57 



eggs. "They cannot stand draught. They can stand a gooiJ 

 " amount of cold, but it is imperative that the}' be kept from 

 "all draught. They are not soft as many think, but very 

 'hardy, providing they are looked after and kept in a proper 

 "manner." [My Gouldians seem to me to be the most cheery 

 of all my birds during vile weather. — EjD.] For diet they re- 

 commend canary and millet, hay seed (sweepings of a hay loft), 

 green food, such as grass in flower and French lettuce ; plenty 

 of flint grit and clear water, also rock-salt and cuttle-fish bone. 

 Further comment would be superfluous, reference back to past 

 articles in ^/rrf A^o/^^ for comparison should be both interesting 



and instructive. 



* « « 



The Indian White-eye [Zoste/ops palpebrosa). This is 



one of the commonest birds on the Hills of Travancore from 



looo feet upwards, but more especialK' at high elevations. I 



have never met with it in the low country. They go about in 



small parties and keep up a continuous twitter as they search 



the leaves for food, assuming all sorts of attitudes as they creep 



among the branches and cling in any position. The building 



season is April and May, and the nest is found at all heights 



from the ground. One I took at 4000 feet elevation was on the 



side of a cutting in the road. It is found throughout the 



range. 



(Ferguson. Journal of Bombay Nat. History Socy). 



* * * 



The Magpie Robin [Copsychus saularis). One of these 

 birds found its way one morning into our drawing-room, and in 

 the course of its wanderings alighted on the writing table 

 which has at the back a small mirror let into the framework. 

 When the bird — a male — saw its own reflection the first impulse 

 was evidently anger, for he dashed his beak against the glass 

 and scolded in an unmistakable voice. Then he moved away, 

 but presently returned, and now was all sweetness: he posed 

 before the glass and courted his reflection with a little ripple 

 of soft song. At intervals he peeped round the back, and see- 

 ing nothing took a flight round the room only to return and 

 re-connnence courting. 



Almost every day he pays us a visit : he flies direct to the 

 table, and walking up to the mirror pays court to himself with 



