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Iii the matter of food there was nothing special supplied.

Seeds (white and French millet), a simple soft-food mixture, no

mealworms ; groundsel, shepherd’s purse, and other green food

intermittingly; but, as already stated, chicken-weed is the

Rufous-tails’ little weakness.



THE MALABAR GREEN FRUITSUCKER.


(Chloropsis malabaricusJ .


By the Rev. C. D. Farrar.


This is a very rare bird and but seldom imported, and

then only by two’s and three’s. They are consequently very

expensive, and only within the reach of the rich or reckless. I

am, unfortunately, only one of the latter.


Some months since a friend of mine in the Indian trade

wrote and told me that he was bringing home a pair of Green

Fruitsuckers, would I like them ? Careful readers of the “ Avi-

cultural Magazine” will not need to be told how I answered that

letter. The birds on arrival were in very fair condition for soft

bills after a long voyage ; and I was highly delighted with my

new venture. They were marvellously tame and would sit quite

unconcernedly on my finger and let me stroke them without any

symptom of fear. I at once put them into a big roomy cage

and proceeded to attend to their wants. Their feathers were a

bit sticky and messed up by the mixture they had been fed on ;

so I let them have a good tub, and they were soon busy preening

their feathers. The food bill was a bit of a difficulty, as such

expensive birds can’t be played with. At first I gave them my

own soft mixture and banana; they did very well on this ; but

the expense was prohibitive as we can only get bananas once a

week at Reeds; so I set about finding some cheaper substitute.

I finally settled on plain boiled rice, steamed perfectly dry ; so

that every grain is separate. They would not eat a “stodgy”

mess. Beside the rice, I gave them a pot of stewed apple nicely

sweetened with sugar, and they are a pair of perfect beauties ;

every feather in place and as tight as wax. For those who have

never seen the Green Bulbul, I append a description that will

fairly make them break the iotli Commandment, though at the

same time I am bound to admit, as Shakspeare said of someone

else, “As for her state it beggared all description.”


The cock is a glorious fellow, a beautiful grass green in

colour, the face round the eye, chin and throat a velvety black ;



