333 



very fond of his master, but he disliked other birds and 

 was kept in a large cage b}' himself: he was ver\- clever 

 at catching mealworms, and would sit on my left fore- 

 finger and catch them as I threw them to him with my 

 right hand. ' He never ailed a day and did not seem 

 to mind cohl weather a bit, but was always ready for 

 his balh, which he took in a number of short dashes 

 through the water, repeated again and again until his 

 plumage became soaked. 



One of his peculiarities was that he would never 

 descend to the floor of his cage, and I never saw him 

 either run or ho]3 on the ground. He was very fond of 

 mealworms, and I would often put one in the middle of 

 the floor of his cage and watch his efforts to get at it: he 

 would cling to the wires and reach out toward the meal- 

 worm, or would hang head downward from the lowest 

 perch and try to pick it up in that wa}-, but nothing would 

 induce him to settle on the floor and take it like an 

 ordinary bird. I conclude that in their wild state Green 

 Bulbuls live entirely in trees and never come down to 

 the ground. 



The slender curved bill and the long tongue are 

 beautifully adapted for getting at the interior of flowers, 

 on the hone}- from w^hicli the Ijird in its wild state 

 doubtless feeds partially or entirely. In captivity it is 

 easily fed ou'fruit, bread and milk, the ordinary egg food, 

 and mealworms. My Bulbul lived for some years happy 

 iind healthy iu confinement : he would doubtless have 

 lived many years longer had I not in an evil hour turned 

 him into a small aviary among other birds : I watched 

 them carefully and for a few days all went well : then 

 one day I suppose a quarrel occurred and the Green 

 Bulbul attacked, or it was attacked by, a black and yellow 

 Troupial : on my next visit to the aviary I found the 

 Green Bulbul lying dead on the floor and the Troupial 

 triumphantly tearing out the featheis of his fallen foe. 



The Green Bulbul is one of the most beautiful of 

 cage birds . of a bright grass green, with orange forehead. 



