One of the sub-races, the Indian Lotan or Ground tumbler, if slightly shaken and placed on the ground, will immediately begin tumbling head over heels until taken up and soothed.
If not taken up, some of them will go on tumbling till they die.

Some English tumblers are almost equally persistent.

A writer, quoted by Mr.
Darwin, says that these birds generally begin to tumble almost as soon as they can fly; "at three months old they tumble well, but still fly strong; at five or six months they tumble excessively; and in the second year they mostly give up flying, on account of their tumbling so much and so close to the ground.

Some fly round with the flock, throwing a clean summersault every few yards till they are obliged to settle from giddiness and exhaustion.

These are called Air-tumblers, and they commonly throw from twenty to thirty summersaults in a minute, each clear and clean.