NOTES AND QUERIES. 355 



letigth, 28fin. ; expanse of wings, 64£ in. ; length of wing from carpal 

 joint, 18$ in.; of tail, 1\ in. ; of head, 5| in.; of bill, base to point, Sf in. ; 

 of gape, 4 in.; of tarsus, 3£ in.; of toes— middle 3$ in., inner 2| in., 

 outer 3 in., hind £ in.— F. Kerry (Harwich). 



Breeding of the Syrian and White-eared Bulbuls in Confinement.— 

 I read in a well-known book on birds, that no Bulbuls have probably been 

 bred in Europe, save once in Germany. I am able to mention a second 

 exception to this statement. Some six years ago I brought a Syrian Bulbul 

 from Beyrout, and a short time after I purchased one of the white-eared 

 kind. They paired last year (1890) in a large cage, but built no nest, and 

 the Syrian bird, which is a hen, laid two eggs at the bottom of the cage, 

 which were broken. This summer I set them free in my conservatory, 

 and they built a nest high up in a corner formed by the ledge of the 

 window in the roof; but this was evidently not to their mind, for only one 

 egg was laid in it, and the other was found broken on the ground. Two 

 eggs seem to be the normal number laid. In a few days they built a nest 

 in a hanging basket containing a fern, and here two eggs were deposited, 

 on which the hen sat constantly for fourteen days, when one young bird 

 was hatched. If I or any one else ventured near the nest we were greeted 

 with shrill screams ; and not only so, but were savagely attacked, the hen 

 flapping our heads with her wings, and wishing seemingly to make an 

 assault on our eyes. I had to hold up my hands in self-defence. It was 

 the prettiest thing possible to hear the sweet tones which both she and the 

 male bird used when they perched upon the basket, and invited the nestling 

 to eat the food which they had brought. The young Bulbul flourished for 

 ten days, when on entering the aviary on July 18th I found it dead upon 

 the floor, near the door, a long way from the nest, and the male bird sitting 

 close by. How it came there, in its unfledged state, I cannot think. 

 Whether it fell from the nest or was turned out by its parents, I know not ; 

 but its death was a great disappointment, as I hoped it would have turned 

 out that rara avis, a young Bulbul hatched and reared in England. The 

 other egg, I grieve to say, was unfruitful. — Charles D. Bell (The Rectory, 

 Cheltenham).— From ' The Spectator,' July Z5th. 



Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, and Lesser Kedpoll in South 

 Wales. — Most of the books on birds describe the Garden Warbler, Sylvia 

 hortensis, as being absent from, or very local in, Wales. This is, however, 

 by no means the case as far as Breconshire is concerned. Having closely 

 observed this species for a good many years here, including the last six 

 nesting seasons, I find it is not uncommon in all suitable localities in a 

 great portion of this county ; and I am sure any observer who is acquainted 

 with its rapid, deep, mellow warble, and looks for it here, will come to the 

 same conclusion. I could name at least twenty different places in this 



