88 Bird-keeping. 



underneath ; the lower part of the body is of a 

 yellowish - white ; the throat yellow, deepening into 

 reddish-orange on the breast ; the eyes are very dark 

 and bright and bead-like ; the beak is coral red ; the 

 legs and feet are of a dark flesh-colour. The only 

 distinguishing mark of sex is that the forehead of the 

 male is tinged with yellow, which is not the case with 

 the hen. His song is said to be pretty, in the spring^ 

 but I have not as yet heard any notes which could 

 give this bird a right to the name of Nightingale. 

 It has a loud Thrush-like call, consisting of three or 

 four notes whistled very quickly, and this it repeats 

 continually. It is a common bird in India, frequenting 

 the whole Himalayan range, and found 6,000 feet above 

 the level of the sea, usually to be met with in small 

 parties of five or six, living in the dense jungle thickets, 

 and feeding on berries, fruits, seeds, and insects. It 

 builds in low shrubs or bushes, and its nest is mostly 

 composed of grass and fibres of all kinds, and roots, 

 with fragments of moss. In China and Japan it is 

 well known, and frequently kept as a cage bird ; but 

 it has only been known in England a very little while. 

 Some birds brought from China died on their voyage, 

 before they reached the Cape, from being fed im- 

 properly entirely on seed, with the exception of a few 

 flies caught in the cabin each day. They were known 

 on board ship as the TUMBLERS, from a curious habit 

 of falling backwards from their perch and alighting 



