126 JULY 



pitch of dolour with long - drawn - out wails and 

 howls. The finale came to an end with a crash of 

 chords, and we all burst into a laugh, with a clap- 

 ping of hands : 



"Why, Klinker, you have turned the trio into 

 a quartette ! " 



The little garden bulbul has a friendly kind of 

 chirp, and after a seven years' residence close to a 

 shama, has acquired some of the latter's notes, 

 which to my mind are among the richest and 

 clearest a bird can possess. The bulbul is brown 

 and white, with bright red under his tail. The 

 shama is black and polished, with a brown breast, 

 and has two very long straight white feathers in 

 his black tail. His beak is intensely sharp and 

 pointed, and he is carnivorous, and is fed by his 

 own special man, who comes every day. To shut 

 one's eyes and hear his long-drawn liquid song, in 

 varied cadence, makes one imagine oneself in a 

 forest glade, amid bosky dells and rippling water ! 

 He is a shy bird, and in Java keeps to the tops of 

 trees a great deal, wherefore the natives here cover 

 their cages with a muslin cloth, and hook them 

 high up to the ceiling ; as otherwise, they declare, 



