In the daytime the Bulbul used to do all in his 

 power to attract the Pekin's admiration, with posturing 

 and singing ; at times his attitudes were most extra- 

 ordinary. He used to lower his head and tail, stand 

 out every feather on his body so that it looked a round 

 fluffy ball, quite three times its natural size, and flap 

 his wings with a peculiar circular motion, singing all 

 the time with throat swelled out. The song was very 

 pretty, being soft and melodious, and resembling 

 bubbling water. He was a very tame and afiectionate 

 bird, though I am afraid his affection proceeded a good 

 deal from cupboard love : he was, in fact, a terrible 

 pig, and used to fly on to the bars and beat his wings 

 the moment he saw me go to the mealworms ; he 

 used to beg for them so prettily, that I am afraid he 

 got too many, and this hastened his end. 



I daresay the majority of our readers know the 

 Persian Bulbul, but the following description may be 

 a guide to some. The head is jet black, with the 

 cheeks white, the back of the neck brown, the upper 

 part of the body and wings a duller brown, the tail 

 brown at the base, changing to black and tipped with 

 white, the vent and under tail coverts saffron yellow, 

 the beak and legs black. A similar species occurs in 

 India, but is much smaller. 



The next cage companion of the Pekin was a 

 Black Tanager, who also fell a victim to her charms. 

 Evidently she is very fascinating to the bird eye, and 

 perhaps to the human eye also, as she once took 

 second prize at the Royal Aquarium. The Tanager, 

 however, made no more impression than the Bulbul, 

 though he would sometimes present her with a choice 

 morsel in the shape of an insect, or a large piece of 

 paper, which he used to tear off the piece in the bottom 

 of the cage, evidently with the intention of nesting. 

 He used to pursue the Pekin with these pieces of 

 paper and insist on her taking them, which she used 



