THE BULBULS. 23 
THe WHITE-EYE OR SPECTACLE Birp (Zosterops pal- 
pebrosa) is shown at the top of Plate V (Fig. 2), and is 
the smallest and mest wide-spread of all our Babblers. 
This little creature is rather of a different build than 
Babblers generally, having longer wings and shorter 
tail; but its sociable, cuddlesome habits, and the 
fact that several small kirds which are undoubted 
Babblers closely approach it, settle its relationship 
easily enough. The white ring round the eye and the 
olive-yellow plumage with white belly will easily dis- 
tinguish it from all other Indian birds. It is found 
all over India, both on hills and plains; in Burma 
and China a species or variety with a greener back (Zos- 
terops siivplex) is also found. This is frequently brought 
to the Calcutta bazar, where the dealers often try to sell 
it as a ‘‘ Humming-bird’’! It makes an excellent cage- 
companion for the little Waxbills, and has a sweet little 
note of its own. Soft fruit, bread and milk, and small 
insects are all it requires, and it is so easy to keep that a 
good many specimens are sent to Hurope. 
The nest of the Indian variety is most commonly 
found in April; it may be at any height, and is a very 
delicate little structure, made of cobwebs and vegetable 
fibres and suspended like a miniature haminock in a forked 
twig. Only two eggs are laid, of a pale blue. 
THE BULBULS. 
The Bulbuls are usually classed as a distinct family 
from the Babblers, and this arrangement I shali follow 
here, although, as in the Fauna of British India, they come 
