156 Alfred Ezra—Birds and Animals Observed during a Visit to India


excitement of the Indians is great, and sometimes ends in a free

fight. The winning bird is generally caught up and kissed by all

its backers. The birds, after a few minutes’ rest, are quite ready

to fight again. The fight is quite pretty to watch, especially as the

birds seem to enjoy it, and are none the worse after a fight.


Bulbul fighting is also a great sport with the Indians in Calcutta.

The Common Bed-vented Bulbul is generally caught in December,

and a cotton brace is put round its waist, with a long string attached

to it. This string is attached to a lightly made portable iron stand,

The bird is never put in a cage, but spends most of his time on

this iron stand. As the birds are handled all the time, and are

always fed by hand, they get very tame in a very few days. Both

cocks and hens fight. The birds are kept hungry when they are

to fight and, after all the betting is done and terms settled, the two

birds matched to fight are put in the arena, and some suttoo (ground

lentils, largely used in India for feeding birds) is thrown in the

middle. The birds attack one another at once, and fight on the

ground till one is vanquished, when it flies back to his owner. These

fights last only a couple of minutes, and the birds are given honey

and water as a refreshment after the fight. There is not quite so

much excitement over these fights as there is over the partridge

fighting, and a good many boys take part in this sport. The birds

are not damaged in any way, and after January, when the season

for fighting is over, they are given their freedom. In the fighting

they seem to tackle one another’s feet most of the time.



BIRDS AND ANIMALS OBSERVED DURING A

VISIT TO INDIA


By Alfred Ezra, O.B.E.


India is so full of bird and animal life that each time one visits

it one finds it more and more interesting. In case it should interest

our readers, I shall give roughly the birds and animals that were

seen by Mr. Delacour and me on our visit to India last w t inter. On

our way from Bombay to Agra we saw : Episcopal Storks, Jabirus,



