THE



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BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



New Series. —VOL. I. — NO. 3 .—All rights reserved.



JAN., 1903.



THE YELLOW- OR GOLDEN-EYED BABBLER.


'Pydorhis sinensis.


By Reginald Phillipps.


It was in April last, at page 10S of Vol. VIII,, that this

interesting species was brought specially under the notice of our

readers by Mr. E. W. Harper. Mr. Harper has given such a

good account of the bird that little remains for me to say.

Moreover, Mr. Harper knows the bird in its native country and

has kept several specimens, whereas my personal knowledge of

the species is limited to one solitary individual, a chance impor¬

tation that came into my hands, with one of its wings cut, on the

7th of July, 1902.


For a while I kept it in a four-foot cage in a spare room,

with my Silver-eared Mesias, and, later, loosed it into the bird-

room.


For some time it led a very secluded life, partly because

of its inability to fly, but chiefly from fear of its feathered

companions. It climbed about the place, slipping between the

bars of the several “ houses,” and was nearly as difficult to find

as a mouse. Not that it went to the ground ; far from it; but it

kept a great deal in dark corners and quiet nooks, where it would

be least likely to be observed, more often hanging on to the

inside of the wire of a “house” than sitting restfully on a perch.


Little by little it grew bolder, and in due course moulted,

when it became much bolder and freer in its movements,

occasionally paying a visit to the garden, where it would be

supremely happy creeping and clambering about the shrubs.



