BARBETS 115 



much more reckless in their choice of sites, as I 

 have known a pair to nest in the top of a small 

 headless palm in the Botanic Garden in an open 

 space of grass, which they had to traverse every 

 time they came and went. 



As in so many other points, blue-throated 

 barbets differ from coppersmiths in being quite 

 easy to keep in good condition in an aviary 

 without any special precautions in regard to their 

 diet, but whether this be owing to their not being 

 addicted to sattu, or to their being able to eat it 

 with impunity, remains uncertain. One would 

 hardly have imagined that such strong birds were 

 ever liable to be caught in spiders' webs, but my 

 friend Major Prain once sent me a specimen that 

 he picked up in the Botanic Garden, lying helpless 

 on the ground and closely enshrouded in strong 

 strands of web. This took place at a time of year 

 when gigantic black and yellow spiders hang their 

 huge nets vertically across openings between adjoin- 

 ing trees, and the bird, in pursuing its ordinarily 

 headlong course, had come in contact with one of 

 these, carrying the greater part of the fabric with it 

 by the force of sudden impact, but, at the same 

 time, wrapping itself up so closely that further 

 flight was impossible. 



