10 
CANMS Butrin. VMim* Jt I * 2. KOI 
SHORT COMMUNICATION 
Astrid von Kalcksteln 
P O. Box 161. 20116 GILGIL 
BULBUL TALK 
The calls of bulbuls. Pycnonoius imrhatns. have been pan of my 
life ever since I can remember hearing. As children we had our 
own name for them long before we became ornithologically 
interested: Bin Pctero — because in Tanzania where we grew 
up. they used to call “bin pctero. bin bin bin pctero*. 
Bulbuls are probably among the most articulate and vocal ol 
birds and they speak distinctly different dialects in different 
parts of Africa. Kenneth Newman < Birds of Southern Africa) 
describes the call as saying wake up. « iregory In Bulaw ayo’s 
Mats lieu mhk> pc area, one might lx‘ templed to think there was 
an Italian-French influence somewhere as members of the 
bulbul clan there keep calling Alfredo-Frederiquc." Could he 
I xr a house painter, as just a little down the road in Bulawayo’s 
Burnside area another guy shouts “put paint by degree 7 Or a 
rather concerned fellow repeating that it s quite dangerous * 
In Lusaka you are greeted with a somewhat impatient “lx* quick, 
the telephone, lx: quick, quick, quick. the telephone" whereas 
tin the Kenyan coast the SwahUl influence becomes evident 
when someone complains "hi cha pili" — clid he see more than 
one menacing cat? Here in the C.llgil area we seem to have 
another more impatient version " you be quick, don t you 
hear!" 
Whether you listen to the < ape bulbul /’ capemisot the red- 
eyed bulbul P. nigricans, the Fast African yellow vented form 
of the common bulbul P itarbaius or its North African white 
vented cousin (also P. htirbtuns). the language is unmistakably 
the same, although the dialects differ. 
Editor's note In Ghana. West M'rica. the common bulbul (P 
Utrhatus ) calls “Quick, doctor! Quick!* 
What do common bulbuls say tt hctvy « >u lit tY 
