32 WILD 1.11-E IN CHINA. 



nodding with appreciative smiles as their pets strive their 

 hardest to outdo each other. Another hird not uncommonly 

 caged is the myna, or grackle, an Asiatic variety of the 

 starling famih-. It cannot be claimed that they excel as 

 songsters, but their pleasant chatter, especially on sunny 

 afternoons in winter, when a little band of them hold con- 

 verse, is quite pleasant to hear. Then there is the local 

 representative of the hawfinch, a wonderfully pretty bird, 

 who just now is exhibiting to the full the effect of his little 

 pipe. His, plumage, however, is prettier than his song. The 

 local bulbul, so far as I am aware is never taught to talk, and 

 yet his song is more articulate than that of any birds I know. 

 It is quite an easy matter to set even English words to what 

 he says, and I am inclined to think that any one well versed 

 in the more tone-filled dialects of China could make up quite 

 a string of sentences uttered bj^ this interesting little bird. 

 The bulbul is always with us, but, as usual, he is most talk- 

 ative in spring. Other "songsters of the grove" there are, 

 but enough have been mentioned to show that though 

 Shanghai cannot boast a choir like that of England, her 

 gardens and woods are neither dismal nor dumb. 



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