Ornithological and Other Oddities 



Although the bulbuls are not very common as 

 cage-birds, they are yet well known to avicul- 

 turists ; and I found two of them among the most 

 widely-spread and characteristic birds in India. 

 They especially frequent gardens, and their 

 graceful movements and sweet liquid notes make 

 them most pleasant neighbours. In Calcutta the 

 two common species were the Bengal bulbul, 

 with its rich dark plumage and scarlet under- 

 tail-coverts — replaced in some places by allied 

 species of rather lighter colour ; and the jaunty 

 peak-crested red-whiskered bulbul, whose pure 

 white breast makes him quite as noticeable as 

 the other species, although this is larger. The 

 big dark bird was much the commoner in Cal- 

 cutta, but during the last year I was there (1902), 

 I certainly saw many more of the red-whiskered 

 species. The bulbuls keep chiefly to trees and 

 bushes, seldom visiting the ground ; they feed 

 mainly on berries, eating them even when green, 

 but the young are fed on insects. 



The dhyal, with his magpie suit of black and 



white, I had seen at a show at home, and soon 



found that in India he took the place of our 



robin at home, being like that bird, widely 



spread, but not numerous, and much attached 



to the neighbourhood of man. These pretty 



birds were particularly common on Ross Island, 



in the Andamans, where, in the morning, the air 



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