^63 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



The genus Pycnonohis, or Bulbul, next engages our attention. These birds are found in 

 Egypt, in India, Persia, and China, in Ceylon, and on the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. 

 Eastern literature is full of praise of the Bulbul, the cage-bird par excellence of the East. In their 

 wild state the Bulbuls live in the jungle, in small woods or bushy plantations, feeding on insects, 

 berries, and fruit. As cage-birds they are hardy, and can be accustomed to all those kinds of 

 food on which Thrushes and Nightingales are kept, but it must always be borne in mind that 

 ripe and sweet fruit is to them a necessary article of diet. In India, Bulbuls are often tamed, 

 and trained to obey the commands of their keepers ; to fly abroad, to return when called, and 

 to fight in the manner of gamecocks. In calling the Bulbuls Eastern Nightingales their vocal 

 merits seem to be largely overrated. Their docility seems to be more remarkable than their song. 

 A striking peculiarity of the Bulbuls is a crest, varying in size, and giving these birds a very 

 peculiar appearance. 



That the Bulbuls will ever become very popular cage-birds in Europe may be doubted. Never 

 imported in large numbers, the birds are not often obtainable, and never cheap ; and their require- 

 ments in the matter of sweet fruit make their keep expensive and somewhat troublesome. A 

 trained Bulbul may be a pretty toy in the East, and as such highly prized by the natives, but tame 

 Bulbuls are never exported, and the many which came under my observation were untrained and 

 not very good songsters. As these Bulbuls were, hov/ever, kept in a large aviary, their vocal 

 powers may have been less noticed than they deserved to be. No Bulbuls have probably been 

 bred in captivity in Europe; but this may be owing to the few experiments made so far.* 

 Male and female being very similar, and difficult to distinguish, makes it difficult to select a pair, 

 and greatly increases the difficulty of the experiment. That these birds would, however, breed 

 readily in an aviary I can affirm, having had a specimen of the Red-eared Bulbul for some 

 years, which several times built a rather artistic nest in a bush, laid three and four pink eggs with 

 chocolate-coloured spots, and sat on them patiently. As there was no male bird the eggs came, of 

 course, to nothing. The nest was built after the manner of our Finches' nests, between the higher 

 branches of a bush, roots, hay, and small branches forming the outside, soft fibres the inner lining. 



In company with Blue Nightingales and Sun-birds, Bulbuls might be kept in the aviary, yet 

 some caution may be advisable. They should not be trusted with smaller birds, nor would it be 

 wise to allow Bulbuls in the same cage with a brood of newly-hatched birds in an exposed nest. 



A description of the varieties of Bulbuls in the list of the Zoological Society is impossible 

 within the limits of these pages. To assist readers in referring to works on natural history, all 

 the names by which the best-known kinds of Bulbul have been described by various writers arc 

 subjoined. 



THE BLACK BULBUL (Pyciionotiis pygceus, Russ), Bengal. 



Ixospygaiis, Hainatornis cajei; Tardus cafer, Brachypus py^aiis, Pycnonohis Bengaknsis. Called "Kala" in India. 



German name — " Kala Bulbul, " or " Rothsteissiger Bulbul. " 



* \Miile these pages were in the press, a brood of young Syrian Bulbuls have been reared in Germany, from parents 

 exhibited by me in February, 1879, at the Crystal Palace. 



