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having lived in the Gardens at various times. Of 

 these I can happily still speak in the present tense, 

 for they have done remarkably well in captivity, 

 (to which they settled down within a few days), 

 and have been easily catered for in the matter of diet, 

 since all they require is an orange or banana apiece 

 ■daily. I caught them to ascertain if they would live 

 in captivity, because I always thought that their feed- 

 ing at least ought to offer no difficulties, as when wild 

 they appear to be entirely frugivorous, feeding chiefly 

 on the various species of wild fig of the country, and 

 in this supposition I was not disappointed. But I was 

 surprised to find how quickly they became reconciled 

 to cage life and how well they throve. I put them into 

 a box-cage about two feet cube in measurement; three 

 days after his capture the cock (I think I have a true 

 pair) began to sing, not, I must own, a very elaborate 

 strain, but two or three whistled notes we all know so 

 well out here, and which the Bathurst boys translate 

 as " Sixpence a day, sixpence a day." As I said above 

 their food is bananas and oranges, on which they are 

 still thriving under the care of a friend in Bathurst, 

 where I have left them during my absence in the Pro- 

 tectorate. There seems to be no reason why they 

 should not continue to flourish, as their plumage is 

 perfect, — not a feather out of place — they bathe regu- 

 larly and in every way appear to be in the best of 

 health, all evidence that the food, though it sounds 

 rather monotonous, is being assimilated and is agree- 

 ing well with them. I at first repeatedly tried them 

 with various kinds of insects and also with the native 

 fruits one sees the wild birds feeding on, but at neither 

 of these would my birds even look, — their refusal of 

 the latter was, I think, because one can only get 

 those which grow on the lower branches of the 

 trees, and which probably never ripen sufficiently 

 to please their taste. These Bulbuls, common all over 

 the country, — in Bathurst, round the native towns 



