THE BARBETS. 129 



it even in the trees lining the streets, it is not very well 

 known by sight, as it is not easy to discover at first ; its 

 green plumage blending with the foliage, while the yellow 

 of its face, and the bright red of its forehead, gorget, and 

 feet are not nearly so noticeable as might be expected. 

 Young birds are still less striking in appearance in a tree, 

 as they have no red on the head or breast, and their feet 

 are merely flesh-colour. Light varieties of the Copper- 

 smith are sometimes seen ; there was one in the Calcutta 

 Zoological Garden when I left India in 1902 which was 

 yellow splashed with green, and with the usual red 

 markings, but with the bill flesh-coloured instead of 

 black. 



What makes the Coppersmith so well known is his 

 voice, which is a single note exactly resembling the tap 

 of a hammer on metal, and given out very persistently 

 all through the warm months of the year ; in the cold 

 weather he is generally silent. I say "he," but both 

 sexes call, and even the young begin, in voices of infantile 

 squeakiness, before they are fledged. In Northern India 

 the Coppersmith breeds from March to June, beginning 

 earlier further south, and continuing in Ceylon all through 

 the first half of the year. The young ones are very pretty 

 little things, easily reared and kept if a satoo-diet be 

 avoided, though bread-and-milk sop suits them well 

 enough ; plantains of course should always be supplied, 

 and I have always reared them on these. Old birds can 

 also be got to feed and live in confinement if plantain be 

 given, but there is not much point in keeping these, or 

 indeed any of this common species, unless one is going 

 B, GAB 9 



