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Mushroom and the Bulbul
Newsletter for Birdwatchers, Volume 6, No. 8, p. 12, August, 1966
Gift Siromoney

Some time back I reported in the Newsletter that bulbuls at Tambaram eat the petals of certain flowers. This time I have something more interesting to report. During the third week of November, I saw a Whitebrowed Bulbul flying from the ground with an orange coloured substance  in its beak. On closer examination I found a group of mushrooms at the precise spot from which the bird had flown away. A few bits were missing from these mushrooms and it is most likely that the bulbul was interrupted while eating the mushrooms. The mushroom is golden yellow or orangish in colour and has a funnel-shaped cap. It belongs to the genus Cantharellus all the species of which are said to be 'edible'. Swanton in his FUNGI AND HOW TO KNOW THEM lists several insects, slugs, snails and several mammals as feeding on mushrooms. Birds however are not included in the list. On the other hand, he points out that birds which eat these insects and snails, indirectly assist in the distribution of the spores of the mushrooms, thereby introducing the Continental species of mushrooms into Britain.

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