"The Bulbul, which did chase the jewelled butterflies.” Arnold.

CONSIDERING what a charming and characteristic feature butterflies form in the tropical landscape, it would not be much to the Bulbul’ s credit if chasing them were his most noteworthy occupation. Undoubtedly he does catch but- terflies sometimes, for I once saw a wild Bulbul with one in his bill not “jewelled,” but plain white and he will eat them readily enough in confinement.

But on the other hand, fruit is undoubtedly his more ordinary food ; a certain Lantana bush I wot of is much resorted to by both Bulbuls and butterflies, and the berries seem to be the, birds’ only object in visiting it. And captive Bulbul display an indiscriminateness in taste as regards the species of butterflies they devour, that would shock many of the exponents of ‘ ‘ warning colouration in insects ;’ ‘ eating, without the stimulus of hunger, species which other birds will avoid unless they have no choice allowed. This may be interpreted in two ways. Either the Bulbul is such a common bird because he doesn’t care what he eats ; or he is a mere amateur in butter fly -eating, and doesn’t know what’s good, like a young bird who has his experience to gain. Certainly his insect-catching when at liberty is mostly concerned with smaller game, for it is not always easy to see what he takes when he rises in the air a short distance and then drops back to his perch. For he is a bird of varied abilities ; he can skip about gracefully among the branches of a shrub, though he is more given to sitting on the top ; and on the wing his movements, though not particularly powerful or swift, are easy and graceful to a degree. Only on the ground is he awkward, for his legs are too short for him to hop with much agility or keep his tail clear ; but he does not often descend to earth, and wisely. No small bird looks well on the ground unless he can run, like the wagtail, and even then he is rather insig- nificant. But place the Bulbul as one generally sees him, on a lofty spray, his jetty crest erect, and his tail drooping in a neglige manner all his own, and it is difficult to find a small bird so picturesque.

True, his black fore-quarters fade off to dusty brown on the wings and iron-grey on the breast, and the only bright colour he boasts is the silky crimson patch modestly concealed under the root of his tail ; but even so he is more strikingly attired than most European birds. Both cock and hen are also equally well dressed ; but the young are duller and look rather shabby, especially as they have to wear a rusty-buff escutcheon instead of a blood-red one. This curiously-placed bit of colour seems a family feature with Bulbuls ; it is always either red or yellow, however, when it occurs at all, other tints being strictly barred. The only Bulbul which occurs in Europe in the Cyclades bears a yellow patch, being otherwise of a snuffy brown ; and this is possibly the bird which has got mixed up with the Nightingale in Eastern poetry, as it occurs in Palestine, and is there called Bulbul by the Arabs. Bulbul in Persian is always supposed to mean the true Nightingale, the lover of the rose, and there seems to be no reason to doubt the correctness of the iden- tification though it may be mentioned that the Persian nightingale (Daulias golzii) is not absolutely identical with the European bird. More to the point are the facts that the Yarkandis call the Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria) the Bulbul, and that the Palestine Bulbul (Pycnonotus xanthopygus) above alluded to is a really fine singer. So that whatever bird was called by the name to start with, it seems to be about as indefinite among Orientals as 4 ‘ Mocking-bird ‘ ‘ and ‘ ‘ Sparrow ‘ ‘ are in our own lan- guage. However, in India “ Bulbul “ is taken by both natives and Europeans in a very definite signification for a large group of pretty birds, of which our dark Bengal species (Molpastes bengalensis) may very fairly claim to be the type.

He certainly is not much of a songster, but his notes are never harsh and always singularly cheerful and liquid, conveying an unequivocal sense of happiness and well-being ; and he is a thoroughly nice bird. He is nofc obtrusively sociable nor peevishly solitary and quarrel- some ; when the natives make him fight, it is by showing two hungry birds a morsel of food, over which of course there is a conflict. It is for this purpose that he is so often kept tame, tied to a cloth -padded, T-shaped iron perch by a long string connected with a soft thread round bis body. Fortunately, he does not seem to get much damaged in these fights, and at the end of the winter, the bulbul- fighting season, he is released, unless he has proved himself an exceptional champion and worth reserving for future triumphs. It is a shame to make use of his courage in this way, for he is really a plucky bird, and will even beat off a crow from his nest, although not more than half as large again as a sparrow himself. The said nest is an open one placed in a bush, and has nothing particularly remark- able about it. The eggs, however, are very pretty, being pinky-white with red spots, a common colour in the family. Young Bulbuls taken just as their tails begin to grow are easily reared and become very tame, making most charm- ing pets ; I had one which was allowed full liberty, and was at times quite a nuisance by its determination to follow me about. The Bulbul, indeed, seems to have a warm heart, although as above noted not fussily affec- tionate with its kind ; a well known English authority on cage birds has recorded that a male Bulbul in his posses- sion had his paternal instincts so quickened by witnessing the rearing of a brood of American Blue Robins (Sialia sialis) in the same aviary that he insisted on taking a helping hand, and even murderously attacked the real father for not altogether resigning in his favour. This, indeed, might be considered as carrying matters rather too far, but after all the poor bird was no worse than any other ‘ well meaning person.”