18 r.ARDEX AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



The Peko or Chinese Mocking-bird {Dryonastes 

 Chinensis) is fiojnrod on Plate III, as mentioned on 

 page 15. 



This bird is a really fine musician, having singularly 

 pure and plaintive tones ; it is also an admirable mimic, 

 and, when tame enough, delights in being caressed. It 

 will live many years in a cage, and is the most easily 

 kept of all the non-seed-eating cage-birds. At the same 

 time it always seems to me a pity not to give this lively 

 and sociable bird the happier life that an aviary aftords. 

 It is chiefly known in India as a foreign bird, being 

 imported from China, but it is found in South Pegu and 

 Tenasserim. 



Few of the Babblers are as large as most of those I 

 have been describing. 



The Black-headed Sibia (Lioptila capistrata) is, al- 

 though nearly nine inches long, a slight, graceful crea- 

 ture ; it is figured on Plate IV (Fig. 5). It is a very com- 

 mon bird in the hills up to 8,000 feet, being particularly 

 numerous about Darjeeling. It comes to the ground 

 less than most Babblers, and is fairly strong on the wing ; 

 indeed, it is, all round, a most remarkably active bird, 

 and so dexterous that I have seen it turn right round its 

 perch without letting go. 



This peculiarity makes it a very nice aviary bird, 

 although it is not brilliant in colour nor particularly tame. 

 It may frequently be obtained from Calcutta dealers 

 during the winter monthp. 



The bird breeds in the hills from May to July, building 

 u cup-shaped nest of moss and fibres, and laying pale 



