Cage-Birds of Calcutta. 433 



of the dealers^ while the great majority of the birds exposed 

 for sale are males. A few females may, however, be seen, 

 being presumably hand-reared birds, whose sex could not 

 be determined at first. These have given me the opportunity 

 of observing that this favourite songster is a most pugnacious 

 bird ; the cocks will at once fight if put together, and so 

 will the hens. At the same time, old wild-caught cocks and 

 young sjiotted birds arrive, in many cases at least, in cages 

 containing half a dozen or more, though Shamas are more 

 usually brought in long wicker-cages divided by bars into 

 separate partitions for the several inmates. 



Other small Turdid?e not uncommonly kept are the 

 "J)\iydi\" [Copsychus saularis) and tlie"Pidha" (Pratincola 

 cajjrata). Chhnarrhornis leucocephaJa is also occasionally 

 brought down from the hills in winter. The " Bulbul 

 bostlia,'^ or true Eastern Nightingale (Daulias golzi), is 

 sparingly imported at this season, the birds fetching high 

 prices — from fifty to two hundred rupees. I am told that a 

 man will come all the way from Cabul with a few^ of these 

 much-esteemed birds as his main venture. 



Of the large Indian Tnrdidee the only species at all 

 frequent in captivity here are the '^ Kastura ^^ {Turdus 

 boulboul) a,\\d the ^^Dama" (Geocichla citrma), and I have 

 not seen many even of these. A few English Song-Thrushes 

 {Turdus musicus) have been imported, and do fairly well, but 

 I have noticed that they arc very liable to an overgrowth 

 of the scaly covering of the feet. A silly attempt is now 

 being made to introduce the Song-Thrush and Blackbird 

 into Darjeeling, which is already well stocked with more 

 attractive species of birds, especially Lioptila capistrata and 

 Liothrix lutea. 



Family PLOCEiDiE. 



The typical Weavers of the genus Ploccus all occur com- 

 monly in the Bazaar, except the true P. megarhynchus (see 

 Ibis, 1901, p. 29), which is unknown to the dealers. P. utri- 

 gula (P. megarhynchus of the ' Fauna of British India ') is 

 often brought in as a young bird, and evidently breeds near 



