W. Goodfellow—Familiar Birds of Singapore



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common. Yet he is a lovable little chap, inoffensive in an aviary,

I believe, and always seems happy and contented wherever his lot falls.

Even under atrocious conditions sometimes, you never see him dirty

or draggled, for he is so proud of himself that with only a few drops

of water he will keep on bathing until it is all used up, in fact he is a

real little gentleman.


During the nesting season it is a common sight in the bird markets

of Java to see cages with the bottom full of half-fledged youngsters,

perhaps fifty or more to a cage. Two adult birds are put in with

them, irrespective of sex, I presume, and probably, newly caught

themselves, and these two spend the whole day supplying the wants

of all these incessantly gaping mouths. When they find time for a

mouthful for themselves, I can’t imagine. To me it seems pathetic.

This alone should endear them to us. I am quite sure our home

Sparrow would never do it, and I cannot think of any other bird

that would, unless possibly a Bengalee. They seem ever ready to adapt

themselves to new nesting conditions, as in Singapore, for instance,

where they are completely established throughout the island. In the

city they nest under the tiles, and in any crevice large enough to hold

them. Last year a pair built on a cornice in my hotel bedroom, and

to help them I brought in dry grass and other materials which they

seemed to appreciate, as they started to collect it at once from a table

about 2 yards from where I sat. I was sorry that I had to leave

before the young appeared, as I should have helped them with food too.

Naturally they made a little litter on the floor below, but I always

collected this up so as not to attract the room boy’s attention to them.

It was a great amusement to watch them, especially as I could not get

about much, having only just come out of hospital. Another pair were

nesting in a similar site in the lounge hall below, and when no one

was passing in or out, they watched their opportunity to pull the fibres

from the coco-nut mat at the door. For a resident it should be very

easy to establish friendly relations with them, so that in a short time

you could have your own tame flock about the bungalow. A certain

bird-shop is near a Chinese temple frequented seemingly by women

only, and it is not unusual to meet some of the worshippers bargaining

with the dealer for Java Sparrows. These they take over to the



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