and abandoned clearings. DISTRIBUTION: Resident in the

hills of SW India.

A

CRIMSON SUNBIRD Aethopyga siparaja 10cm (male with tail 12–14cm)

FIELD NOTES: Acrobatic forager among the blossoms of trees and shrubs. A. s.

nicobarica (4b), from the Nicobars, has forehead and tail purple and lacks

elongated central tail feathers. VOICE: A loud chirping trill. Calls include a zit-zit

and a soft siesiep-siepsiep. HABITAT: Dense evergreen forest, pine forest, open

deciduous and scrub jungle, orchards and gardens. DISTRIBUTION: Resident in the

Himalayas and the NE.

A

CRESTED BUNTING Melophus lathami 17cm FIELD NOTES: Forages on the

ground, usually near cereal crops; regularly perches on rocks or bushes. In

winter forms loose small flocks. Sings from a prominent perch such as an

overhead wire, treetop or rock. VOICE: Starts with some subdued notes, followed

by low mellow notes and ending with two or three descending notes, transcribed

as tzit dzit dzit see-see-suee or similar. Call is a soft tip or tup, which is uttered

more emphatically in flight. HABITAT: Dry rocky or grassy hillsides and terraced

cultivation with rocky outcrops and scattered bushes. DISTRIBUTION: Resident in

the Himalayas and the hills of C India and the NE of the region.

A