86 
The MojitKs Arrivals. 
iiioineiits there is discoid — for each bird has his or her sleeping place — but 
j,'radiially there steals a silence, and as the night shadows creep softly, from 
out of the west comes a crescent moon, that, peeping down shyly through 
the brandies of the camphor tree, sees only the great cage with no signs of 
life within."' 
The foregoing i.s only tlie briefest abstract from a most 
interesting article, wliich amply illustrates, that given plenty of 
space, Parrakeets, large and small, can l)e kept together and will 
breed under such conditions. For instance here are two aviaries, 
or rather, one divided into two 20 ft. by 20 ft. each, and each con- 
taining about 300 birds, which are happy, thriving and well, so 
much that even in such numbers many of them reproduce their 
kind. W. T. P. 
Covipiled from " Bird Lore.'' 
ZTbc flDontb'5 Britvals. 
The most interesting event during the present month has been the 
arrival of Major B. R. Horsbrugh's birds from South Africa, which reached 
the Zoological Society's Ganlens on 14th April. I well recollect the pleasure 
it gave me to examine the birds imported by the same aviculturist three 
5'ears since. That importation was, however, to some extent a financial 
speculation and included a large series of such species as the Violet-eared 
and Black-cheeked Waxbills, Scaly-fronted Finches, Quail Finches, etc. 
The present collection is a much smaller one, and I understand that Major 
Horsljrugh is now going to reside in this country and will retain almost all 
his birds for his own aviary. Included in this collection are four very in- 
teresting species, all of which are probably "first arrivals." We will take 
these first. 
Black-fronted Biilbul (Pyctio?iotiis nigricans). This handsome Bnlbul 
has been presented to the Zoological Society and may now be seen in the 
Western Aviarv. It is a male and, in addition to the ordinary cliuckliiig 
notes of the Bnlbul family, has a rather pretty piping refrain. It closely 
resembles the Syrian Bnlbul, but has a bright orange-red cere round the 
eye and the whole ventral region is of the same colour. The bird is in quite 
perfect condition and it was delightful to watch it singing and flitting about 
in the sunlight. Of the four South African Bulbuls two (F. iricolor and P. 
layardi) have the eyelid feathered, and two (P. ccipefisis and P. nigricans) 
have the eyelid bare and wattle-like. They are far from popular in the 
Transvaal, where they do great damage to the fig and apricot crops. 
Habitat : Central Cape Colony. 
