THE HONEYSUCKER. 77 



compound after breeding to change his plumage ; 

 he kept very much to two or three trees, singing, 

 apparently, from one particular twig, and even when 

 in undress he kept up his song. The Purple Honey- 

 sucker has a much wider range than the other, being 

 found from Persia to Cochin China, and it also ascends 

 further up the hills. It is, therefore, evidently, a 

 more hardy and adaptable bird ; and as its ordinary 

 feeding and nesting habits are the same as those of 

 the other species, I do not quite understand why it is 

 not so common in Calcutta. Very probably, however, 

 its more lively relative's competition is too much for 

 it there. I certainly noticed that one bird, which 

 I took aUve to the London Zoo some years ago, 

 seemed afraid of the yellow-bellied birds confined 

 with him, all of which succumbed on the journey — 

 the last one distinctly bullying his dark companion. 

 Other people have since repeated my experiment- 

 with the purple kind, and I beheve this would thrive 

 in the open in Southern Europe if turned out there ;~ 

 a more charming ornament to a garden it would be 

 difi&cult to find. 



