THE OX-EYE. 



the sides; the thighs white, spotted with black; the sidea 

 pale olive green. The wing coverts are light brown ; the 

 larger ones being tipped with white, which produces a white 

 stripe on the folded wings. The pen feathers are blackish ; 

 the foremost, with the exception of the two first, being edged 

 on the upper side with light green, on the under with white, 

 and the hindmost having above a border of olive green, and 

 below of white. The tail is blackish, and somewhat forked ; 

 the two centre feathers are tinged with light blue, and the ex- 

 ternal ones are white on the outer and part of the inner plume. 

 The rest are all edged with light blue, and the second is, in 

 addition, tipped with white. 



The female is smaller : the black and yellow colours are less 

 bright, and the stripe on the breast is narrower, and does not 

 extend so far down the belly. The last fact serves as a charac- 

 teristic by which we may distinguish the young males from 

 the females, which they very much resemble. 



Habitat. The Ox-eye is found throughout the Eastern hemi- 

 sphere, and principally frequents mountains and districts which 

 are well wooded, and at the same time not devoid of cultivation. 

 It is not a bird of passage, though it collects about October in 

 flocks, which migrate in search of food from one wood to 

 another. This is the period at which the Ox-eye is most ex- 

 posed to the attempts of the fowler. In March the flocks 

 again separate into pairs, which begin to build and to propagate 

 their species. 



In the aviary the Ox-eye may be kept in a large bell-shaped 

 wire cage, into which a round cavity of some kind is intro- 

 duced, to serve as a sleeping-place. If allowed to range the 

 room with other birds, it should be abundantly supplied with 

 food ; as if, when pressed with hunger, it has once killed some 

 small bird, and eaten the brain, of which it is exceedingly 

 fond, it becomes very ferocious. I have known of an instance 

 in which an Ox-eye attacked and killed a Quail. The assertion 

 of the bird-sellers that those Ox-eyes only which have forked 

 tails exhibit these carnivorous propensities, is not founded on 

 fact ; though daily experience assures us that there is a con- 

 siderable difference of natural disposition between birds of the 

 same species. 



Food. The Ox-eye feeds upon insects, seeds, and berries, 

 and destroys great numbers of bees, flies, gnats, grasshoppers, 



