310 
A Hundred Yards Bird Stroll. 
" Owls wc tret and i^oes about a groat deal by day. The 
" Pigmy tackles birds as well as insects, but I fancy, prefers 
"the latter. ,No sign of the Scops, but I expect there is 
" one fairly close." 
"As I turn towards the house I notice two pairs of 
"Tailor-birds trying to oul( r) niy pair in the aviary ; vvhat 
"a wonderful loud noise these I'ttle birds can make. There 
"are other birds in the fig and bourgainvillea over the 
"aviary, chiefly White-eyes and Bulbuls (one pair Red- 
" vented among them), but the Tailor-birds get noticed by 
" ear. My pair in the aviary have been captured over eight- 
" een months, and have made a great effort to sew together 
"two fig leaves, about the only two they could sew together 
"on the few miserable branches I've trained into the aviary 
"from the outside. I've now put in a tub of hydrangea; had 
" the)- a decent fig tree inside, 1 believe they would be as 
"happy as their free relatives." 
In the verandah I turn to have a look out and see 
"a few of the lovely Wire-tailed Swallows and myriads of 
" Swifts, which almost brush my face as they vi^it their nests 
" in the verandah. Then a flock of Short-billed Minivets fly 
"by, ont lovely cock and six or seven yellow ones, not often 
"seen at this time of the year (early July) here, though; they 
"have bred in the compound. Then just as I sat down for 
"tea. facing the door, some birds came to investigate some 
"mould on the footpath where potting operations had been 
"cairied out, two Bush-chats, which were hunted away by a 
"hen Brown-backed Indian Robin, the first I have seen actu- 
" ally in the statitm though they have been getting closer in 
" recent years.' 
"Not a bad little one hundred yards bird stroll, cover- 
" ing twenty minutes or so; in fact it includes all I've seen 
"' here, bar Brahminy .Mynahs, Indian Pied Bush-Chats {P. 
" luaura). Himalayan Streaked Laughing-Thrush, Scops 
" Dove, Rufous-backed, and Bay-backed Shrikes ami 
" Purpl'- Sun-bird; all of which I have seen in the compound 
■■ since." 
" I think you will agree that my compound 
' is a real bird paradise; I've left a lot of jungle bits, and 
