THE BULBUL. 25 



well-being ; and he is a thoroughly nice bird. He is nofc 

 obtrusively sociable nor peevishly solitary and quarrel- 

 some ; when the natives make him fight, it is by showing 

 two hungry birds a morsel of food, over which of course 

 there is a conflict. It is for this purpose that he is so 

 often kept tame, tied to a cloth -padded, T-shaped iron 

 perch by a long string connected with a soft thread round 

 bis body. Fortunately, he does not seem to get much 

 damaged in these fights, and at the end of the winter, the 

 bulbul- fighting season, he is released, unless he has proved 

 himself an exceptional champion and worth reserving for 

 future triumphs. It is a shame to make use of his courage 

 in this way, for he is really a plucky bird, and will even beat 

 off a crow from his nest, although not more than half as 

 large again as a sparrow himself. The said nest is an open 

 one placed in a bush, and has nothing particularly remark- 

 able about it. The eggs, however, are very pretty, being 

 pinky-white with red spots, a common colour in the family. 

 Young Bulbuls taken just as their tails begin to grow are 

 easily reared and become very tame, making most charm- 

 ing pets ; I had one which was allowed full liberty, and 

 was at times quite a nuisance by its determination to 

 follow me about. The Bulbul, indeed, seems to have a 

 warm heart, although as above noted not fussily affec- 

 tionate with its kind ; a well known English authority on 

 cage birds has recorded that a male Bulbul in his posses- 

 sion had his paternal instincts so quickened by witnessing 

 the rearing of a brood of American Blue Robins (Sialia 

 sialis) in the same aviary that he insisted on taking a 

 helping hand, and even murderously attacked the real 



