74 JUNGLE FOLK 



has set his heart on a certain suite in the hotel, he 

 proceeds to install himself therein, regardless of the 

 vested interests of the squirrels. The " season " may 

 be said to begin with the arrival of the green parrots. 

 These rowdy creatures make things " hum," and must 

 cause considerable annoyance to the more respectable 

 birds that stay in the hotel. The green parrot is to 

 bird gentlefolk what the Italian organ-grinder is to 

 the musical Londoner — an ill that has to be endured. 

 The little coppersmith {Xantholcema hcBmatocephala) 

 takes up its quarters in the bird hotel early in the 

 season. It is very particular as regards its accom- 

 modation. It holds, and rightly holds, that rooms 

 which have already been lived in are apt to harbour 

 parasites and carry disease, so insists on hewing out a 

 chamber for itself. Owing to the industry of both the 

 cock and the hen, the excavation of their retort- 

 shaped nesting chamber occupies surprisingly little 

 time, and the neat, circular front-door that leads to it 

 compares very favourably with the irregular, broken- 

 down-looking entrance to the quarters occupied by the 

 parrots or owlets. As often as not the coppersmith 

 excavates its nest in a horizontal bough, in which case 

 the entrance is invariably made on the under surface, 

 with the object of preventing rain-water coming into 

 the room. 



Another regular patron of the Farash Hotel is the 

 beautiful golden-backed woodpecker {Brachypternus 

 aurantius). This bird usually arrives later in the season 

 than the coppersmith, but, like it, disdains a room 

 which has been occupied by others. It is not, as a rule. 



