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when the two get accidentally separated. Their favourite

occupation before the winter set in seemed to be darting into the

air after the smallest gnats and winged insects, which they

practically never failed to catch ; but they mainly rely on their

spring for taking their prey, never flying like a Flycatcher.

Although often visiting low thickets, they rarely go actually on

to the ground, unless momentarily after water or some insect.

They are fond of grapes, and know a good pear when they meet

with one.


I doubt if these birds would be an unmixed joy in a cage,

or even in a small aviary, because of their restless disposition

and nervous temperament; and for some weeks after their arrival

I feared they would prove to be a nuisance. But now that they

have settled down, it is quite different, and if possible I grow

fonder of them every day. Their great affection for one another

is a pleasing trait to note ; and in this and other ways they

betray affinity with the smaller Jay-Thrushes. They are very

noticeable, and seldom fail to attract the attention of visitors,

and “Oh! what is that bird!” in one form or another, is the

usual cry. In vain I assure my friends that it is a Sibia, the

Black-headed Sibia (Sibia capistrata ; or Malarias capistrata, as

per Cat. Birds Brit. Museum) from India. They vacantly remark,

“Yes, it has a black head,” and add, under their breath, various

improper words. Mrs. Phillipps, in this case also, from the first

declined to recognise the title af Sibia; but she knows all about

the Sibyls,—and as a Sibyl is the bird usually spoken of here.


It seems to me that we make a mistake by failing to give

the birds, as far as practicable, simple English names, not names

which are misleading and disseminate error, such as “ Hedge

Sparrow,” “ Mud Lark,” and “ Little Magpie,” nevertheless

names that can be taken hold of and remembered, comfortably

handled, and carried to our homes. We ought to try and lift

our less fortunate brothers and sisters above the “ Dickie-bird ”

level, and induce them to take an intelligent interest in our

feathered friends, and not choke them off with Struthideas,

Grallinas, Sibias, and a host of such like titles. A similar

thought (page 61), or one akin to it, seems to have been forced up¬

on the mind of our enthusiastic fellow aviculturist Miss Alderson,

by the trouble and inconvenience occasioned her, and doubtless

others, through the English language being sometimes ignored

in our Magazine. I once heard a cabinet naturalist affirm that

he did not know a species by what some are pleased to call its

trivial name. But that is not true aviculture ; it is much the



