Bali Starling
Bali Starling Woldere/GFDL

PAJANGAN — A successful man must have a house, a horse, a wife, a dagger and a songbird in a cage. That, at least, according to a well-known Javanese proverb.
And yet as fanciful as the old saying may sound, its lasting influence is a big factor behind Indonesia‘s trade in caged birds, a trade that is pushing some endangered species to the brink of extinction.

Worldcrunch Library 27090364
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