BIRDS OF CEYLON— WOOD 299 



This pretty bird (both sexes are much alike) has the habit of 

 running along the ground, suddenly stopping and then jerking its 

 tail in the air while the wings and tail are at the same time fully 

 spread. It differs from the black robin in that the male has a de- 

 lightful, prolonged and varied song that he sings both in the early 

 morning and late in the evening. 



Ceylon hulhuls. — Any dictionary will inform you that the term 

 "bulbul" is of Persian origin and was originally applied to a species 

 of nightingale, probably Luscinia ha-fizi., whose glorious song is cele- 

 brated in oriental verse; but there is very little about the cheerful 

 but interrupted warble of any of the six beautiful Ceylon bulbuls 

 likely to found a claim to the rank of avian prima donna. Yet they 

 are all very attractive birds. 



Probably the most interesting variety is the charming little Madras 

 red-vented bulbul {Molpastes c. cafer, pi. 3) with the head, chin, 

 and throat a deep black, the neck, back, wings, breast, and rump 

 various shades of brown, and under tail coverts crimson. The sexes 

 are much alike; length, 7.8 inches. The species is found over most 

 of Asia. Like the "robins", this bird is a fearless little creature, 

 frequenting human habitations in and about which it builds its 

 small, cuplike nest. It also favors the hedges, shrubs, and low 

 trees of gardens as a nesting place. The Madras bulbul has a 

 cheerful little warble but not much of a continuous song. My niece 

 had a male Madras bulbul which she reared from the nest, took with 

 her all over the Far East for several years, to find eventually a 

 welcome residence in a Los Angeles aviary. 



Ceylon hee-eafers. — This beautiful and extremely interesting avian 

 group is found almost everywhere in the Old World. Their pre- 

 dominant color is green, varied in the species by artistic markings 

 of other colors. They are all small, slim birds with long, slender, 

 gently curved, pointed bills, and in the Ceylon species the nostrils 

 are partly covered with feathers, with a few bristles at the base 

 of the bill. 



All species feed on insects — chiefly bees and wasps that they hunt 

 on the wing — the capture of their prey being announced by an 

 audible snap of their mandibles. As a rule they choose for a lookout 

 some prominent limb of a tree or a telegraph pole, whence they dart 

 upon any luckless bee that passes by, returning to their post to 

 swallow the dainty morsel. It is quite likely that the honey with 

 which the quarry may be laden is very acceptable to the bird. Bee- 

 eaters burrow into river, creek, or other banks for nesting purposes, 

 driving a long unlined tunnel, at the end of which are laid their 

 white eggs, following the common rule that eggs laid in dark holes 

 are white. 



