234



Practical Bird-Keeping.



PRACTICAL BIRD-KEEPING.



XVI—BULBULS.


By Dr. A. G. Butler.


Although I have only had the pleasure of studying four,

or if we include the Spotted-wing (which certainly is an aberrant

Bulbul), five species of this delightful group of birds, I think

perhaps my experience in keeping them may not be valueless.


The Bulbuls f Pycnonotince) or Eastern Nightingales belong

to the so-called Babbling-Thrushes, and, on account of their

short legs, they have been placed in a family to which the name

Brachypodidce was given. In their strong hard bills and general

appearance they are rather Tit-like in character and the resem¬

blance of the Indian form of Pyc?ionotus leucotis to Pains major

is quite as great as between many mimics among birds, the crest

of the Bulbul being the most obvious difference between the two.


As captive birds the Pycnonotince are extremely fascinating,

being naturally hardy, easy to provide for, generally of a con¬

fiding nature, always musical, and in the case of the Persian

form of P. leucotis noted for melodious song, and I should judge,

provided that true sexes are secured, by no means difficult to

induce to breed in an aviary ; the behaviour of my Red-vented

Bulbul in trying to assume parental duties towards a nest of

young Blue-birds would seem to justify this conclusion.


Although Dr. Sharpe, in his Catalogue of Timeliine birds,

records no differences between the sexes of the Bulbuls beyond

size (and even then only in some of the species), although also

he frequently asserts that there is no difference in plumage, I

must confess that when one compares undoubted sexes of some

of the species side by side the difference in colouring seems to

me sufficiently marked to make one wonder how it could fail to

be noted : but, apart from colouring, the outline of the bill in the

two sexes differs so markedly that the would-be breeder ought

to have no difficulty in selecting sexes.


In choosing a pair the aviculturist should select as male

the larger bird with short robust bill, its culmen well arched,

that of the female being longer, more slender and with the

culmen only slightly arched ; the tone of the brown colouring

usually differs somewhat, and when the under tail-coverts are



