The Bengali. 149 



birds of the same size only, and living upon the same kind of 

 food, should be kept in the same enclosure. 



That the Silverbill has been officially recognised as a mu- 

 sician of no mean ability, is manifest from the scientific name 

 of Mania cantans that has been bestowed upon it. The Ger- 

 mans and the French, however, like ourselves, take its name 

 from the colour of its beak, and call it, respectively, der 

 Silherschiahel, and le Bee d^ Argent. 



These birds appear to be very hardy, for I have been able 

 to keep them for years, at all seasons, in an unwarmed room; 

 the only losses I have had having been from egg-binding in 

 one or two cases, and from old age in one or two more. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



THE BEN^GALI. 



THE first time I ever saw any of these curious little 

 birds was at one of the Crystal Palace Shows, some 

 years ago, when a pair were exhibited in the ''any other 

 variety" class, and attracted a good deal of attention, though 

 I forget whether they obtained a prize. They spent the 

 greater part of their time in a cocoa-nut shell half filled with 

 cotton wool, and seemed such nervous, chilly little beings 

 that, after a look at them, I passed on, and dismissed their 

 memory from my mind as utterly unattainable; nor was it 

 until some considerable time had elapsed that I again saw 

 some of them at a dealer's, when, although the price was 

 very high, I invested in a pair; which, however, turned out 

 badly with me, for the hen died egg-bound soon afterwards, 

 and the cock, who did not seem to miss his wife in the least, 

 grew so enormously fat, that he dropped off his perch one 

 day in an apoplectic fit. 



