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than a week he has taught a Black Drongo (Dicrurus ater) to

tickle him. This is remarkable when we remember that tickling

is as unnatural to a Drongo, as swimming to a fowl.


Stolen apples are said to be sweet. How about stolen

maggots? Frequently I have seen a little Golden-eyed Babbler

snatch a maggot from the beak of a Pied Crested Cuckoo

(Coccystcs jacobinus), which the latter had just picked up and

was about to swallow. Another of my birds which used to be

considerably annoyed by the Yellow-eyed Babbler was a Larger

Racket-tailed Drongo (.Dissemurus fiaradiscus ) ; his half-yard or

so of two wire-like tail-feathers with their knobbed extremities

were evidently regarded by the little Babbler as playthings. He

would clutch one of them in his foot, and try with his little

beak to nip off the end. PIven a man’s moustache, if held close

to the wires of the aviary, is sure to be explored by the

inquisitive little bird.


Now for a few words about the Yellow-eyed Babbler’s

diet. Dr. Butler’s famous mixture of powdered biscuit, ants’

cocoons, egg yolk and dried flies would doubtless suit him

excellently as a staple food. Personally, whilst in India, I do as

the Indians do : that is to say, pea-meal, well mixed with a little

refined butter, forms the staple diet of nearly all my insectivorous

birds. With this is intimately incorporated, every alternate

day, a little raw, finely minced liver or kidney. Whatever food

be given, meal-worms or maggots should form part of the daily

menu. Tit bits of a hard and shell}'' nature, such as grass¬

hoppers, cockroaches, dried flies, etc., must be given at intervals,

to cleanse and stimulate the digestive organs; for the same

reason that beasts and birds of prey require hair, fur, or feathers,

to keep them in continued good health. At the suggestion of

our esteemed member, Mr. F. Finn, I have tried raw, fresh-water

shrimps as an occasional food for insedtivorous birds; with

most satisfactory results. All Babblers are more or less

frugivorous, and our little yellow-eyed friend is no exception.

An orange, cut transversely, or a slice of pineapple is a great

treat. Chopped lettuce is a most useful addition to the larder of

most soft-billed birds ; P. sinensis appears to appreciate it, hold¬

ing a piece under one foot as though it were an insect.


In conclusion, let me entreat the aviculturist not to confine

the Yellow-eved Babbler in an ordinary Canary cage. His

extremely adtive habits demand space ; and when an aviary is

not at hand, nothing smaller than a breeding-cage, such as is

used for Canaries, will suffice for the bird’s comfort and his

owner’s entertainment.



