Black Bulbuls 



and affection by means of a cheery, if rather 

 feeble, lay. They build a model nest in which 

 prettily-coloured eggs are deposited. These 

 they make but little attempt to conceal, for 

 they are birds without guile. But, alas, their 

 artlessness often results in a rascally lizard or 

 squirrel eating the eggs for his breakfast. 

 When their eggs are put to this base use, the 

 bulbuls, to quote " Eha," are " sorry," but 

 their grief is short-lived. Within a few hours 

 of the tragedy they are twittering gaily to one 

 another, and in a wonderfully short space of 

 time a new clutch of eggs replaces the old one. 

 If this shares the fate of the first set, some more 

 are laid, so that eventually a family of bulbuls 

 hatches out. 



Such is, in brief, the character of the great 

 majority of bulbuls ; they present a fine example 

 of rewarded virtue, for these amiable little birds 

 are very abundant ; they flourish like the green 

 bay tree. As at least one pair is to be found 

 in every Indian garden, they exemplify the truth 

 of the saying, the meek " shall inherit the 

 earth," and give a new meaning to the expres- 

 sion, " the survival of the fittest." There are, 

 however, some bulbuls which are so unlike the 

 birds described above that the latter might 



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