FIELD WORK 
Special attention could be given to the dates when thit birds 
were seen paying attention to each other for the first timt? in 
the season, From how many dapper males docs the dowdy 
little hen of the mag-pie-robiii (a common bird in Sing-apore) 
select her mate ? Not less than three we believe I And ha™g 
been "suited" when does nest-building bep:m and how do the 
small partners divide the work — does the cock bird do his share 
or does he often clear out for an hour or two to attend to busi- 
ness further afield ? When the egg^s are laid and the birds are 
brooding how many times a day does the hen take a fitt round to 
stretch her wing's; and when the young are hatched how many 
times an hour are they fed ? When the same youngsters are full 
grown and can tly how long are they allowed to remain in the 
vicinity before being chased away to find territory of their own? 
Most important too, how many days do the eggs take /to hatch; 
and then what is the period between the hatching of the chick, 
the first sprouting of the feathers and its departure from the 
nest ? 
Scores of other points could be mentioned and no doubt 
many occur to the reader. For a few years past we have paid 
particular attention to the breeding habits of the common 
bulbul of the Singapore gardens but in spite of a kirge mass 
of notes taken over a period of three springs we are yet minus 
the key-note to the whole of our observations, for we have 
not yet found out the exact time between the hatching of the 
chick and the point at which our infomiation begins. We 
suspect it to be more than twelve hours and less than two days, 
but that is only a guess. When the point is settled the tale 
can be linked up and we shall then imderstand the essential 
points of the growth of our indbtil from the time it is hatched^ 
and thence at intervals o( about twelve hours, until it actually 
leaves the nest of its own accord. At the moment the obser- 
vations are all plus x hours ! 
P'nough has been said to indicate the manner in which the 
bird lover can occujiy his leisure hours with a view to useful 
results and lliere is no location in the whole of this island in 
which birds cannot be studied. 
