646 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March 1, 190L 
MARKET RATES FOR OLD AND NEW PRODUCTS. 
{From Lewis ^ Peats Furtniyhtly Prices Current, London, February 22nd, 1901) 
No Price Current huving reached us by latest mail, we omit the usual quotations 
and fill with other matter. 
THE COMMON BIRDS OF BOMBAY 
By E H A.* 
" Eha " is well-known by the volumes 
" The Tribes or my Frontier," " Behind the 
Bungalow " and " A Naturaliston the Prowl "; 
and this latest volume will be welcomed by 
all who wish to kiiow about the birds that 
abound in the land of their adoption. To 
enjoy this book, one does not need to have 
previous scientific knowledge ; the author 
has watched the liabits, haunts and customs 
of the birds, and in an easy conversational 
way he tells the I'eader enough to enable 
hitu to recognise and name the feathered 
songsters around him. Boys are always 
ready to hunt for birds' nests.' Let them take 
this book out of doors with them and follow 
up the mother birds sympathetically, watch 
them, their ways, their haunts, and the study 
may be quite as useful to them in after years 
as that of Latin or French. 
Thetelling pen-and-ink sketches in this book 
are an additional help to the identification 
of birds, while the English i-.ames so 
freely given^ make the stories life-like 
and real. The volume has 195 pages, and 
the chapters (32 of them) follow the natural 
orders :— The Birds of Piey, the Perching 
Birds, the Moaners, the Scrapers, the Stalk- 
ers, and the Swimmers. Among the Perch- 
ing Birds or Insessores, the most interesting 
and best-known are the Woodpecker and 
the Coppersmith, the Sunbirds and the Hoo- 
poe, the Babblers (which include The Seven 
Brothers) and the Bulbuls and Orioles. In 
the introduction, birds are very sympathetic- 
ally described, thus :—" Though beasts rank 
above them anatomically and physiologically, 
birds have in many respects a higher nature. 
Their wits are quicker, their thoughts 
sweeter, their tastes finer, and their passions 
and appetites less gross. With respect to 
manners and morals they stand on a higher 
plane altogether. . . . The great majority 
of them are monogamous during the nesting 
season, and many pair for life and 
become devotedly attached to each other. 
Brides are won by courtship. . . . Much 
of their time is spent in the duties, or 
pleasures, of the toilet. Many of them bathe 
regularly in water, while others prefer a 
dust bath. Nature gives them an entire new 
suit every year, sometimes two, in which 
case the sunmier and winter suits are often 
different. If there is any difference in the 
sexes, it is the male which is most beauti- 
fully, or at least most brilliantly, dressed ; as 
is fit, for he is in the front ranks, fighting 
and making love, while her place is in the 
sweet backgi'ounds of life, and quietness 
and modesty adorn her best." We must 
* Thacker & Co., Bombay. Price K4-50. 
quote the description ot the Sunbird :— " Oui' 
common Sunbird (Arachnethra Zeylanica) 
seen at a distance and in a dull light, is a 
tiny bird of a dull brown colour, except <'n 
the bieast and lower parts which are j'ellow. 
But see it at close quarters, with the sun 
shining on it, as its admiring mate sees it ; 
the top of its head glitters with a. hue which 
Jerdon defines as ' l)right, metallic, glossy 
green,' while Mr. Oates calls it ' metallic 
lilac' Its throat atid the whole of its back 
glow with the tints of an amethyst, the 
shoulders and wings are of the richest maroon 
red and the tail is black. The admiring 
mate is herself dressed in the beauty of 
simplicity. She also is yellow on the under 
parts, but paler than her lord, while her 
head, back and wings are of a gr-eenish 
dusky colour. They are a loving couple and 
I think the union is for life, for one seldom 
sees a single Sunbird. Belt and other ob- 
servers have stated that Hunmiing-birds 
frequent flowers less for the nectar than for 
the little insects in them. I am sure this is 
not true of the Sunbird. It eats plenty of 
little insects, especially spiders, but it seeks 
flowers for their nectar. Sometimes it hovers 
in front of them, like a hawk moth, explor- 
ing their recesses with its long tubuhir 
tongue ; oftener it clings with its minute 
black feet, throwing its lithe body into all 
manner of acrobatic attitudes, while it thrusts 
its slender, curved bill into each tube in turn. 
And 'between whiles' it skips about, slap- 
ping its sides with its tiny wings, spreading 
its tail like a fan, and ringing out its cheery 
refrain, ching-ching, chikee, chikee, chikee, as if 
it could not contain all the happiness that 
filled its little frame." For the description of 
the nest and the eggs, our readers must refer 
to the book itself. 
The Longevity and Vigour op Tea.— 
The veteran colonist who writes above the 
initials " C.S." has some interesting ex- 
periences to relate in the letter which we 
publish elsewhere. The old Kandyan who 
declared that the tea-bush was a regular 
jungle plant, nothing could kill it,— was not 
far wrong. 
Immense Rubber Area Acquired in Mexico. 
— The newest company organized to go into the 
planting of rubber exclusively is the Obispo Rub- 
ber Plantation Co., which has been incorporated 
under the laws of New Jersey. It will acquiie a 
large plantation known as "La Republica," in the 
state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a property consisting of 
9000 acres, of wliieh at least 8000 acres will be 
planted entirely in rubber, 200 trees to tlie acre. 
This will form probably the largest rubber planta- 
tionin the \iot\A,— India Bvbbtr World, 
