ORNITHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 261 



strenuous efforts succeed in getting the whole berry 

 down along the gullet. The circumference of the 

 bulbul's empty gullet is only half an inch and the 

 circumference of the whole neck one and one-eighth 

 inches, so it is clear that this bulbul is in the habit 

 of swallowing objects not only three times the dimen- 

 sions of its own gullet but even wider than its own 

 neck. It is, of course, the highly distensible nature 

 of the soft parts that permits the passage of such large 

 mouthfuls. Anything that passes the gape can with 

 ease continue down the gullet. And the bulbuls seem 

 to be unable to judge how big a morsel they are able 

 to tackle. They sometimes struggle with berries 

 which they are quite unable to get down, and I once 

 saw a record of a young red-vented bulbul that had 

 died in the attempt to swallow a mouthful nearly as 

 big as itself. 



The paradise flycatcher, Terpsiphone paradisi, was 

 the most beautiful of the summer migrants to the 

 southern slopes of the Himalaya. This bird extends 

 northward to Kashmir, and I have seen it at an 

 altitude of 8000 feet. The female is an inconspicuously 

 coloured bird with a bluish head and pale ashy breast. 

 For two years the male resembles the female in colora- 

 tion ; after the second autumn moult a partial change 

 occurs, but it is not until the third season that the 

 male adopts its characteristic and striking plumage. 

 The whole body becomes white, and the head, sur- 

 mounted by a large crest, is a glistening bluish black ; 

 dark streaks appear upon the back, but it is the central 

 feathers of the tail that attract the most attention. 

 The median pair are prolonged into beautiful, pure 

 white, flowing ribbons as much as a foot and a quarter 



