234 BIRDS OF THE PLAINS 



severely shake one's faith in the doctrine of natural 



selection. 



In conclusion, a word or two must be said concerning 

 bulbuls in captivity. These birds make charming pets, 

 but as their diet is largely insectivorous, they cannot 

 be fed on seed. They become delightfully tame. One 

 I kept used to fly on to my shoulder whenever it saw 

 me, and open its mouth, flutter its wings, and twitter, 

 which was its way of asking to be fed. It would insist 

 on using my pen as a perch, and as one's handwriting 

 is not improved by an excitable bulbul hopping up and 

 down the penholder, I was obliged to shut the bird up 

 in a cage when I wanted to write. The bulbul used to 

 resent this, and did not hesitate to tell me so. In 

 young birds the tail is very short, and the patch of 

 feathers under it is pale red instead of being bright 

 crimson. 



Natives of India keep bulbuls for fighting purposes. 

 These birds are not caged, but are tied to a cloth- 

 covered perch by a long piece of fine twine attached 

 to the leg. Bulbuls, although full of pluck, are not by 

 nature quarrelsome. In order to make them fight 

 they are kept without food for some time. Then two 

 ravenous birds are shown the same piece of food. This, 

 of course, leads to a fight, for a hungry bulbul is an 

 angry bulbul. 



