THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIRDS IN FREEDOM AND IN CAPTIVITY EDITED BY PHYLLIS BARCLAY-SMITH, F.Z.S. FIFTH SERIES. VOL IX JANUARY, 1944, to DECEMBER, 1944 Hertford STEPHEN AUSTIN & SONS, Ltd. 1944 CONTENTS Title-page ..... Contents ..... Alphabetical List of Contributors List of Plates .... Officers for the Year 1944 ' Pa- List of Members Rules of the Avicultural Society The Society’s Medal . Magazine Index ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS (J.S. denotes Jubilee Supplement) Amsler, Maurice, M.D. Memories of Happy Days, J.S. 38. Barclay-Smith, Phyllis. Review — Dream Island Days, 24. The Place of Aviculture in Ornithology, J.S. 34. Editor’s Note, J.S. 44. Berry, John. Artificial Goose Nests Again, 75. Boose y, Edward. Colouration of Kookaburras, 1 50. Boulton, W. K. Infra-red Treatment for Sick Birds, 17. Burn, Yvonne. Notes on the Rearing of a Collared Scops Owl, 13. Chawner, E. F. Failures and Successes in the Leckford Collection, 1943, 15. Breeding of Violet-ear Waxbill, 26. Collins, Mrs. G. Breeding of Fijian Parrakeets, 22. Crandall, Lee S. Aviculture in America, J.S. 14. A Rare Baby Crane, 142. Darnton, I. Wild Birds of Ceylon, 42. Davis, Sir Godfrey. Whistling Schoolboys, 140. Delacour, J. Wildfowl Visitors to the New York Zoo, 45. Eagle Owl Kills Egyptian Goose in New York Zoo, 46. The Wattled Pheasant, 61. Avicultural Entente Cordiale, J.S. 5. The Fate of the Trumpeter Swan, 127. Dharmakumarsinhji of Bhavnagar, Prince K. S. Notes on the Breeding of the Empress of Germany’s Bird of Paradise, 109. England, M. D. Attempted Breeding of Kukaburras, 99. Erlanger, A. Successful Breeding of the Blue-headed Tanager, 50. Ezra, Alfred. News from Foxwarren Park, 1 17. Fifty Years of Aviculture, J.S. 1 . Falkner, Guy. I key, a tame Toco Toucan, 40. An Aviary in Wartime, 135. IV ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Guild, Eastham. More about Birds in Tahiti, 104. Hill, W. G. Osman, M.D. Concerning White Peafowl, 10. Further Notes on Eclectus Parrots, 35. Links with Aviculture in Ceylon, J.S. 1 1. Hirst, Arnold. The Satin Bower Bird, 47. Experiments on Colour Preferences of the Satin Bower Bird, 132. Colour Change in Satin Bower Birds, 150. Hopkins, G. Scott. The Importance of the Leckford Collection and the Future of Pheasant Keeping, 97- Hopkinson, E. (E. H.) Breeding Successes in New Zealand, 149. Hutchinson, G. R. Some Breeding Results from New Zealand, 2 1 . Indge, H. J. Notes on Cockatoos and Parrakeets, 149. Jacobs, H. Breeding Madagascar Lovebird, 23. Kay,J.T. Notes on the Nesting of Snow Buntings in Captivity, 106. Knobel, E. Maud. “ Cuckoo,” 25. Lane, Lt., and Professor K. Wodzicki. A Visit to the Ohau River Estuary, New Zealand, 68. Lendon, Lt.-Col. A. The Errors in Neville Caley’s Australian Parrots, 5. Lewis, J. Spedan. Fertility and Habits, 58. Marshall, E. The Senegal Parrot, 47. Matthews, Frances E. Notes on a Small Collection, 108. Maxwell, Major Gavin. Thoughts on Sea Ducks in Captivity, 87. Martin, H. C. The Hornero, 49. Moody, A. F. An Early Account of Some of the Perching Birds in the Scampston Collection, 63, 143. Asiatic Grey-lag Goose, 79. The Red-breasted Merganser at Lilford, 86. The Progress and Development in Ornamental Waterfowl Keeping, J.S. 20. Alphabetical list of contributors Newman, T. H. The Possibilities in Breeding Barbary Doves, 46. Nicholson, John. The Western Blue Bird, 138. Patten, Robert A. Notes from Taronga Zoo. Park, 122. Phillips, C. P. Parrakeets in England in War-time, 31. Plath, Karl. Breeding Results, Chicago Zoo. Park, 1943, 1. Satin Bower Birds, 98. Porter, Sydney. Breeding the Australian Black-breasted Plover, 118. Prasek, Anthony. The Black-hooded Red Siskin, 44. Prestwich, Arthur A. (A. A. P.). A new Parrakeet Hybrid, 26. Coloured Plate of Senegal Parrot, 26. A near Semi-centenarian, 45. Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, 45. Buckwheat, 46. Notes, 72, 73, 97, 125. Breeding Records, 74. Satin Bower Birds, 74. The Growth of the Avicultural Society, J.S. 16. Scott A. H. 1943 at Blissford Pool, 27. Seth-Smith, David (D. S-S.). Obituary — Thomas Henry Newman, 95. Notable Members in the Early Days of the Society, J.S. 29. Sibley, Clarence L. Breeding of the Pink-footed Goose in Captivity in the U.S.A., 84. Variation in Colour in Blue Geese, 89. Geese and Other Birds at Sunnyfields Farm, Connecticut, 91. Silver, Allen. Bird Feeding Then and Now, J.S. 25. Stevens, Ronald. Hand-rearing Fresh- water Ducklings, 80. Tucker, B. W. The Ejection of Pellets by Passerine and other Birds, 126. Wodzicki, Professor K. (and Lt. Lane). A Visit to the Ohau River Estuary, New Zealand, 68. Yealland, John. Full-winged Tree Ducks, 90. VI LIST OF PLATES LIST OF PLATES Stanley Cranes and Young .... facing page Collared Scops Owl two days after arrival . . „ Collared Scops Owl one month after arrival . „ A. H. Scott with Cream-coloured Sparrow . „ Typical “Horno” of Adobe Blocks ... ,, Hornero’s Nest ...... „ Bernicle Goose lining Artificial Nest . . . ■ Pinkfoot Gosling ...... ,, Winter Habitat of Steller’s Eider ... ,, Scandinavian Eiders in June . . . . „ Steller’s and Scandinavian Eiders in Lapland . „ Blue Snow Geese ...... ,, Hen Kookaburra ...... „ Trumpeter Swans at Red Rock Lakes Refuge, Montana „ i *Black- throated Mango Humming Bird, J.S. . „ *Swallow-tailed Humming Bird, J.S. ... „ Graph Recording Numerical Strength of the Avi- cultural Society, J.S. . . . „ David Seth-Smith, J.S. ..... ,, Alfred Ezra, O.B.E., J.S. ..... ,, Miss E. Maud Knobel, J.S. .... „ Arthur G. Butler, J.S. ..... „ Horatio R. Fillmer, J.S. ..... „ Hubert D. Astley, J.S. ..... „ J. Lewis Bonhote, J.S. . . . . ,, i 14 14 27 49 49 75 75 88 88 89 89 99 27 1 1 i7 18 l9 l9 30 30 3i 31 J.S. Denotes Jubilee Supplement. * Denotes a Coloured Plate. AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE MAY 12 1348 $*5u8l CONTENTS Breeding Results for 1943 in the Bird Department of the Chicago Zoological Park at Brookfield, Ill. ( with plate), by Karl Plath .... The Errors of Neville Cayley’s Australian Parrots, by Lt.-Col. A. Lendon Concerning White Peafowl, by W. C. Osman Hill .... Notes on the Rearing of a Collared Scops Owl ( Otus bakkamoena bakkamoena) in Captivity (with plate), by Yvonne Burn ...... Failures and Successes in the Leckford Collection, 1943, by E. F. Chawner Some Breeding Results from New Zealand, by G. R. Hutchinson, H. Jacobs and Mrs. G. Collins ......... Review ........... Notes ............ Correspondence .......... page 1 5 10 13 15 21 24 25 26 FIFTH 8ERIES VOL. IX No. 1 PRICE 5/- JAN.-FEB. 1944 THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Founded 1894 President : A. EZRA, Esq., O.B.E. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION is£i per annum, due on 1st January each year, and payable in advance. (Entrance fee 10/-, suspended during the War.) THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE is published bi-monthly and sent free to members. Members joining at any time during the year are entitled to back numbers for the current year, on the payment of subscription. Subscriptions, Changes of Address, Names of Candidates for Membership, etc., should be sent to — The Honorary Secretary and Treasurer , Tel. : Primrose 0247. MISS E. MAUD KNOBEL, 86 Regent’s Park Road, London, N.W. 1. ALL MATTER FOR PUBLICATION IN THE MAGAZINE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO— The Editor , MISS PHYLLIS BARCLAY-SMITH, F.Z.S., 51 Warwick Avenue, Tel. : Cunningham 3006. London, W. 9. The price of the Magazine to non-members is 5 s. post free per copy, or £1 105. for the year. Orders for the Magazine, extra copies, and back numbers (from 1917) should be sent to the publishers, Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, 1 Fore Street, Hertford. Tel. : Hertford 2546/2547. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Avic. Mag. 194.4. Copyright ] [George Sohn Stanley Cranes and Young (19 days old) Chicago Zoological Park, Brookfield, Illinois Frontispiece ] Avicultural Magazine THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Fifth Series.— Vo 1. IX. — No. I ,—All rights reserved. JAN.-FEB., 1944 BREEDING RESULTS FOR 1943 IN THE BIRD DEPARTMENT OF THE CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL PARK AT BROOKFIELD, ILL. By Karl Plath, Curator pf Birds The year 1943 in the bird department of the Chicago Zoological Park at Brookfield, had. more encouragement from the breeding standpoint than the previous year. Some birds bred for the first time in the several years we have had them, and the young at time of writing, 19th November, are hale and hearty and taking good care of themselves. Starting in January and intermittently throughout the year, the ubiquitous Zebra Finches came from the various breeding gourds hung in the large Australian Finch Aviary in the Perching-bird House. This cage displays a good assortment of the beautiful Australian Finches, and in the past we have bred many of them such as the Star Finch, Parson Finch, Black-throated and Long-tailed Grassfinches, Painted Finch, and Common and Blue-faced Parrot Finches. A pair of Blue Geese nested for the first time in the nine years we have had them, but deserted their two eggs when came a spell of rainy weather, which caused high water. We had a bantam hen on some Pheasant eggs, so we put these eggs under another bantam and substituted the Goose eggs. After twenty-six days both eggs hatched, but one gosling died soon after. It was amusing to see the affection displayed between the foster-mother and the gosling. When the gosling was five weeks old it was twice as big as the bantam, and we thought it would be time to separate them. The bantam was put back with the others, but the youngster raised such a fuss and peeped steadily for nearly two hours besides running wildly around the boundaries of its run. The bantam was put back and peace was restored. Later we put them in the large grassy open yard which was the domain of the Shoe-billed Storks. Shortly after the hen got out, evidently having lost interest in the young Goose, which soon settled down and is still in the run, but with the company of an adult Blue Goose and a female Red-breasted Goose. The Shoebills, of course, were taken inside in October. An abundance of grass in this yard 2 K. PLATH - BREEDING RESULTS IN THE CHICAGO ZOO assures the healthy bird it appears to be. At date of writing it is just beginning to show white feathers on the head. A pair of Mute Swans raised a solitary cygnet. It was hatched 15th June, and in November was much like the parents, but lacked the orange bill and its white plumage is tinged with buff. Other Mute Swans, Black Swans, and Barnacle Geese laid eggs, but these were destroyed by the floods. Canada Geese, of course, were successful and we pinioned nine of the goslings. Two pairs of the lovely Silver Gull bred this year in the inside flying cage and raised three fine young, but their breeding is not unusual. The Laughing Gulls had a nest with three eggs, but this was destroyed by the African Wood Ibises. Ghukar Partridges laid eggs all over their run, which were gathered up and put under a widow White-crested Kaleege who had been sitting patiently on her own infertile eggs. Eight Partridge eggs were set in the box which was high up in the Pigeon aviary under a shelter. Twenty-six days later we found a chick on the ground 10 feet below, and on climbing up to put it under the hen we found six more youngsters — the eighth egg was broken. They appear easy to raise on growing-mash and greens with a little riced egg the first week or so. By November they were rapidly assuming the colour of the adults, but were not quite so large. Three Diamond Doves were raised outside in the Finch-breeding run. Our Parrot-like birds did much better this year than in 1942. Queen Alexandra Parrakeets, who did not hatch any eggs in 1942, raised three fine young from two pairs. The original pair did not hatch their eggs this year. We now have sixteen of these lovely birds. Crimson- winged Parrakeets which have not bred since 1939, also raised three healthy young. Our faithful old pair of King Parrots raised three husky babies, and their young from 1939 raised two more, so we have sixteen of these also. Swainson Lorikeets, who are kept all together in one of the outdoor exhibition cages in summer, raised four young — two each from two pairs. There are six or seven hollow logs in this large cage, and there never seems to be any trouble until the young are ready to leave the nest, when we have to remove them. They seem to be able to feed themselves immediately after leaving the nest, but later in the fall when all are brought inside and put together, we notice that the young birds find their parents and beg for food, which is not in vain. Like all Parrots, it is given by regurgita¬ tion. Our Lorikeets are fed on the liquid mixture, viz. four table¬ spoonfuls of Horlick’s Malted Milk, six of Mellin’s Food, six of honey, and six of evaporated milk to half a gallon of hot water. In the cage we also put a pan of canary seed. For fruit we give a few pieces of apple, orange, and carrot, and some grapes. Some of these birds K. PLATH- — BREEDING RESULTS IN THE CHICAGO ZOO 3 are part of the original collection sent over from Australia in 1 934“ the balance being young which have been bred from them. At present our flock numbers twenty-four. Shell Parrakeets or Budgerigars as you like to call them (here they are popularly called “ love birds ”) are bred each year as a matter of course, and we have a fine flock of eighty-two in all, in many colours. The public surely likes to look at them, and possibly spends more time in front of their cage than in looking at many of our rarer and finer sorts. One of the several breeding pairs (Cobalts) raised two broods of six each- — the last brood leaving the nest in November after the nest box was brought inside. A pair of Greens threw two each of Greens, Cobalts, and Mauves, so we wonder what their antecedents could have been. We have been breeding these little fellows in with other Parrots — Kings, Crimson- wings, etc. Some day it is our hope to raise the little Mexican Parrotlet. These beautiful mites persist in waiting until late summer to nest. Last year they deserted a nest of four eggs during a cold spell in September, and this year we had great hopes because they had hatched two young, but later when a cold snap came along they deserted them, and we found them dead in the nest. We had learned from experience three years ago not to move them indoors, because they would leave the nest. Years ago I had this species in my aviary at home, and they hatched their eggs but threw the young out of the box. I did success¬ fully breed the Blue-winged Parrotlet and the little Venezuelan Green- rumped Parrotlet but that was a long time ago. One of the Blue- wings is still alive and is nearly io years old. Possibly our greatest achievement this year was the raising of a Stanley Crane exclusively by the parents. Last year the female laid two eggs in the moat of the extensive yard inhabited by small African antelopes, Secretary Bird, Spur-winged Geese, and Crowned Cranes. They sat interminably and of course the eggs were infertile. Crane eggs are very handsome, and these had a ground colour of sandy brown blotched with brown and purplish-grey. This year the pair again chose the same site, the exact spot in fact, and on 6th June we saw that one egg had been laid followed by another two days later. During the time of incubation participated in by both birds in relays, the male became very aggressive, and kept all the other birds to the western half of the area. Strangely enough, he did not molest any of the mammals. On 6th July I saw both birds standing together some distance from their carelessly- thrown-together t£ nest ”. Between them was a tiny fuzzy object of a bright rust colour and a short distance away was the other egg which had been ejected. Later inspection showed this egg to be addled. A short time later when the keeper entered the yard, the male made a vicious and unexpected attack and ripped his coveralls to shreds. Two days later we entered the yard, and keeping both parents at bay with brooms caught up the 4 K. PLATH - BREEDING RESULTS IN THE CHICAGO ZOO lively youngster and pinioned one wing, which seemed to cause him no discomfort at all. Done at this time the operation is quite bloodless and probably has no more pain than clipping a toenail. There was an abundance of insect life and it was amusing to see the old birds stalking along stabbing at the turf and occasionally holding up a piece of sod for the chick who would reach up and seize some insect. They would also catch grasshoppers and crickets and after showers had a feast on the earthworms. From the time of hatching we would lower a pan of food down in the moat. We offered ground heart, growing mash, bone meal, grit, and cod-liver oil, but it was two weeks before they condescended to eat of it. The young Crane grew very rapidly, indeed it was noticeable day by day, and it soon became apparent that we would have to remove the family owing to the nasty disposition of the male. They were taken over to another spacious yard, partly wooded, and inhabited by Barbados sheep. Here they got along well. When the young Crane was about six weeks old we noticed it sat on its “ heels ” frequently, and examination showed its legs more swollen than natural, and when the bird stood up they were noticeably bowed. Adding a teaspoonful of dicalcium phosphate to his food and giving a spoonful of cod-liver oil each day seemed to remedy the trouble, and at this date the legs appear to be stronger and straighter. The rapid growth was very obvious, and at four months it is a trifle larger than the mother. The legs are noticeably longer, so it is likely to be a male. The nestling colour of the chick appears to be characteristic of all Cranes with much bright rust colour. As the bird grows older the colour pales, the body becoming greyer. It is a large bird before the down is replaced by feathers which are brownish-grey fading on the head to whitish. At an early age there was a noticeable patch of lengthened down on the cheeks, but this gradually spread over the sides of the head, indicating the puffy head plumage of the adult. A. LENDON - ERRORS OF NEVILLE CAYLEY’S AUSTRALIAN PARROTS 5 THE ERRORS OF NEVILLE CAYLEY’S AUSTRALIAN PARROTS By Lieut.-Gol. Alan Lendon Although only five years have elapsed since the publication of the above-mentioned work, aviculture has made such progress in Australia particularly, despite the War, that many of its errors can be rectified and many of its omissions made good. The following notes, inspired by similar articles by the then Marquess of Tavistock pointing out the mistakes of Dr. Greene’s and his own work are written purely with the idea of adding recently acquired knowledge to friend Neville Cayley’s very excellent and authoritative work. Regarding Lorikeets ; the three largest species are easily kept in captivity, sometimes living for many years on a diet of seed alone, though in most cases thriving better if sweetened bread and milk is added to their dietary. The Rainbow (Blue Mountain) Lorikeet has been frequently bred in captivity in all parts of Australia. The same statement applies to the Red-collared Lorikeet, though the statement of which three were fertile. They were lost owing to her being taken suddenly very ill, and it was natural to suppose that breeding had proved fatal at such an age, but after a month she was well as and A. H. SCOTT - 1943 AT BLISSFORD POOL 29 glossy as ever : perhaps she picked up something harmful. Another Chaffinch hen, a wild-caught bird of ordinary colour, produced two white young, one cinnamon, and no normals ; her mate being a white cock bred from a white father and a cinnamon mother. This is an extraordinary result. My expectation was 75 per cent normal young, and 25 per cent either white or cinnamon, or just possibly a quite new colour. There was no second nest. I hope to pair this interesting couple again next spring though presumably any wild hen (if willing to nest) would serve as well as the first. With these new colours the regular result of mating a new coloured bird to a normal bird is, in the first generation, all normal young if the new coloured bird is the mother ; 25 per cent new and 75 per cent normal if it is the cock that has the mutation. (This seems to apply to most cases provided the whole plumage is affected and not mere patches.) That three out of three, and those the first and only young ones bred should all be new coloured seemed to me to be beyond mere coincidence. As I am not on speaking terms with mathematics I wrote about it to a professor of that subject. He replied that the chance of coincidence, assuming the usual ratio to be 25 per cent, would be y2^ X J-| X which is roughly 1 in 64 (or so he says) . That is a proportion not beyond the powers of coincidence, so judgment must be withheld till next year. As we are touching on the repellent subject of Probability I wonder how many lifetimes its laws would require a bird-keeper to live before he may expect to catch a large snake in a twopenny breakback mouse¬ trap. This has now happened once, possibly the first time since mouse¬ traps were invented. I had made a shallow hole in an aviary and placed in it an ordinary mousetrap, the hole being covered by a plank. One day I found a large grass snake half in and half out of the wide meshes of this aviary. It had passed under the plank, and set off the trap, of which the spike on which the bait is placed had penetrated its tough skin. As the trap was too large to go through the wire netting there the snake had to remain till found and released at a safe distance. It must have come through a mole run, as did also no doubt an unusually big adder which was killed in the same aviary. As Chaffinches have some blue I hope it may be possible some day to breed a blue Chaffinch — with white wings — for blue is the colour of delight. The most beautiful bird I have had so far was a snow white Goldfinch with a pink neck and golden wings, and only the worst luck prevented the founding of a strain of that new loveliness. During the spring I tried to find a Grebe’s nest on the main river, hoping for a successor to the late Moses, but there seemed to be none. All waterfowl were far scarcer than before, thanks to the canal enthusiasts who cleared the river bank. In this case the floods on the upper reaches will no doubt subside a little more quickly, possibly at the cost of larger floods lower down. The shortage of hen’s eggs 30 A. H. SCOTT - 1943 AT BLISSFORD POOL has caused people to collect those of waterfowl, and a gipsy boy told me that he got thirty-six in one morning from “ Moorhen ” nests. That would mean the nests of any water bird, for the interest in nature which we associate with gipsies is only a literary fiction : like most other country people they readily distinguish a horse from a cow, but rarely pursue their zoological studies beyond that point. A word must be said about the Sparrow in the photograph, which contributed the most pleasing incident of the season by an instance of remarkable courage and devotion. She had reared two young ones by June, cream-coloured like herself, and was sitting again on four eggs a little later. One day I found her hanging upside down against the netting, her ring having been caught by a small piece of wire. In her long struggles the leg had got broken and torn, so that it was only joined to her body by a frayed sinew. Her breast was wet with blood, and she was very weak. I cut through the sinew, bandaged the stump, and took her back to her nest of cold eggs. She settled down and carried on in spite of pain and exhaustion, and actually hatched out three young ones, one pure white, one cream, and one ordinary. For a few months she used the tip of a wing as a crutch to balance herself, but gradually learned to manage without. She was always very tame, but after this accident she became visibly more affectionate than ever, and really seemed aware that I had rescued her. As Sparrow nestlings, once they are fairly well feathered, are normally very wild indeed it was interesting to see how far these youngsters from a perfectly tame mother and a friendly father would show signs of fear. Young birds crouch down in their nest when the parents utter a warning cry, and as this has so often been observed it is commonly asserted that they have no natural sense of fear but learn prudence from their parents. I sometimes handed the mother food in her box, and she turned round and gave it to the nestlings, which did not mind being handled for occasional inspection until fairly well covered with feathers ; but they then became as wild as any other young birds, though the parents made no sign or sound of alarm. After they were fledged they were fairly tame, though only visited once a day. No doubt there is an inborn sense of fear shown by all young creatures unless constantly handled from birth by a number of different people. Even in the case of Canaries, which have been domesticated for centuries, many young birds come to grief every year because at the partly feathered stage they are wild enough, and often, in aviaries, hurl themselves out of the nest if anyone goes near it. Puppies are not frightened of strangers until old enough to distinguish one person from another, and human infants (after the earliest stage of coma broken by occasional squalls) respond to everybody with a friendly and mechanical smile ; but soon they, too, pass through the stage when an unknown face causes them, without any warning cries from their parents, to hide against their C. P. PHILLIPS - PARRAKEETS IN ENGLAND IN WAR-TIME 31 mother's breast. Later, of course, they fix even the most unprepossessing visitor with an imperturbable and devastating stare. To eke out my very exiguous material one other incident may be worth mentioning. One day I had taken a cage containing a Canary outside the house, and was cleaning it there. My body was in the shadow of the house, but my hands were in the sun, moving about the cage as I started on the job. Suddenly without a sound, and before I was aware of anything at all, a Sparrow Hawk dived out of the sky and crashed on to the cage hardly a foot from my face. I was too surprised to move, and so was the Hawk, but after a couple of seconds I grabbed at it, too late by a hair-breadth for he slipped through my fingers and escaped. This occurrence seems to show that when a Hawk concentrates his sight upon his prey he sees that and nothing else. Hawks often dive on to the aviaries when I am inside them and only a very few feet away, but wire netting, of course, is a good camouflage. * * * PARRAKEETS IN ENGLAND IN WAR-TIME By C. P. Phillips It has been suggested to me that my war-time experience in regard to the breeding of Parrakeets might be of interest to other bird lovers, so without aspiring to any great literary effort I record the following which indicates the extent of my successes and failures. In 1939 I had a collection of about forty pairs, mostly Australian, and a fair supply of seed, but realizing that there would be difficulty in regard to the latter I was reluctantly compelled to reduce the number of my pets. It was sad parting with old favourites such as Adelaides, Mealy, Eastern and Golden Mantled Rosellas, Bauers, Barrabands, etc., but a choice had to be made and I decided to keep the rarer species. I have not found it difficult to keep the birds in good condition on a war-time diet out of the nesting season ; with young in the nest, however, the position is different. The amount of food consumed by say seven Rock Peplars or Pennants is prodigious as compared with that required by a single pair ; this entails the collection of large quantities of seeding grasses, plus lettuce, groundsel, etc. However, success has been achieved and the 1943 results, which are set out hereafter, indicate to what extent. First, a few notes regarding the arrangement of my flights. These are mostly 30 feet long and either 4 or 5 feet wide ; the shelters at one end are more or less open all the year round ; no heat is provided, this applies to all birds including Turquoisines, and although over 20 degrees of frost have been registered during the winter of 1942 the birds came to no harm ; in fact some species prefer to roost in the 32 G. P. PHILLIPS - PARRAKEETS IN ENGLAND IN WAR-TIME flights, and a pair of Turquoisines proceeded to follow this up by rearing three lots of youngsters in the following spring and summer. The spaces between the flights correspond in width to that of the adjoining flights, so that the shelters can be moved along when fresh ground is necessary. This, however, does not happen every year, due to the fact that there is a sandy subsoil not very far below the surface, providing an extraordinarily efficient drainage system, which while being ideally suitable for keeping livestock is not so good for fruit and vegetables. Nesting logs are cleaned when the young leave them, otherwise they are left in the flights all the year round. Some of the pairs start preparing their nests as early as February, but do not lay before March. During 1943 Ringnecks and Redrumps started to sit on the 12 th of that month ; Turquoisines on the 26th. No losses have ever occurred through egg binding ; in fact, over a number of years losses, apart from the depredations of vermin and the feeding of frosted groundsel, have been negligible. In regard to the groundsel : one sunny morning I gathered a large bunch of seed heads, which I realized later had been standing for some time during a period of hard frost. Many of the birds seemed to enjoy it, some more than others. I noticed that Crimson Wings and Turquoisines finished up all I gave them, but alas, next morning I found that all was not well with these birds and the male of each pair died. They were both in perfect condition and, remembering afterwards that the same thing happened a year or two ago, I must definitely conclude that frosted green food is very injurious, and taken in quantity fatal. I now set out the breeding results for 1943. Ringnecks ( Psittacula manillensis) Lutino-bred. This pair came to me nearly four years ago. During their first season here they reared one young one, a hen Lutino. The next year three young were reared, all of normal colour, and in 1 943 again three youngsters including one Lutino. Rock Peplars ( Polytelis anthopeplus) . This pair has been in my possession since about 1938, and up to last year they had not bred, then they reared five very strong youngsters. Quite recently I heard from a friend who had a pair of these and he tells me they have grown into beautiful birds. As the hen has already been visiting her nesting log I am hoping for a repeat performance this year. Crimson Wings ( Aprosmictus erythropterus) . This pair has been with me for many years and has regularly reared young, always four in number. Last year the usual four eggs were laid, but later it was evident that all was not well. The hen seemed one morning to be very wild and refused to return to the nest. Upon investigation it was found that one young one had just left the egg and had at once been eaten by ants, a swarm of which I found in the log. The other three eggs had chicks in. G. P. PHILLIPS - PARRAKEETS IN ENGLAND IN WAR-TIME 33 A second pair of Crimson Wings, a young hen from the above and a very fine cock bird which I have had many years, were mated in the spring of 1942, the hen being hardly a year old — nevertheless, she laid three eggs in that year which proved to be infertile. During 1943 she again laid three eggs and reared a similar number of strong youngsters. Unfortunately it is the cock bird of this pair which succumbed to his predilection for frosted groundsel. Pennants (Platycercus elegans). One pair reared five beautiful youngsters, which left the nest in almost full adult plumage. In 1942 they reared six similar youngsters ; in fact, they have bred regularly for several years. A second pair of these birds did not nest, the hen being as yet too young. Queen Alexandra’s (, Northipsitta alexandm ). I have three pairs of these beautiful birds, but only one has so far nested, four young having been reared each year by this pair. One youngster unfortunately broke a wing during 1943 and was destroyed. In regard to the other two pairs, I have been hoping each season that something would happen in the matrimonial line ; the cock birds have fed the hens, but they have not nested. This year I have changed the hens over as I have found that this sometimes improves matters. I have also three pairs of Kings ( Aprosmictus scapularis) . One youngster only was reared in 1 943 ; the other pairs have persisted in laying their eggs on the ground in the shelters and except in the case of one youngster in 1942 they have failed to rear any young there. Last year one nesting box was emptied to ground level and this proved to be more to their liking, as the birds took to it. I have now treated all the boxes in this way and shall be interested to see what happens this year. I had a pair each of Adelaides (. Platycercus elegans adelaida) , Rosellas (P. eximius), and Mealy Rosellas (P. adscitus). The hen of the first named was killed by a weasel. I have had a lot of trouble with these vermin ; they find their way into the flights through mole runs where these have been made deep enough to go under the wire netting, which is let into the ground 12 to 18 inches. Many have been destroyed, but I still get visitors occasionally. Moles, however, are more difficult to deal with, a number are caught but others come in from surrounding property. The Rosellas reared three young, one of which was killed by a Brown Owl. The latter were so numerous here that a few years ago I had to dispose of my large collection of small birds, British and Foreign, losses were too frequent. All my Pigeons kept in an open loft were taken also, and moreover the large number of wild birds’ nests in the grounds were stripped each year of the hens while brooding eggs or youngsters. I have shot and examined a fair number, and on one occasion found on the top of a flight one of the large cocoon-like pellets of undigested food which these birds disgorge. The outer 34 C. P. PHILLIPS - PARRAKEETS IN ENGLAND IN WAR-TIME cover consisted of feathers matted together, and inside were several complete legs of Finches, two of which still bore my metal marking rings. As my ground is infested with mice of several kinds, moles, etc., it is evident that the Brown Owls in this district prefer birds as food. Referring again to Parrakeets the hen Mealy Rosella deserted her nest of eggs, following the attack on the Rosellas in the next flight, previously mentioned. I have three pairs of Browns ( Platycercus venustus) ; only one pair nested, however, during 1943, rearing four fine youngsters. Previously results had been disappointing, but in this case also I changed over the hens at the beginning of last season and success followed with one of the pairs. Two pairs of Many-coloured ( Psephotus varius) proved unproduc¬ tive. I have yet to discover why these birds do not breed. I am trying several types of nesting boxes this year. The hen of a pair of Blue Bonnets ( P . hamatogaster ) was killed by a Brown Owl in 1942 ; another was obtained, but last year she failed to rear her young. Of three pairs of Turquoisines (, Neophema pulchella ), two nested. Both pairs laid very early in the year. The first laid two batches of infertile eggs and then nested again and reared three strong youngsters. The cock bird was perhaps too young in the early part of the season. The second pair reared three young in the early part of the year (March) followed by two more in a second attempt, and nesting a third time reared two more strong birds. The hen of this pair is visiting the nesting log at the present time (13th February), rather too early, but I do not think it wise to interfere. A year or two ago I had a pair of Salawati Kings ( Aprosmictus dorsalis ), but lost the cock bird and having failed to obtain another, I have tried several mates without success. Rather late in 1943 I tried a cock Pennant and the pair seemed to get on well together ; the cock bird fed the hen and the latter hollowed out a nice nest, but there were no eggs. I am hoping something will happen this year. Lastly, I come to my Lovebirds. Originally I had a pair of Blue Masked, but lost the cock bird ; a replacement was not possible, but a blue-bred cock was obtained. Two young were reared by this pair, both more or less the normal colour of the Masked. Nesting a second time three young were reared, also normal Masked colour. A hen from the above pair mated to another blue-bred cock reared three youngsters, all green, but I hope that from my several matings a Blue will arrive during 1944. Until recently I had a pair of Swift Parrakeets (. Lathamus discolor ), which for four years thrived and ultimately reared a strong youngster on the same seed mixture as all my other birds. I mention this because I have seen it recorded that special food is necessary for these birds. W. C. O. HILL - FURTHER NOTES ON ECLEGTUS PARROTS 35 FURTHER NOTES ON ECLEGTUS PARROTS WITH AN ACCOUNT OF A HYBRID RECENTLY BRED By W. C. Osman Hill, M.D., F.Z.S., etc. The recent successful breeding of a hybrid Eclectus Parrot prompts me to make the present contribution to the Magazine ; but, in doing so, it is preferable that I should first fill in some details that have become known to me since my record of the breeding of Eclecti published in 1938, as well as to outline the family history of my birds since that date. First of all, however, some statement is necessary regarding identifica¬ tion and nomenclature, for there is some reason to doubt the validity of my diagnosis of the birds whose history has been already recorded. Even now I cannot be absolutely sure of their identity, as I have not access to the more recent .systematic literature. I had previously used Salvadori’s (1891) scheme, but modified by Rothschild’s (1922) views on nomenclature. According to this two forms only have been represented in my collection, except for a single female of a third (1 cornelice ) whose death occurred before any breeding took place as already reported. These two forms, which I will call A and B, repre¬ sented full species according to Salvadori’s account, but Rothschild, as well as more recent authors, consider that there is only one species of Eclectus , namely roratus Muller (syn. grandis), of which all the other known forms are regarded as geographical variants or subspecies. There is no doubt that one pair (A) of Eclecti in my possession in 1936 were typical roratus , for the female had the under- tail coverts bright yellow and the ends of the rectrices were the same colour. Moreover she had purple, or at least a deep lilac, on the lower breast and belly. She was somewhat larger than the blue-bellied females of the other pair (B) . Her mate was a large handsome bird of bright green general colour with plenty of blue in the lateral tail feathers. He had a light yellow iris. This (A) was not the pair which bred in 1936. Although female (A) laid eggs and spent many months on the nest she produced no young, and I fancy the eggs were infertile, not from any impotence on the part of the male, but from the fact that mating was probably never effectually accomplished from the female having suffered from a deformed foot which almost undoubtedly precluded normal copulation. This hen eventually died in the nest box in 1942, but her mate is still alive and is the father of the hybrid referred to hereinafter. (The characters of the hybrid indicate that its father was the correct mate for the roratus female, i.e. that he was typical roratus himself.) The other birds ( B ) whose exploits were the subject of my 1939 contribution were then regarded as the New Guinea race usually 36 W. C. O. HILL - FURTHER NOTES ON ECLEGTUS PARROTS known as pectoralis Muller (syn. polychlorus) for, in Salvadori’s scheme, upon which Tavistock’s (1939) account also seems to be based, this is the only one in which the females possess a frankly blue abdomen, with a dorsal band of the same colour and also in the adult a blue ring round the eye. That the male mated to this blue-bellied female is of the same race is proved by the characters of their numerous offspring, all the females having been the image of their mother and the males likewise reproducing their father’s characters, which are (i) smaller size than typical roratus , (ii) less brilliant green general colour, (iii) less blue on the lateral tail feathers, and (iv) an orange iris instead of a yellow one. My reason for doubting the identification of this second group of birds as pectoralis is based on discussions I have had with Mr. S. Dillon Ripley, of the U.S. National Museum, who recently visited me. Mr. Ripley, who is familiar with the Eclecti in their natural home, thinks that the birds previously thought to be pectoralis are much brighter in colour than the ones he has seen in New Guinea. This applies specially to the females. He believes, therefore, that my birds came from the Moluccas, but from a different group of islands from roratus which inhabits the northern or Halmahera group. If this is so, then it probably represents the form renamed vosmceri by Rothschild in the note referred to above, though it is certainly not cardinalis, as described by Salvadori for the female of this is purple-bellied like roratus. The existence of this doubt, and the impossibility of arriving at certainty with available literature, has necessitated my giving the above rather detailed account of the birds concerned. It will be best if, in the sequel, I refer to the two forms involved as the blue-bellied (. B ) and purple-bellied (A) types based upon the principal character of their respective females, the former representing the form previously identified as pectoralis and the latter the undoubted roratus. My original pair of blue-bellied Eclecti, whose earliest breeding efforts have already been recorded, continued to nest successfully and rear their young until the brutal murder of the female by her own first-born daughter in April this year (1943). Altogether at least a dozen young were produced, which averages out at two per annum, i.e. . one every six months. Although two eggs were invariably laid, one is always discarded and a single young hatched. Most of the babies have turned out to be females, only three or four males having been bred and these almost always delicate, two having died before reaching the age of twelve months. One male baby is now several years old and still has the aspect of a baby and is small compared with the father, but otherwise he is healthy and a very cheerful bird. He may be a case of pituitary infantilism. Females are quite hardy. The baby Eclecti are hatched out quite naked, and, like all young W. G. O. HILL - FURTHER NOTES ON EGLEGTUS PARROTS 37 Parrots, look like shapeless, inert masses of flesh. In about a month they become clothed with a uniform sooty covering of down feathers. Another month sees them fully fledged in the plumage characteristic of their sex, i.e. green for males and red for females. The beak is blotchy at first, but gradually changes to the uniform colour seen in the adult of the same sex, i.e. black for females (previously blotched with yellow) and orange for males (earlier blotched with black) . The blue feathers encircling the eye of the females are late in appearing, but the time of appearance is individually variable, sometimes in a few months, sometimes not until the age of one year. The baby Eclectus spends roughly four months in the nest box and as soon as it has left, the mother makes preparations for the next family, in consequence of which the married females seldom see the full light of day for more than a few moments daily, and this goes on year in year out for probably decades in the wild state ! Now to consider the hybrid. After the death of the hen roratus already referred to I gave her widower one of my home-bred blue- bellied hens as a companion. This occurred in August, 1942, when the hen was approximately two years old. She soon took an interest in the nest-box and mating was observed several times, though eggs were not laid for a year. Having occasion to climb up into the top of the aviary to deal with a nest of rats that had appeared there I took the opportunity of looking at what was going on in this nest-box, and found ( 1 5th August) a naked baby bird, and, as usual, one unhatched egg. On 13th September the baby was clothed in sooty down feathers and gave no indication as yet of its presence by using its voice, a feature which often leads to the conviction that a family is present when they have reached this stage of development. The next time when I inspected the nest was on 1 1 th October when I saw a fully- fledged female baby in whose plumage there appeared to be quite a lot of yellow ; though the darkness of the box precluded my making detailed observations, whilst the vocal effusions from the scared infant, accompanied by the proximity of its ferocious parent, caused me to beat a hasty retreat. Four days later the baby peeped out of the hole in the nest-box, but for days it would do no more than poke out its head and shoulders — the least interesting parts to the systematic zoologist ; although there was enough “ blue ” visible to suggest that it was not so pure a blue as its mother on the same parts. Not until 22nd October was the hybrid completely outside the nest, and then what a marvellous combination of characters it presented. Here I therefore give a summary : — Size larger than mother, almost as large as father ; head, neck, and upper breast bright scarlet ; no coloured ring round the eye ; iris dark ; bill blotched yellow upon black ; lower breast, including a ring round the base of the neck and abdomen, blue tending to purple ; 38 W. G. O. HILL - FURTHER NOTES ON ECLEGTUS PARROTS bluer than female roratus but less blue than female pectoralis. Mantle and general colour of wings (except flight feathers which are dark blue) reddish chocolate or brownish maroon due to the infusion of a yellowish element into the crimson of the normal bird. Detailed observation of the secondaries, secondary coverts, and lesser wing coverts shows them to be golden-yellow towards the tips. Actually the secondaries and secondary coverts have narrow red tips, but just within this there is a broader golden-yellow band. The rest of each feather is a dull maroon, except the base of the inner web which is bottle green, a colour which is quite evident in the wing at rest. This green may, of course, disappear with maturity. Under tail coverts bright yellow as in female roratus , the same colour occurring also on the distal half of the rectrices. Analysis of the above characters leads to some interesting conclusions on the modes of inheritance that take place in this genus. At least three different types of inheritance seem to be represented. Firstly, the yellow on the tail and tail coverts has been inherited completely from the paternal side, though the male himself does not manifest this character. It would appear to behave, therefore, as a simple Mendelian dominant which is sex-linked with the factor causing femaleness. Secondly there occurs an intermediate condition between the two parental forms with respect to the colour of the lower breast and abdomen. It would appear that blueness of these and other parts (except that of the flight feathers) is under the control of one or more intensifying factors. Absence of any such factor produces in the female a red abdomen, a condition which is normal in E. Cornelia. Full intensity, on the other hand, gives an ultramarine blue abdomen, the normal condition in E. pectoralis , E. roratus , and E. cardinalis are intermediate, resulting in purple. But in the hybrid a further inter¬ mediacy occurs whereby intensification of purple is produced in the direction of blue, but with sufficient red element remaining to prevent the development of the full ultramarine tint of pectoralis. Finally, with respect to the coloration of the mantle and wings, the hybrid presents characters which are not represented in either parental form nor indeed are they to be considered as intermediate thereto. The genetic factors responsible have here produced a new combination indicative of their ability thus to serve as a basis for evolutionary change. The explanation would seem to lie in the probable presence of a factor for producing golden or orange in the areas concerned. Areas like the head, neck, and upper breast, which contain no golden element, appear bright scarlet ; and this seems to be the normal condition of these regions in all races of Eclectus. Where the orange occurs the scarlet is dimmed to crimson or even maroon, the exact colour varying in the different subspecies. In the hybrid W. C. O. HILL - FURTHER NOTES ON EGLECTUS PARROTS 39 the golden tinge seems to have undergone two changes : ( a ) it is excessive in amount, giving a general deep chocolate maroon to the mantle and major part of the wings, and (b) it shows a tendency at the tips of the secondaries and secondary coverts to separate from the red element, the red being present alone at the extreme tip and the golden forming a deeper zone just within the red. That the yellowish factor is transmitted by the male is evident in this case, but receives further support from the fact that males occasionally show an odd yellow feather or a slight band of yellow across the back of the neck, as is the case with my original male (A) in some of his moults. The green on the wing feathers of the hybrid may be perhaps explained as a similar tendency on the part of the female to display features attributable to inherent maleness. Some of my pure bred blue-bellied hens have produced an occasional green feather in various places, especially in their early youth. In conclusion I would remark that this hybrid represents the second aviary bred generation. A pure bred blue-bellied F 2 generation is also under way, but the baby concerned is still in the down stage. These examples prove that the aviary bred families, at any rate, are potent, though I have no similar evidence yet for the males. Finally, I make no claim to be the first breeder of hybrid Eclecti. A case is on record of a hybrid between E. roratus and E. cardinalis. (Meyer, 1890, quoted by Butler (1905), Neunzig (1912), Tavistock (1929), and Hopkinson (1942)), but as both of these are purple- bellied forms the hybrid is of less intrinsic interest than the bird described here, which, in my opinion, teaches us more of the genetic principles involved. References to Literature Butler, A. G. (? 1905). Foreign Birds , ii, p. 196. Hill, W. C. Osman (1938). Avicultural Magazine, New Series, in, pp. 223-7. Hopkinson, E. (1942). Avicultural Magazine, 5th series, v, p. 51. Meyer, A. B. (1890). Ibis, p. 26. Neunzig, K. (1921). Die fremlandischen Stubenvogel, p. 719. Rothschild, Hon. W. (1922). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., p. 41 1. Salvadori, Count T. (1891). Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xx, pp. 388-399. Tavistock, Marquess of (1929). Parrots and Parrot-like Birds in Captivity, pp. 70-3. 40 G. FALKNER - IKEY, A TAME TOGO TOUCAN IKEY, A TAME TOCO TOUGAN By Guy Falkner Toucans are delightful pets if they are kept in large aviaries. When kept loose one might as well have a school of small boys and in com¬ parison the damage they would do would be negligible to that of the Toucan. I bought a very young “ Toco Toucan 35 from a fellow member. He arrived at tea-time ; as luck would have it so did my brother, who is a great bird lover. I put the Toucan on the back of a chair in the dining-room while we were having tea. I saw at once that I did not require a Toucan ! — and “ passed the ball ”. He arrived at his new home with my long-suffering brother — Cornwall. He was never shut up and was allowed complete liberty. He had a huge indoor aviary erected for him near a radiator where he was installed. Instantly he dealt with one of the glass panes and sailed into the top of a high beech tree in the park. From that day on he never knew what captivity was, he used to dive through the broken window pane and have a siesta in the warm, or even on cold days sleep in his aviary ; as a rule, however, he slept in a big yew tree near the house. He acquired a “ bloom 55 that I have never seen on any Toucan kept in a cage, and was a perfectly groomed gentleman. Gentleman perhaps is the wrong word. First thing at daybreak one would be woken up by a horrid rattling gurgle only to see Ikey fly out of the window with one’s razor, comb, links, or anything handy — never to be found again, or at the best retrieved in a rusty state about a year later from some hidden treasure cave. When one had breakfast Ikey was there, plates smashed on the floor, food (particularly porridge) thrown all over the sideboard. With a hasty sweep of one’s napkin, which never was lucky enough to hit its mark, a swoosh of wings through the door or window, and peace — that was until he had time to fly round to the kitchen where the whole performance was repeated again at the servant’s breakfast, those poor long-suffering boobs who adored him as much as we did. Perhaps a peach one had had one’s eye on to eat after breakfast, just about ripe on the garden wall, you stroll up to pick it — but Ikey was there — bedding plants were put out — but Ikey was there — kittens were born, Ikey was there — giving the kittens and the old cat hell. The dogs (Miniature Daschunds) had their aristocratic “ legs ” ripped to bits, but they never turned on him — - the cat’s tail was treated as a worm, but after a time he learned that she had sharp corners at each end of her and he left her for better sport with newly born bantam chicks ; they were carefully examined and were none the better for it. The last straw was the cook’s Woolworth pearls. Being fat, like all good cooks, she was none too active and jumped too late-— just in time, though, to see the last pearl disappearing down Ikey’s gullet. With the presence of mind born of long experience she G. FALKNER — IKEY, A TAME TOGO TOUCAN 41 lured Ikey back to his aviary with her Irish blarney and a grape — where he was shut up until morning. Next morning she retrieved all her pearls minus the string which had disintegrated. They were beautifully burnished. (Full marks, Mr. Woolworth, for your beads’ durability !) He was always ridiculously tame with everyone he knew but suspicious of strangers and terrified of children. He was by no means an ideal house bird, as well have a frightened cow in the house, but one could never successfully snub him ; he was, in fact, the sort of bird that had he been a young man would have walked into Boodles, slapped the oldest member on the head, and said, “ Bung oh, what’s yours ? ” That sort of person, if you know what I mean, is hard to discourage. He used to chase the Wood Pigeons and eat their eggs ; once I saw him being chased by an infuriated bird and he beat it as quick as he could, for he was an awful coward really. An extremely ungainly flyer, one would see him slowly beating his way on his round Peewit-shaped wings, beak hanging low like a lobster claw, and landing with a bump into any small bush which was unable to bear his weight, he was never very clever at landing. He was fed on any sort of house scraps and fruit — nothing came amiss to him. He adored sitting in front of the fire and having his head scratched, especially if he had just had a bath for about the seventh or eighth time — he was a great believer in water. With all his faults everyone who knew him was very fond of him, and he was always most amusing and in good health. I feel sure that lack of exercise is what captive Toucans feel more than anything, as at liberty they are extremely active birds always “ on the go ”. If one had ever kept one at liberty one would never keep one in a cage — but then I’m against cages in any form. (So was Ikey !) 42 I. DARNTON - WILD BIRDS OF CEYLON WILD BIRDS OF CEYLON By I. Darnton During my last visit to Ceylon I stayed at one particularly fascinating spot right in the heart of the jungle. With only three or four roughly thatched native huts forming the village the surrounding country is a haunt of all sorts of wild game from the elephant and leopard down to the mouse deer, a sweet little creature hardly larger than a rabbit ; and the birds are legion. One morning we drove over to Polonnaruwa, a dozen miles away, to visit the ruins of its ancient city and to lunch at the rest-house built on a promontory overlooking one of the lovely lakes (so inartistically called tanks), for which Ceylon is justly famous. The tank at Polonnaruwa is surely one of the most beautiful of all, with its calm waters broken by lovely bays and tree-clad headlands, backed by low hills, which on the day we were there were hung with heavy thunder clouds, making a dark contrast to the blueness overhead. The jungle spread like a green mantle over everything right down to the water’s edge. The rest-house has its wide and cool veranda almost jutting over the lake, and one of the first things I noticed was a small tree, dead and leafless, lying in the water a few feet away and with a variety of birds perched on its bare branches. Most prominent, and sitting on its highest point, was a large Stork¬ billed Kingfisher. He was about 1 4 inches long, with a huge blood-red beak, coral legs, a dark cream-coloured breast and turquoise back and wings. A little lower on the tree another species, with russet front and darker and more brilliant plumage, hopefully watched the blue water below. This little Kingfisher is peculiar to Ceylon, and we constantly saw it flashing like a living jewel wherever there was a stream or jungle pool for it to fish in. A pair of Black Robins and a noisy party of Babblers were hopping about on the lower branches, several Swallows sat and preened them¬ selves, while a lovely cock Loten’s Sunbird was perched on a slender twig singing his sweet warbler-like melody, his iridescent green and purple breast flashing in the sun. Presently he flew off to a nearby bush of Lantana, and I watched him hovering like a Humming-bird in front of each orange flower, while he probed it to its heart with his long curved black beak, his nearest neighbour being a huge butterfly, gorgeous in his livery of brilliant yellow satin and black velvet, who was also sampling the sweetness of the clustering blooms. Meanwhile from the hanging clouds came several muffled thunder claps which gradually rolled louder and nearer, until with a flurry of hot wind over the jungle the rain came sweeping through the trees, and then we watched it moving like a heavy grey veil over the surface of the water. I. DARNTON— WILD BIRDS OF CEYLON 43 My little Sunbird flew to a convenient perch under the lee of a fallen tree trunk, where he sat snugly until the storm had passed, every now and then shaking the raindrops from his glistening back and raising his head to give a twitter of pure delight. Soon the rain ceased and the sun shone once more. Golden Orioles, Green Barbets, and many other bird voices called from the dripping jungle. Terns screamed and dived in the freshened waters of the tank, while in the distance a pair of Pelicans, which had majestically ridden out the swiftly passing storm, flapped the last drops of water, from their heavy wings. Suddenly, with a chorus of gruff £C Woof-woof”, a noisy party of grey Wondaroo monkeys appeared in some trees adjoining the rest- house compound. It was always a joy to watch these expert acrobats swinging easily from branch to branch, running nimbly up and down the boughs, or hanging by one hand from some swaying height, while they gaze inquisitively down at the intruder below. If they think you are a little too near with a swishing of leaves and turmoil of branches they have taken a series of flying leaps to a neighbouring tree, from where they will peer at you until you have moved away. Sometimes one comes upon an old gentleman of the tribe, sitting motionless on a dead tree stump in some lonely jungle clearing, his hands on his knees, and his silver whiskers making a frame for his little wizened black face while his gaze is fixed pensively on some point in the far distance. In the meantime a table had been laid for us in the corner of the veranda, and we sat down to an excellently cooked meal, fish from the tank and a succulent curry of one of the Jungle Fowl we had shot that morning. We could see some way out from the shore a huge tree trunk, with a few of its larger branches still intact ; this was crowded with long¬ necked Cormorants, their wings held stiffly motionless and outstretched at right-angles to their bodies. Several flat- topped trees on a distant promontory were quite black with them, a few snow-white Egrets and “ Tick-birds ” sitting among them and making a striking contrast ; the latter properly called B. ibis coromandus, is very like an Egret, but of course it has no valuable and lovely flowing plumes, for which the other has been cruelly slaughtered. And so we watched the varied bird scenes of this lovely tropic land, this day being only one of many such happy memories. 44 A. PRASEK - THE BLACK-HOODED RED SISKIN THE BLACK-HOODED RED SISKIN By Anthony Prasek [Reprinted from the Bird Fanciers' Association Bulletin , New York.] The most important thing in breeding wild birds in your home is to have patience and some little more patience. The interesting observations that are made are ample rewards for the time spent and in many ways more accurate, than the observations made by many men who have crossed thousands of miles of desert, jungle, and ocean to study and observe the birds in their native habitat. The first pair of Red Siskins which bred in my home in 1938 and in spring of 1939 have raised eight young from three nests. All eight were males. I have kept three males ; those born in summer of 1938. In the spring of 1939 I paired these young Red Siskin males with Canary hens. Also the old Siskin with two Canary females. Those four birds produced seventy-six mules of which thirty- two were red- coloured males and the rest grey-coloured mule females. According to Mendel’s Inheritance Law there should have been about 50 per cent each of male and female. In this instance the percentage was in favour of the female sex. In 1942 the same old male had mated with a young Red Siskin hen which I obtained in 1940. They had one nest with four young ones, all of which were females. It is noteworthy of mention that this old Red Siskin male has been in my possession since 1935. Breeding in 1942. In observing Red Siskins in captivity the past seven years, I believe their mating time in our climate starts in January and ends in June. I have had Red Siskin hens which have built nests and were ready to lay eggs in January. It is not advisable to let them breed so early as the hens get easily eggbound in cold weather. The nest which they build in a bundle of oakbrushes is rather flimsy and steady room temperature of 75 degrees and up is required to keep the hen and the young nestlings comfortable and in health. The breeding cage which I use for Red Siskins is 6 feet high by 3 feet by 2 feet. They build the nest about 5 feet above the floor. The hen laid her fourth egg on 19th June. One hatched on 1st July and the following morning three more hatched out. I have given the parent birds the following to feed the young. Three parts nigger, one part canary and cut-oats. Poppy-seeds, crushed sun¬ flower seeds, a piece of bacon hung in the cage. Aphises collected from vegetable leaves. Ghicweed and chickory flowers. The bottom of the cage was covered with good garden soil. As these youngsters, all female, are at present one and a half years old and in perfect health, I believe the feeding method which I used is quite satisfactory. NOTES 45 NOTES Royal Zoological Society of South Australia In its 65th Annual Report the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia states that following restrictions and regulations inseparable from the country’s war effort many difficulties in administration have arisen. Despite these difficulties, however, a specially attractive feature has been added to the gardens, by a new pool for displaying the Black-footed Penguins. To quote from the report : “ These birds, when being fed, were always a popular exhibit, but in the old pond it was difficult to see them clearly under water when taking fish. The new pond is lined with white tiles, and the under-water activities of the birds can be seen with the utmost clarity, never failing to evoke expressions of wonder from onlookers. The enclosure is also provided with suitable nesting accommodation for the birds. This exhibit is so popular that it has been necessary to erect screens to prevent children from climbing on to the structure and ascending trees in the vicinity on busy days. During the year a portion of the Director’s private garden was fenced off for inclusion in the Zoo area. Some of this land is being developed for the exhibition of waterfowl, of which the Society has many species. The Council has placed on record its appreciation of the Director’s action in this connection.” It will be interesting to hear how this provision for waterfowl develops, and it is certainly encouraging to learn that the Royal Society of South Australia is paying such special attention to this interesting group of birds. During 1943, 49 species of birds, comprising 224 individuals, bred in the Zoo. Wildfowl Visitors to the New York Zoo A full plumaged male of the lovely little Hooded Merganser, together with two females, has been on our ponds at the New York Zoo since the beginning of November. They are very tame, and the drake is one of the most beautiful of all waterfowl. Among a number of wild American Wigeon we have also had for over two months a young male European Wigeon. This species is not really very rare in North America, and there may be breeding colonies of them in certain grounds of the North. J. Delacour. A Near Sempcentenarian The death has occurred in the Parrot House at the London Zoo of a Yellow- thighed Caique that had been in this country for at least forty-five years. It had been at the Zoo for some ten years and prior to that in the possession of the donor for thirty-five years. Scaly-breasted Lorikeets The pair of Eutelipsitta chlorolepidota presented to the London Zoological Society by Mr. A. Ezra in 1937 has successfully nested in the Parrot House. Two eggs were laid and duly hatched. One youngster died at a very early age, but the other left the nest on 24th October and is doing well.1 This would be quite a success at any time, but when the very austere diet of the parents is considered it is quite remarkable. This species seems to have been bred in France and Germany towards the close of the last century and, more recently, in South Australia ( 1 935) and New Zealand ( 1 939) - There is only one record for Great Britain. In Notes on Cage Birds, Second Series, p. 170 (published in 1899), a correspondent signing himself “ H. J.” records the successful breeding of this species. Unfortunately, neither the date nor the name of the' breeder is given. He writes — “ Readers will be interested to know that I have now obtained perfectly fledged young birds of the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. The hen began to sit about 21st December. The nest is, or rather the nestlings are, in a cocoa-nut husk, in a perfectly detached and open unheated wooden erection, where the water has been frozen almost every night, and sometimes all day, during the severest cold weather. . . . One youngster came out of the nest on 26th February, and the other on 4th March.” In Foreign Birds for Cage and Aviary , vol. ii, p. 136, Dr. A. G. Butler records the fact that in 1883 Mr. Abrahams received a considerable number of Scaly-breasted, so that possibly this success was about that date. 1 10th March. Thriving amazingly and almost indistinguishable from the parents. 46 NOTES The Sky’s the Limit Advertisers have recently offered as much as £140 per cwt. for white millet. The selling price of plain canary seed is now 2 is. per lb. Buckwheat I imagine that the majority of members who keep Parrots and Parrakeets have tried buckwheat. I have given my Lovebirds a fair proportion for some considerable time. The majority take to it readily and it seems to be appreciated. They have suffered no ill-effects except in two notable cases. A sitting Abyssinian hen and a breeding Nyasa hen were found dead. Death in both cases being due to impacted crops — whole buckwheat being the offender. It would seem advisable to give decorticated seed to the smaller Psittaci while breeding. It would be of interest if members would give their experience of this seed. A. A. Prestwich. Eagle Owl Kills Egyptian Goose in New York Zoo Between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day an Egyptian Goose was found partially devoured in its paddock. We naturally suspected a raccoon to be the cause of it as these animals now and then come in to the park. We therefore set a trap over the remains of the Goose. To our astonishment a fine American Eagle Owl, called here the Great Horned Owl, was found in the trap the next morning. It seems extra¬ ordinary that such a bird could be caught in a trap of the usual pattern for cats. The Owl no doubt had returned to finish its meal. Eagle Owls are common enough in North America, and now and then one comes to spend the winter in the park, feeding mostly on the innumerable grey squirrels, feral Mallards and Pigeons. They are very powerful and dangerous to our captive birds. The Goose’s murderer was quite uninjured and now lives in one of our cages. J. Delacour. The Possibilities in Breeding Barb ary Doves I think Professor Hill’s notes on Peafowl raise several interesting points. I have no doubt that his young birds, especially if a young hen be mated with a white cock, would produce a percentage of white offspring from which a pure white strain could be built up. It is unfortunate one has to wait so long before the birds become old enough to breed. I have noticed quite small young in the display attitude ; it is amusing to see a whole brood of perhaps four or five, with tails up and chins depressed, all showing off at the same time. I am glad to have my suspicions confirmed that young hens display, do adult hens do so ? Dr. Hill’s birds are, of course, not true hybrids, as he himself says, both the white birds and the black-shouldered are simply mutations from the common Peafowl. I am reminded of a somewhat similar incident with Barbary Doves. A pair of the white form which used to be known as “ Java Doves ” produced one young one; when it was a few days old the mother bird escaped and was lost. The young one was, however, safely reared by its father, only being kept warm at night. It proved to be a cock. The old cock was then mated with a particularly nice specimen of the ordinary Barbary Dove, result, two young, both white, and both hens, thus dis¬ proving the old fallacy of a “ pigeon pair ” meaning a male and female. The two young hens were mated to the two white cocks, father and half-brother. Numerous young were bred from both pairs, all white birds, though some showed a slight cream colour on the collar round the hind neck. I remember the late Frank Finn telling me that in India white birds with black rings and other variations may be met with, but I have never heard of them over here. Now, when foreign birds are so scarce, and doubtless will be for years to come, it seems we might do something with the neglected Barbary Dove. Most of the specimens seen are pale rather lumpy looking birds, but one can pick out one here and there better shaped and coloured, so it would be possible to much improve the breed, and we could try to produce some of the forms seen in India. Perhaps a pied bird, or even one with a crest, though so far, this has only, in wild Pigeons, been developed in the Australian region. It is remarkable that a bird like the Barbary, which has been in domestication for so long that even its very origin is still in doubt, should show so little variation, but if this could be produced, who knows but that we might have a rival to the Budgerigar with its innumerable variations. In the future it is possible that we shall have more and more to depend on birds for our aviaries which can be bred in a semi-domesticated way. T. H. Newman. CORRESPONDENCE 47 CORRESPONDENCE THE SENEGAL PARROT Having read with interest Prebendary Sweetnam’s article on the Senegal Parrot in the Magazine for November-December, 1943, I would like to pass on to him the following information, which, it seems, he has been unable to find. An interesting article on the species by Miss C. L. Collier and Dr. W. Geo. Gresswell appeared in Bird Notes for 1906-7, vol. v. This was accompanied by a good coloured plate by the late Mr. H. Goodchild, and also there is a note to the effect that Dr. Hopkinson had given notes on the Senegal Parrot in yol. iii of Bird Notes. I would like to note that I very much regret having just lost my last bird, a very tame White Eared Bulbul, which I have had for eleven years. E. Marshall. Hillside, Cadewell Lane, Shiphay, Torquay. THE SATIN BOWER BIRD In the September-October issue of the Magazine there is a reprinted article by David Fleay, Director of Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, Badger Creek, Victoria, under the heading “ Nesting Habits of Satin Bower Birds ”. Having for some years past made a close study of these birds, I was particularly interested in Mr. Fleay’s notes, which touch upon many features of their habits that are fully confirmed by my own observations. In referring, however, to the colour change which occurs in the male of the species at a certain age, Mr. Fleay comments in these words : “For years the male bird wears the pretty green plumage so characteristic of the female, but adopts at a certain age — no one knowing exactly when — the uniform purple-blue colour so lustrous and beautiful in sunlight.” I think I am right in saying that the generally accepted belief is that the colour change referred to occurs in the seventh year of the life of the male, but how such a point can be determined with any degree of certainty, unless the bird is aviary bred, is difficult to understand, and it is no doubt due to the obviousness of this fact that Mr. Fleay prefers to leave the question an open one. However, the following facts that I have gathered on this subject of transcoloration may be of interest to your readers and help toward the settlement of this question. Referring to my record of the life history of the bird which I bred in December, 1937, and which is referred to by Mr. Fleay in the article under review, I find that on the 1 2 th June, 1941 — when it was three and a half years old — two blue feathers were observed on the back about the overlap of the primaries. Naturally this discovery gave rise to considerable interest as it not only placed the sex of the youngster beyond doubt but afforded me the opportunity of observing the process of transcoloration which was gradual and not complete until February of the following year. Of course, it may be that in their native environment the colour change in the male occurs later, but under the close natural living conditions that my birds enjoy I can see no reason for assuming that it is so, but rather, as my experience goes to prove, that full maturity is attained at a much earlier age than is generally understood and that the uniform purple-blue colour which Mr. Fleay so exactly describes as “ lustrous and beautiful in sunlight ” is adopted in the fifth year of life. Arnold Hirst. 335 Kent Street, Sydney, Australia. 48 CORRESPONDENCE I enclose an extract from Walkabout (ist October, 1943) concerning the Satin Bower Bird, which I think may be of interest to readers of the Avicultural Magazine : — ‘From Katoomba, New South Wales, Mrs. Eleanor Dark has forwarded some exceedingly interesting observations on the behaviour of the Bower Birds in her garden. She writes : — “For more than five years, each autumn, the birds built a bower in a shrubby part of our garden, decorating it in the usual way with pieces of blue and yellow and brown snail shells. One morning, after rain in the night, my husband and I found a half-used blue-bag lying near the bower ; the snail-shells had been smeared with the blue colour. We could only conclude that the bird had picked up the wet blue-bag near some house and, discovering it left blue marks on everything it touched, decided to paint the snail shells. “ We often put out collections of variously-coloured wools and other substances, but the only pieces ever taken by the Bower Birds were those of a blue or greenish- yellow colour. “ The work on our bowers was done by greenish-coloured birds, and I am not certain whether they were females or young males. There were often a dozen or more flying or hopping about the bower, and I thought that those of a slightly paler colour, and a little smaller, were young males. “ All the greenish ones were easily tamed, flying on to the verandah for food and coming within a foot or two of us, but never actually eating out of our hands. The blue-black birds, however, were very shy. “ The bowers were always built in the same place, about 10 feet from the garage, with the car passing frequently. When our house was remodelled the birds evidently did not appreciate the change, for they did not build in the garden again. However, the bower-birds do come back regularly when the apples are ripe. Our photographs of the bowers are almost exactly like the one at Lindfield.” ‘ Mrs. Dark’s observations and experiments support those of the author. These birds do not collect any bright objects merely because they are bright, for the selection is always within the range of colour exhibited by the female of the species. — Tarlton Rayment Guy Falkner. The Old Forge, Fossebridge, Cheltenham. CANDIDATE FOR ELECTION Fred C. Benners, 155 Tamalpais Road, Berkeley, California, U.S.A. Proposed by A. H. Isenberg. REJOINED His Excellency the Duke of Palmella (Portuguese Ambassador), 103 Sloane Street, London, S.W. 1. DONATIONS E. Valentine . H. Cowley Mrs. Phipps C. L. Sibley W. L. Eaves £ *• d. 100 1 2 o 100 500 I 2 o MEMBERS’ ADVERTISEMENTS The charge for Members' advertisements is one penny per word. Payment must accompany the advertisement , which must be sent on or before the soth of the month to Mr. T. H. Newman, 46 Forty Avenue, Wembley Park, Middlesex. All members of the Society are entitled to use this column , but the Council reserves the right to refuse any advertisement they consider unsuitable. FOR SALE Free delivery. White Millet 22s. per lb., Yellow Millet 20 s. per lb. — Percy House, Scotton, near Knaresborough, Yorkshire. Dixon’s Game Birds and Wild Fowl of the British Isles , 15.L ; second edition, enlarged and revised, £ 2 2 s. ; Jerdon’s Game Birds of India , 25 s. ; Ogilvie-Grant’s Game Birds , 2 vols., 15^. ; Tegetmeier’s Pheasants , first edition, 21 .s'. ; Barton’s Pheasants , 17s-. 6 d. ; Horne’s Pheasants for Amateurs , ios. 6d. ; Hubbard’s Orna¬ mental Waterfowl , second edition, enlarged and revised, 25s1. ; Carnegie’s Practical Game Preserving, third edition, 15J. ; Michell’s Art and Practice of Hawking, £4. ; Coursing and Falconry (Badm. Lib.), ioj. 6d. — John Frostick, 20 Minster Precincts, Peterborough. WANTED To exchange over 2,000 Coloured Plates of Birds for others. — Newman, 46 Forty Avenue, Wembley Park. Absolutely Indispensable to Aviculturists . . “ AVICULTURE,” Vol. I, £1 Os. 9 d. ( Vols . II and III out of print.) A mine of information on birds of all kinds, compiled by leading authorities on every branch of aviculture. “ Index Guide to the Avicultural Magazine, 1894- 1930,” By E. H. 55. Cloth Boards. To be obtained from: MESSRS. STEPHEN AUSTIN & SONS, LTD., 1 FORE STREET, HERTFORD, HERTS. For back numbers of the Avicultural Magazine apply also to the Publishers at the above address. The originals of the plates published in the Avicultural Magazine may be, in most cases, purchased ; apply to the Secretary : MISS KNOBEL, 86 REGENT’S PARK ROAD, LONDON, N.W.l. STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, HERTFORD. AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE CONTENTS PAGE The Hornero {with plate), by H. C. Martin ..... 49 Successful Breeding of Blue-headed Tanager in U.S.A., by A. Erlanger . 50 Fertility and Habits, by J. Spedan Lewis ....... 58 The Wattled Pheasant, by Jean Delacour . . . . . .61 An Early Account of some of the Perching Birds in the Scampston Collection, by A. F. Moody .......... 63 A Visit to the Ohau River Estuary, New Zealand, on 12 th March, 1944, by Lt. Lane and Prof. K. Wodzicki . 68 Notes ............. 72 Correspondence ........... 74 FIFTH SERIES VOL. IX No. 3 PRICE 51- MAY-dUNE 1944 THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Founded i8g4 President : A. EZRA, Esq., O.B.E. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION is £1 per annum, due on ist January each year, and payable in advance. (Entrance fee io/-, suspended during the War.) THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE is published bi-monthly and sent free to members. Members joining at any time during the year are entitled to back numbers for the current year, on the payment of subscription. Subscriptions, Changes of Address, Names of Candidates for Membership, etc., should be sent to — The Honorary Secretary and Treasurer , Tel. : Primrose 0247. MISS E. MAUD KNOBEL, 86 Regent’s Park Road, London, N.W. 1. ALL MATTER FOR PUBLICATION IN THE MAGAZINE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO— The Editor , MISS PHYLLIS BAR CL AY- SMITH, F.Z.S., 51 Warwick Avenue, Tel. : Cunningham 3006. London, W. 9. The price of the Magazine to non-members is 55. post free per copy, or £1 ioj. for the year. Orders for the Magazine, extra copies, and back numbers (from 1917) should be sent to the publishers, Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, 1 Fore Street, Hertford. Tel. : Hertford 2546/2547. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE T YPICAt HOdNO OF ADOBE BLOCKS MUD - PLASTERED HORNERO ? NEST ON WINNING- POST OF SAN ISIDRO RACECOURSE Frontispiece] Avicultural Magazine THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Fifth Series. — Vol. IX. — No. 3. — All rights reserved. MAY-JUNE, 1944 THE HORNERO By H. G. Martin Since I wrote my article about the Oven-bird, I have been reminded of another saying, or belief, common amongst the “ camp 55 folk, illus¬ trative of the friendly feeling towards this bird and of the idea of mutual protection and trust between him and mankind : I think it is worth quoting, thus : “ En casa con nido de hornero no caen rayas 55 = “ On the house with an Hornero’s nest the lightning does not fall, 55 i.e. that providence will be kind to those who are kind to its creatures. Lightning, of course, is a very frequent phenomenon in the River Plate. In order to show more clearly than by my text how really apt is the bird’s common name, I enclose two line drawings made from photographic illustrations — which I had also lost sight of at the time — in the Argentine paper La Chacra ; one of them shows a typical native oven, built of sun-dried mud blocks plastered over with mud, while the figure of a woman beside it gives a good idea of its size and construction. The other picture is of a nest placed in a decidedly quaint situation, namely the goal-post sign at the racecourse of San Isidro, near Buenos Aires. In the course of the year hundreds of thousands of people close by cast their looks towards this disc, and many of them base their hopes upon it, or what it stands for. Those who have backed a winner will no doubt have a blessing to spare for the bold “ hornerito ”, which has proved such a happy mascot. I would like to add that in stating that many birds from the Plate should do well out of doors in England “ with shelter sufficient ” I should have qualified this with the words “ dry and frost-proof ” : to expose them to any severe cold, even in an inner compartment, would not be kind, or safe, perhaps, and the means of making things comfortable in severe spells, such as a small electric stove, as with my own small aviary, should be provided. 5 50 ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER SUCCESSFUL BREEDING OF BLUE-HEADED TANAGER IN U.S.A. JUNIOR, THE STORY OF A GOOD BIRD By Alene Erlanger The first time I ever saw the Blue-headed Tanager ( Tangara cyanocephala) I thought it was the most beautiful bird in the world. That was a long time ago, and I hadn’t seen then nearly as many species as I have since ; but ten years have passed and I still think that this is so. How could anything be lovelier ? As this story is written for aviculturists it can be assumed that all who read it know the Blue¬ headed Tanager. At any rate, I hope so, otherwise I should have to dust off all my adjectives to describe it, and even then I couldn’t do a good job. For how can that particular blue be put into words ? It is the ultimate blue, the absolute blue, the standard of blueness ' by which all degrees of blue should be measured. As blue as the head of a Blue-headed Tanager — perhaps I had better let it go at that, adding only that, to me, this Tanager is exactly the right size and shape for a bird, and that the sight of that dark body, that lemon coloured rump, and that (missing adjective) blue head, never fails to produce in me a shock of pure delight. This story starts in New York City with the first Blue-headed Tanager in my life, when I went down town to see a shipment, newly arrived from South America, at the warehouse of an animal and bird importer. There were hundreds of birds received, mostly Tanagers — Emerald, Rainbow, Superb, Palm, Red-rumped, Blue-and- Yellow, Mountain, and Copper-winged — and other Callistes ; (notably Mrs. Wilson’s) Green and Blue Euphonias ; Red-headed and Blue- backed Manakins ; all sorts of lovely things. The different species were each in the usual shipping box, long, low, shallow box cages with wire across the front. The birds fluttered in wild excitement in I the semi-darkness, making their soft little Tanager noises that sound like kisses. I am sure I was as excited as they were, only more pleasantly. I wanted to buy all of them, evidencing the lack of judg- , ment which is a recurring symptom of the form of insanity common i to all of us who keep and raise birds ; when it hits you buy everything that is for sale, regardless of condition, and only stop when your money gives out. I stood so long peering into the twittering cages, j trying to decide which to get, that presently a new box was brought in, one that hadn’t come up on the first truck. And in that box were five Blue-headed Tanagers. That was the end of my indecision. I wanted those birds and nothing else, and when it turned out that they had been shipped on con¬ signment and none were for sale, I felt that nothing life could hold for me in the future could ever compensate for this frustration, i ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER 5 1 Fortunately, however, only two of them were in sufficiently good condition to deliver to the elegant, fastidious collector who had ordered the lot ; three were definitely what Captain Jean Delacour terms bad birds. According to this great authority, a bird is good if he is well, feeds well, and maintains his good condition, no matter what depredations he commits in the flight, or how many sweet little Finches he scalps in the excess' of his goodness. A bad bird, however (still according to the same authority) , is one which, despite an angelic disposition and an attitude of loving kindness towards man and bird, droops, gets puffy, shows either too much or too little interest in food, and eventually dies, which is the climax of his criminal career. This terminology (good and bad), and I refer again to the same source, applies only to birds. The opposite is correct in designating a member of an ornithological, an avicultural, or a zoological society ; for a good member is one who not only is ill, but who dies immediately upon becoming a member, leaving his entire fortune — and the larger it is the better he is — to the Society he has just joined. None of this seems to have much to do with Blue-headed Tanagers, but it will soon be evident that it is leading up to the extremely evil behaviour of one of them. Unhesitatingly and foolishly I gave all the money I had to spend for the three bad birds and drove them down to the country in haste, my idiotic heart beating rapturously. Now, at this point in the acquisition of a new bird, as all of you who read this must know, excitement diminishes and the period of gloating begins. Gloating usually lasts from the time you start for home with the new treasures until they are out in a flight for a week and you get used to them, or until they begin to droop and go bad. My gloat in this case did not run the usual course ; for when I unwrapped the box with its precious contents one of my three, the worst, had committed the unforgivable crime, and lay, limp, lifeless, and very sticky, at the bottom of it. The other two were hopping about in a dispirited manner. I put them in a fresh box-cage, set it in a warm place away from a direct light, and arranged a display of fascinating food — for this was in the days when you could get all sorts of wonderful things for birds — temptingly within easy reach. In fact, it was so easy to reach that the birds couldn’t as much as turn their heads without plunging a beak into masses of assorted soft food, mashed boiled yams, squashed bananas, grapes (peeled), pears, fresh figs, soaked currants, chopped eggs, oranges, apples, and desperately added ripe avocado. I am glad to report that they were more intelligent about their diet than I was, for they ate only a little of the sweet green grapes and some bananas. Frantic at their lack of appetite, I boiled mealworms in red wine, the old family cure-all for sick birds, but they didn’t eat them, either ; so I fell back on the sugar water, Nestle’s food, condensed milk formula. 52 ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER only I used honey instead of sugar water and thinned it. This did the trick, for in a few days the birds settled down sensibly to a diet of soft food prepared with chopped hard-boiled eggs and grated raw carrots, small insects, and fruit. They took chopped green lettuce and water¬ cress with relish, and small mealworms, preferably ones that had just shed their skins and were nice and soft, appealed to them, too. After a week I noticed that their colours were dimmer than they had been. I put them in a larger, lighter, cage, and observed them con¬ stantly. Not only were their colours dullish, but they seemed to move more slowly and deliberately than the other Tanagers. This was cause for anxiety, until I suddenly recalled how sticky the dead one had been ; it was reasonable to suppose that the live ones must be even stickier, threshing around for days in all those bananas, pears, grapes, oranges, and honey ; for although offered every inducement, they had not bathed since their arrival. Thinking that it would be a good idea to bathe them gently in luke-warm water, a procedure which had never harmed any of my other birds, I washed them both under a slow trickle of water from the faucet until they were no longer sticky, and took them out in the sun to dry. Before I got them safely into the nice clean cage I had prepared for them in the sunshine, they shook their heavenly heads and spread their lovely wings and for weeks thereafter excited neighbours telephoned at odd hours with variations on the following theme. Two of your birds must have got out and stuck their heads in a pot of blue paint, and they’re here in my garden, hurry up and get them. Although I always hurried I never did get them, and as summer passed the calls became less and less frequent, and ceased with the coming of autumn. I hope that my birds have been good enough to find their way back to Colombia or Venezuela, where they now live happily, having learned to avoid bird hunters’ snares and nets and even Mr. Charles Cordier. So the first attempt to keep the Blue-headed Tanager ended dis¬ mally ; but far from being discouraged, I haunted bird shops, importers, and dealers. Every time any specimens came into the market and I happened to be solvent, I invested in their loveliness and frailty. ; Some were good, some were bad, some were moral idiots, and couldn’t || differentiate, being good one day and dead the next. All were fountain¬ heads of delight, things of beauty for as long as I could keep them alive. The best lived four years, the worst only a few days. With the war few importations were received and the cost of the few birds that trickled into che market rocketed so that a chart of the j price trend would have looked like one of Mr. Kaiser’s production ! charts. On the whole, my collection behaved very well ; several | enterprising pairs of different species even delighting each other and me by raising nests full of clamouring, gaping babies. When the j Philippine Islands were seized the New York Zoological Society lent ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER 53 me a few pairs of birds from that region, and fortunately young were raised from several of them — but all that is another story, or rather many another story. This one is about the Blue-headed Tanager. There came a time when there was not even one of them in the aviary, and as there were then no further importations the chances of getting any were not too good. No aviculturist lucky enough to have a Blue-headed Tanager would trade for anything else, unless entirely bereft of his senses ; and although most of my fellow-fanciers evidenced the usual signs of mental derangement common to all of us, not one of them was as insane as all that ; nor all my piety and wit . . . and tears, to say nothing of hitherto otherwise successful blandish¬ ments, would move any of them to trade for a White-eared Bulbul, or a Blue Flycatcher (or even a Yellow-rumped one), a White-eyed Zosterops, or a pair of Gouldians, or Painted Finches, or a nice tame Blue-winged Pitta, or anything, in fact, that I had to trade. Then, one May morning in 1942, after a bleak Blue-head Tanagerless period of nearly two years, the telephone rang suddenly, as telephones always do, and there was the voice of the authority quoted so extensively in this story — the great Delacour himself. He said that there was a shipment of South American birds just arrived at the downtown importers and did I want to go down with him to see if there was anything I needed (besides Blue-headed Tanagers, of course). I was leaving for Washington just then, but I told him yes, to get me anything he thought would do well in New Jersey that would not die at once or kill all the other birds. The next day I had a casual little note from him, saying that there were two of my Tanagers in the shipment, so he sent them both. He said he thought they might be a pair. I took a week off and came home to see them. There they were, still in the isolation room, very gay, fairly tame (for Tanagers), and beautiful beyond words. I tried and tried to discover some little difference between them so as to give hope that the Captain’s sugges¬ tion might be a fact, with visions of a line of little native Blue-heads increasing the sum-total of the world’s beauty ; but to my un¬ practised eye they looked exactly the same. I turned them out into a flight 15 by 50 feet, a double flight, one end of which was enclosed with doors leading into a heavily planted, wire enclosed, outdoor flight, inhabited cheerfully by quite a number of good natured little birds, a pair of each of the following species : Red-headed Parrot Finches, Parson Finches, Gouldian Finches, Avadavats, Black-headed Red Siskins, Copper- winged Tanagers, a few odd Callistes, Sugar- birds, and Manakins, and a fatherly old Greenfinch. They all accepted the new ones without any fuss, and they went through the summer nicely, wintered well, and started their second summer freshly moulted and more ravishingly beautiful than ever. In the flight which was to be the new home of the Blue-headed 54 ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER Tanagers were all sorts of nests, artificial nesting sites, and a great variety of nesting material. In the spring I always supply each flight with all the necessities as well as the luxuries of housekeeping, hoping that this will put ideas into the birds’ heads. The Black-headed Red Siskins promptly started building, in all the open basket cages, but as they did that every year their home making efforts aroused no more than an indulgent smile — the little ones are playing house ! The Parrot Finches stuffed all the box nests with grass and leaves, having a wonderful time, but that is all they had. Wonderful to relate, the Copper- winged Tanagers started to carry leaves and twigs. This was the first sign of domesticity on the part of any of the Tanagers, so I moved them into a large, well-planted run with every imaginable modern convenience ; they quickly built a most practical and artistic nest of leaves and grass in a low, thick cedar tree, and then spent the rest of the summer admiring their handiwork. Around the middle of June the Siskin hen settled suspiciously on the most inauspicious of the nests she and her mate had built, an open canary nest, almost under the projecting eave leading from the enclosed part of the flight to the outside section. On questioning she disclosed four nice pregnant looking eggs ; and there she sat for four¬ teen days, never leaving the nest, gorged with thistle seeds by her ever- loving mate, and listening to his squeaky little song. All four eggs hatched when their time came, but grey Mrs. Siskin was so spoiled by having her meals served in bed that she refused to leave her nest. Her bright red little husband hustled to keep her fed, and together they stuffed the four gaping beaks. But the weather was very warm, and it was hot under that eave, so as nothing would induce her to leave them all four babies smothered gently to death under her with their crops crammed full. Even then she continued to cling to her nest ; she was finally prised off, the nest was removed, and she was left to reflect on her lazy habits and the disadvantages of sticking too close to home. Soon the pair built another nest, in which she laid four more eggs, but by the time she started to sit another event took place in the flight which robbed her of the limelight. For two eggs materialized in one of the nests that had been started and abandoned by the Siskins earlier in the summer ; they were a little larger than Siskin eggs, greyish white and profusely speckled with reddish brown dots. No one had seen a bird near the nest, and no bird sat on them all day. True, the nest was up under the eave, where the sun beat hard and the temperature up there was high enough to incubate eggs by itself, but it was mysterious. After attributing the eggs to every pair in the flight conjecture was abandoned, and the whole thing was about to be relegated to the unanswerable questions department, when along came a cool, cloudy day, and lo, there was a tail sticking out of the nest one morning. ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER 55 It was the Blue-headed Tanager ’s ! Two days later the first baby appeared, and the second egg hatched four days after that, but by then the first baby had such a start of its sibling that it got all the food ; it is sad to be reminded that the young birds which make the most noise and are loudest in their demands for food and attention are the ones that get the greatest share of the good things of life. The same, alas, is true of young men and women. So the biggest baby throve and flourished, and the little one drooped and died. This loss was not greatly mourned in the excitement of actually having one live baby Blue-headed Tanager. The scene now shifts to the other side of the flight, where the Siskin family had built again, sat again, hatched four bouncing babies again, stuffed them with thistle seed again, and once again literally smothered them with attention. Their nest was taken down, for there didn’t seem to be much sense in encouraging infanticide ; the bird-brained parents, unabashed by their repeated failure to raise a family, seemed quite delighted with themselves, and were as devoted as ever. The young Blue-headed Tanager ate and throve in its nest on the other side of the flight ; greyish-brown feathers soon covered its nakedness, and at the end of the third week it appeared to be ready to leave the nest. The parents had kept it well supplied with an insectivorous diet, for there was an abundance of worms, grubs, small flies, and other garden pests in the flight, and this natural insect life was supplemented by the little fat worms that breed along with mealworms and maggots. Some fruit was fed to the baby, mainly grapes and small blueberries, of which the parents were very fond. The whole thing seemed too good to last ; and, indeed, it was. One bright morning the Tanager nest was empty, and after a search which began hopefully and then ran the gamut familiar to avicul- turists — hope, anxiety, dread, despair — it was discovered on the ground, quite dead. A heartbrokenly conducted post mortem revealed that its crop was crammed to bursting with thistle seeds. Too late, the guilty pair of Siskins were banished to another flight. It wasn’t possible to treat them as if they were wilful murderers, for the parallel of their behaviour pattern was so clearly traced for us in that of the human parents who ruin their own children by over- indulgence, and spend the rest of their lives spoiling nephews, nieces, and especially grandchildren. Although inured to disappointments, heartbreak, and even tragedy, as are all bird fanciers, this blow was just almost too much. I went back to Washington, vowing that never, never again would I give my heart for a bird to peck at. Let them live, love, and die as they pleased — from now on it would be a matter of small concern to me. Therefore, four weeks later when a long-distance telephone call came 56 ALENE ERLANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER from the aviary with the news that the Blue-headed Tanagers had again hatched two eggs, it may be assumed that I said “ How nice ”, and went about my business in the War Department as usual, which was precisely what I didn’t do. I stood it for five days, running up astronomical figures in telephone bills, and finally took leave and headed for New Jersey ; by the time I got there, history had repeated itself up to a certain point. The eggs had again hatched four days apart, and the younger baby had died, a victim of its sibling’s strength I and greediness. Had I been on the scene, I think I should have taken the older baby out of the nest just after feeding, and kept it out in a ; warm place until after the parents had again visited the nest ; I’ve tried that method when eggs hatched out at intervals of mpre than two days, and it works very well. But I hadn’t been there to do this, and as the remaining baby was well, large and thriving, there was sufficient cause for rejoicing. A noticeable departure from the usual table manners of young birds was that the baby Blue-headed Tanager made no sound when the parents alighted on the nest or while it was being fed. It was a change from the racket set up by other noisy nests full. The young Blue-headed Tanager left the nest when it was three weeks old ; it was not even pretty with its stumpy little tail and its dull brownish-grey colour. The wings showed a shadow of the characteristic bands, and in certain lights there was a bluish-grey look to the head ; that was all it hinted ,of its coming glory. Within a week it got about the flight quite easily, closely guarded by its parents. They roosted at night on each side of their baby, and kept him supplied with all the choicest morsels. They continued to feed j him (I find that it is impossible to continue referring to him as it), for at least two weeks after that, and even after he was feeding himself with gusto, he continued to chase and rob his mother or his father whenever one of them picked up a particularly juicy berry, a luscious * and plump worm, or a choice cut of sweet seedless green grape. Parentlike, they seemed pleased by his aggressive marauding, and even encouraged him at it ; this should have been a warning, but j although foresight is better than hindsight, hindsight is the faculty usually made use of in cases of this kind. So Junior — the young Tanager had so distinct a personality that it was inevitable that he should be given a name — grew every day in charm and beauty. Black feathers began to replace the drab brownish black ones on his body and wings, and a faint shimmer of blue became | discernible all over his head. His flight grew more certain and assured, he spent long hours bathing, preening himself, chasing tiny winged insects, and growing more and more beautiful. He ate like a bird, consuming daily at least ten times his weight in softbill food mixed with chopped eggs, grated raw carrots, or mashed sweet ALENE ERL ANGER - BREEDING THE BLUE-HEADED TANAGER 57 potatoes, green corn on the cob, fruit, insects, and strangely enough boiled or baked white potatoes. These I broke in half and he pecked out the centre and the part nearest the skin. In the fruit line he preferred apples, bananas, grapes, oranges, and small berries, with dried currants as a substitute for them when they were out of season. He also liked hard-boiled eggs, cut in half and served in the shell. And then the blow fell. One morning the hen Red-headed Parrot Finch showed signs that she had taken a beating. Her innocent little mate was immediately accused, caught in a net, which he hated, and isolated ; the next morning she was lying on the ground neatly scalped. Of course, no one suspected Junior. Even when each morning brought fresh evidence of a killer at large, and he alone remained shining and unruffled, the other birds were removed one by one, and Junior stayed in his birthflight, lord of all he surveyed. Finally he was actually caught, red-beaked, happily engaged in pulling the latest causes for congratulations — a nestful of Avadavats, hatched after many attempts on the part of their parents — out of their nest and dashing them to the ground, while their distracted parents made frantic efforts to lure him away by feigning broken wings and broken legs, with pitiful conviction. In the beak of this evidence there was nothing to do but to banish Junior to a cage. He settled down with his customary adaptability, and was so utterly beguiling, charming, and blue-headed, that when he missed a mealworm one morning and showed signs of longing for the great open spaces all was forgotten and he was put back in another flight, as large as his old one, but inhabited by a collection of spiteful and fast flying Shaft- tails, Goldfinches, Pileated Finches, and Weavers. His fond, foolish parents in the adjoining flight welcomed him with unmistakable signs of joy ; but these birds of a feather were not allowed to flock together. A fertile pair of Blue¬ headed Tanagers is not a prize to be lightly sacrificed to the principle of keeping the family together. So is the end of the story — the long, long story, of Junior, the Good Bird. He is still good, but opportunities to exercise his goodness are restricted and life goes on in his flight with only minor mishaps. He is now eight months old, and rapidly showing his true colours, although there are only a few of the true blue feathers on his head at this point. Perhaps, when he grows up and reaches cock’s estate, a mate, equally lovely, will be found for him, and the line of native New Jersey Blue-headed Tanagers will be finally established. But after these ten years of paying tribute to this most beautiful and enchanting bird, every time I look at Junior I feel that all that devotion has been rewarded, for he is indeed an end in himself. 5$ J. S. LEWIS - FERTILITY AND HABITS FERTILITY AND HABITS By J. Sped an Lewis In writing lately to thank Captain Scott-Hopkins for a very kind offer to send here some of the eggs that he is expecting to get this season from his Rheinhardt’s Argus Pheasants, I mentioned to him that, when we had this species before, we lost a chick because the keeper — luckily it was the head keeper or I imagine that there would have been a mysterious disappearance and a slight mound in some quiet corner — did not allow sufficiently for the liveliness and mobility of this species at an age when most Pheasant chicks have not the wing- power to be air-borne. The coop that contained its foster-mother was not merely out in the open, but dangerously near to what turned out to be sufficient cover for an escape. The coop was opened. The only Rheinhardt chick that we had ever had, so far as at this moment I remember — certainly it was the only one that showed such promise of surviving — flew out and disappeared in a bed of nettles. The nettle-bed was earnestly searched by five British citizens whose sight was not more than ordinarily impaired by those drug-taking customs that in this country bring wealth and hereditary titles to the suppliers of alcohol and nicotine. The chick was never found. Certainly it is, if not indispensable to sound team-work, at all events extremely useful to know of some really frightful skeleton in the cupboard of any eminent expert with whom one has to deal. But I could have wished to have acquired in some other way such means of keeping my end up in the management of the aviaries here. As in my letter to Captain Scott-Hopkins I was referring to this particularly sad item in the long list of sorrowful memories that must always arise, I am afraid, from bird-keeping on any considerable scale, there floated across my mind the memory of a photograph of the Zoo’s Rheinhardt chicks being brooded by their mother on a bough above the ground. According to my own recollection expert comment at that time suggested that this habit was very unusual, and perhaps peculiar to Rheinhardtius. But as I was writing that letter it struck me that there was perhaps a relation between this habit and the curious fact that, whereas some Pheasants lay large clutches of eggs, others lay no more than two. As we all know, species tend to maintain themselves by one of two techniques. Either they produce enormously, so that they can stand terrific wastage, or else they contrive that a high proportion of their young are reared. It occurred to me at that moment that the laying of numerous J. S. LEWIS - FERTILITY AND HABITS 59 eggs on the ground may be for Pheasants an alternative to a very early removal of the chicks to perches out of the reach of ground enemies, which last must, one imagines, in tropical jungles be extremely numerous. Even at the low pressure of life that arises from the combination of our chilly northern climate with a mere five inches of soil over solid chalk, it appeared, when we came here, difficult to step without treading on a rabbit. Furthermore, it was a reasonable financial operation to hazard a small sum that, if the rabbit were shifted, two rats would be found underneath. If the uplands of Hampshire can be thus prolific of animal life, one imagines that on the floor of tropical jungles the average distance between individual cats, civets, jackals, foxes, weasels, snakes, and so forth must be a matter of inches, and that it may make a very great difference to the infant mortality rate of the Pheasant world if the period for which the young are flightless and spend all their time on the ground is shortened. I ventured to make this suggestion to Captain Scott-Hopkins, who is one of those fortunate people who not only keep birds but have time to get to know something about them. His reply has just come, and it has made me feel that this idea might perhaps seem to the Editor of our Magazine to be worth publishing in these days, when copy is, I understand, abnormally difficult to get. Captain Scott-Hopkins writes : — “You raise a very interesting question about the perching of young Pheasants. My experience with Chinquis Peacock Pheasants, and I have reared many, is that the chicks perch at a very early age, about a month old or even earlier. Each chick takes a wing. The chicks can fly well at that age. “ I think your explanation a very likely one. They have many enemies in the jungle.” Obviously, if at an age when the chicks will need the shelter of the maternal wing and the warmth of the maternal body they are to roost on high perches, there can be only two, so that one may perch on each side of Mother. One of the justifications for catching wild things and keeping them in captivity is the possibility of getting knowledge that could hardly be got otherwise, and perhaps we have here an example of that kind. A related question is the fact that Tragopans nest in trees. Presumably they are descended from ancestors in whose being the habit of nesting on the ground was engrained profoundly. How did they come to nest in trees ? And how, if at all, has that affected either their habits or themselves ? The coloration of the hens is of the full perfection of concealment 6o J. S. LEWIS - FERTILITY AND HABITS for ground-nesting birds. Does that mean that the tree-nesting habit is a very recent development ? And under natural conditions what happens to Tragopan chicks ? Do they stay upstairs in the ordinary tree-nesting way ? When the war no longer makes the present difficulties for attendance and feeding I hope to experiment here with letting some of the rarer Pheasants rear their own young. I cannot help feeling that it is very doubtfully sound aviculture to take eggs away and so cause hens to lay more than in a lucky season they would have to do in the wild. The fact that comparatively few species are really easily developed into healthy domestic strains seems to show that the climate and diet and the other conditions, that as yet we give them, are seriously short of being what they really want. That being so, it seems very doubtful policy to put any additional strain on the bird’s constitution by asking her to lay again and again, and indeed I suppose that in the case at all events of monogamous species it means an extra strain on both sexes. Hitherto we have always accepted at Leckford what we have under¬ stood to be the general view that the practice of removing eggs and using foster-mothers has on the whole good results. But for my own part I am beginning to doubt whether this is true to any really serious extent, especially if the breeding pens are, as they ought to be, large enough to keep the adult birds in apparently perfect health. If anything comes of this idea I hope that we may have now and again some bit of news that the Editor may think worth publishing. But at the back of my mind there is a horrid little chill of fear that no really intelligent person would endeavour to establish a breeding collection of gallinaceous birds in a countryside that did not abound much more, than does this chalk, in ants. I suspect that in a country full of ants’ nests a labourer with a shovel would make the most eminent experts in recondite secrets of chick¬ rearing look mysteriously foolish. * * * I J. DELACOUR - THE WATTLED PHEASANT 6l THE WATTLED PHEASANT (. Lobiophasis hulweri ) By Jean Delacour [Reprinted from the Journal of the American Pheasant Society \ We have in this bird one of the marvels not only of the Pheasant family, but the whole bird class in general. In fact, the Wattled Pheasant hardly constitutes a separate genus. It undoubtedly is a near relation of the Kalijs and Firebacks, which I now unite in the large genus Lophura — the species usually referred to Gennaus constituting just a convenient subgenus. All have very similar shape, habits, and voice. The Wattled, or Bulwer’s Pheasant, is indeed closely connected with Swinhoe’s and Edwards’ Kalijs, of which it is just an exaggerated edition. It has the same red legs, the same general shining black, blue, and purple body plumage. The hen is very similar to that of the Edwards’ in colour and shape. It differs greatly, however, in the extraordinary size of its tail, which has thirteen pairs of rectrices in the female, fifteen to sixteen in the adult male. Also, the facial wattles are blue and, in the cock, developed to a degree comparable only with the bib of the Tragopans. But the Swinhoe’s cock already shows a slight inclination to vertical, horn-like segments. As can be anticipated, tail and wattles play the main part in the very extra¬ ordinary and elaborate display peculiar to this species. The cock Bulwer looks much in general shape like a large Siamese Fireback. It has the same actions. Its neck and upper breast are dark maroon crimson ; the rest of his body is black, each feather with a metallic blue margin, much as shown on the back of the Swinhoe’s. The whole tail is pure white. The female is brownish buff above, finely mottled with dark brown, more rufous below. In voice, both sexes resemble much the Kalijs and Firebacks. The species is found in the whole rolling interior of Borneo, in primeval, dry jungle, usually along rivers. William Beebe, in his Monograph of the Pheasants , gives an excellent account of what is known of the life of this bird in its native haunts, which he himself visited. He collected a number of specimens, but none reached New York alive. It seems that one or two half-dead immature specimens reached Holland many years ago, but the first lot to come to Europe in fair shape was one brought by W. Goodfellow in 1929. A pair of adults came to me, but they never settled down well and lived only a couple of years. In 1930 an immature cock (they attain their full plumage when two years old) arrived at the Berlin Zoo. The following year it assumed its full plumage and lived until July, 1932. Although rather 62 J. DELAGOUR - THE WATTLED PHEASANT wild this bird often displayed in his aviary, and Dr. O. Heinroth described its courtship, accompanied by a sketch made from a photo¬ graph in UOiseau , 1938, pp. 265-7.1 Dr. Beebe had witnessed a part of the display of a wild bird, but the complete performance was first known by Dr. Heinroth’s observa¬ tions. I and other aviculturists have seen it since. The white tail feathers, very wide but extremely flat, are pressed closely against one another, on each side. Instead of looking like a perpendicular wheel, as in the Peacock, the tail forms a vertical disk, thin as paper, spread along the length of the body, which itself appears like a black ball all dotted with sparkling blue spots. The neck is completely drawn in and the beak becomes invisible. The head is hidden by the distended blue caruncles, with a scarlet spot in the centre, formed by the eye surrounded by a red ring. The caruncles develop in a scythe-shaped, elongated band, protruding 4 inches or more above and below the eye, with a black dot at each end. They are spread in such a way only for a few seconds at a time, when the hen comes just in front of the cock. He then jumps to her and makes his feathers vibrate, the outer rectrices raking the soil, with a guttural call. The whole performance sounds incredible to anyone who has not watched it. ; Although I never possessed or saw a really tame Wattled Pheasant I have been able to see my birds display from a hide or at some distance. In 1939 Mr. Shaw Mayer brought over four pairs of Wattled Pheasants in good health. Two pairs came to Cleres and they were in perfect condition in June, 1940, when they were lost in the turmoil of the German invasion. The other two pairs went to Mr. Spedan Lewis’s aviaries in England, where they still live to-day. But so far they have not yet attempted to breed. The Dyak natives of Borneo told Dr. Beebe that, like the Argus, Wattled Pheasants laid two eggs in each clutch. But on account of their close relationship with Kalijs and Firebacks it seems difficult to believe this statement. This makes it the more urgent and interesting to make these lovely birds nest in captivity, as another one of the mysteries of nature could then be solved. We shall have to try again after victory. Wattled Pheasants come from a warm country and are not hardy in Europe and North America, except the southern sections. They ought, however, to stand perfectly well the climate of South California. At Cleres they were slightly heated during the winter, but let out any day when temperature was above freezing. 1 Dr. Heinroth’s account of this species and its display, with the accompanying coloured drawing, was reprinted from Journal fur Ornithologie in the Avicultural Magazine, July, 1938. A. F. MOODY - BIRDS IN THE SCRAMPSTON COLLECTION 63 AN EARLY ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE PERCHING BIRDS IN THE SCAMPSTON COLLECTION By A. F. Moody Foreword In response to an appeal by the Editor for copy I submit with con¬ siderable diffidence some particulars taken many years ago of some of the perching birds in the Scampston Hall collection owned by the late Mr. W. H. St. Quintin. In presenting these notes as written at the time I do not claim that the treatment of the different species mentioned is the best or the only way of keeping them successfully in captivity. On the contrary, many aviculturists may have succeeded by different methods where we have failed, or only partially succeeded ; I have merely tried to give a simple description of the ways and means employed to keep many interesting and valuable birds, apparently in the best of health and condition, in some cases for many years together, leaving it to the reader to decide in his own mind what he would have done or left undone had he been treating the same subjects. In dealing with the different species it will be observed that I have in no case attempted to describe fully the birds, their habitat, or their habits, but have dealt chiefly with such matters as may be useful or upon the behaviour of birds from my own observation ; also that although my acquaintance with several of the species mentioned was limited and confined to one or two examples only I have thought it better to include such knowing, as I think that every scrap of practical information is usually acceptable to the possessor of a new and rare bird. Finally, as I had for many years the care of this private collection of living birds, and devoted the whole of my time to their welfare, I venture to put the results of my experiences forward hoping that it may help to stimulate the love of aviculture and that possibly the amateur may find at least some of the hints useful. As giving some idea of the geographical and climatic conditions under which the birds of this collection have thrived or otherwise, I would say that, roughly speaking, the parish of Scampston, East Yorks, is 17 miles inland (S.W.) from Scarborough, and about 212 north of London ; that it is situated about 100 feet above sea-level near the middle of a flat valley some few miles wide (known as the valley of the Derwent) and midway between the Yorkshire Wolds and the Cleveland Hills. Its average rainfall during a certain five years appears to be about 26 inches per annum, and although a winter is usually passed without 64 A. F. MOODY - BIRDS IN THE SGRAMPSTON COLLECTION more than 2 5 degrees of frost being registered, the extreme maximum and minimum temperature during a similar period ranged from 4 degrees below zero to 89 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. The chief advantages of this site from an aviculturist’s point of view is that it is well wooded, watered, and possessed of a light sandy ; soil ; advantages, however, which are to some extent marred by an extremely variable temperature, a very frequent cold, damp night atmosphere, and the usual late springs. In apologizing for the extraordinary late appearance of these notes I can only say that they were intended chiefly as a personal record, a further excuse for now unearthing such ancient history is a belief that nature stories never become old-fashioned, and although I have had the care of a great number of other examples and species in the Lilford collection since these particulars were written, and have, it is to be hoped, learned much, there appears nothing in these old notes that require special contradictions, or that should not be helpful to the beginner. In conclusion I would like to say that it would be inexcusable on my part to lay claim to the successful treatment of the Scampston birds without paying tribute to the guidance and co-opera¬ tion of their owner, the late Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, a keen ornithologist and aviculturist, too. Thrushes, Softbills, etc. There are few representatives of this numerous family that have been kept here, but to avoid repetition with this as with other groups of birds whose members possess various wants in common, it may not be out of place, before taking each species separately, to put forward a few remarks that generally concern the whole. In this instance, I dare say, the aviary, diet, and the treatment that suits one Thrush would with various modifications suit all. As to the size, pattern, etc., of the aviary, that may be left largely to the owner’s taste, but as a rule this class of bird appreciates a certain amount of natural cover, such as one or two of the commoner evergreen bushes, and if wintered outside, need access to a dry shed, whilst whatever the arrangement for the outer flight, it is advisable for these and similar feeding birds to include a plot of turf from which during damp weather a certain amount of natural food is obtainable. Part grass and part fine gravel or shingle Is an excellent arrangement which will, with a large stone or rock in addition to the wooden or natural perches, help to keep the occupants5 bills and feet in order. Also, for an aviary stocked with this description of birds I have found it an excellent plan to provide just within the door of their outer flight a clean swept patch or large tray, and upon this deposit daily, or as convenient, a spadeful of rubbish such as a loose turf with the soil attached. This affords the birds much pleasure, and if just broken or occasionally turned, it is A. F. MOODY - BIRDS IN THE SGRAMPSTON COLLECTION 65 astonishing the amount of insect life that a Thrush, Hoopoe, or Wagtail will extract from it. Food. — Concerning a useful general artificial food for insectivorous birds, there are undoubtedly several good preparations upon the market, so without recommending one more than another I will simply state that enriched by the addition of a few best ants’ eggs we have successfully used as a foundation for some years a dry preparation known under the name of Cecto. This we prepared by scalding with just as much hot water as it would absorb, say, a tablespoonful of the dry mixture placed in a cup, afterwards adding and stirring in dry, a small teaspoonful of preserved yolk of egg. In the case of any species that cared for fruit we also added a liberal sprinkling of grocers’ currants or sultanas previous to the preserved egg, items which are better scalded separately from the mixture or which may be prepared during cool weather by soaking over night in a glass of cold water. Feeding. — With reference to the feeding of the various soft bills and their allies, most species appear to require food continually before them, and in supplying fruits and moistened artificials of the nature described I would recommend the use only of glass or earthenware vessels, also that these be thoroughly washed and cleansed before each meal. Rearing. — In the matter of rearing young insectivorous birds in confinement whose parents will carry to them living food only, I have found no better plan than to provide a moderately large zinc bath or glazed hand-bowl (it is advisable that the birds should have become accustomed to the sight of this receptacle some days before hatching), and into this throw a continual supply of mealworms, gentles, wasp grubs, etc. (the latter two items are excellent), or such creeping crawling creatures as can be collected with a shovel from beneath large stones, logs of wood, etc. Redwing ( Turdus musicus ) Linn. Four examples for about a year, kept in an outdoor aviary. Behaviour , etc. — Being wild caught and kept in a large place, they remained wild and suspicious, but gave one the impression of being excellent doers in captivity. Breeding. — Did not go to nest ; but from the male’s habit of singing from an exposed twig, and other indications of courtship during the spring, the probabilities are that they would have nested had they been tried a second season. Rock Thrush ( Monticola saxatilis ) Linn. A cheerful and active species kept here for many years. Appearance, Habits, etc. — A species reminding one more of a Chat than a true Thrush. The male in breeding plumage, in addition to being 6 / 66 A. F. MOODY— BIRDS IN THE SGRAMPSTON COLLECTION a very handsome and showy bird, possesses a song of considerable merit. As to their habits generally, the species is very much at home upon the ground amidst rocks, large stones, etc., and I have frequently noticed, tries when alarmed to escape observation by an ingenious trick of crouching facing one with as small a front as possible presented. Breeding. — The Pied Rock Thrush like the next species, is a hole breeder, although we have chiefly kept but an odd male or two (the last example died at the age of nearly fourteen years) and only once reared a young bird to the feathering stage. The females nest readily in suitable sized boxes affixed to the inner wall of their shed. Eggs. — Five or six in number — pale blue, sparsely freckled at the larger end with minute dots of rusty red, and somewhat smaller in size than those of the Song Thrush. Hardiness.' — We have found it convenient to winter examples indoors as cage birds, but should imagine the species to be tolerably hardy. Blue Rock Thrush ( Monticola cyanus) Linn. One of the most desirable of the Thrushes to keep. The males in addition to possessing a sweet and charming song are attractive in appearance and habits. The species also thrives well in captivity ; a statement that I may substantiate by adding that until recently we possessed two males aged nine and thirteen years respectively. Breeding. — We have but once possessed a female, a bird that repeatedly nested, laid (usually clear eggs), and incubated, but on the two occasions when young were hatched, proved a most indifferent mother by throwing the newly emerged chicks from the nest. Nesting Habits. — Similar to those of the last species. Eggs. — Usually six in number ; indistinguishable from those of the common Starling were it not for the presence of a few minute rusty specks near the larger end. Hardiness. — Susceptible to cold combined with damp, losing condi¬ tion and developing a huskiness if left out of doors too late in the autumn. Himalayan Whistling Thrush ( Myiophoneus temmincki) A male kept here for about eight months, parted with, April, 1913. Appearance. — A handsome long-legged bird about the size of a Jackdaw. General colour of plumage— blackish, relieved with certain whitish specks or markings, and shot with azure blue reflection. Habits , etc. — -Except for certain carnivorous propensities (capturing and devouring mice, small birds, etc.) and a rather curious and oft- repeated habit of jerking the tail up and down, and then slowly spreading it laterally or fan shaped, the behaviour of this example appeared very similar to that of our common Blackbird. A. F. MOODY - BIRDS IN THE SGRAMPSTON COLLECTION 6j Food and Hardiness. — With the addition of a small quantity of animal food, thrived upon the usual softbills fare, and wintered satisfactorily when confined to an open (wire) fronted shed. Voice. — A single loud shrill whistle or alarm note, and a rather subdued bubbling song. White-spotted Bluethroat ( Luscinia suecica cyanecula) Meisner At different times we have possessed several of these interesting little Warblers. They do not appear particularly difficult to maintain in health, and one at least thrived with us for some years. Habits. — Referring to the Bluethroat’s behaviour in confinement, they appear to care little for fruit, but are great earthworm and insect eaters, and during the summer months may frequently be observed diligently searching a heap of refuse (supplied turf, etc.) for the former, or by means of short excursions into the air, capturing the latter, after the manner of a spotted Flycatcher. Breeding. — Until quite recently we have possessed no female, but referring to a particular vigorous male which we confined in an aviary for some months with a female Robin ; he sang his best, became most amorous and would no doubt have bred had it not have been that his charms were overlooked for the attentions of a wild male Redbreast outside. Hardiness. — Appears to require artificial heat during the winter. Redbreast ( Erithacus rubecula) Linn. As it is possible that few people have given this very familiar, and what I may term every-day bird an opportunity of breeding in confine¬ ment, I may record that the female referred to under the heading of the last species, before being liberated, nested and produced eggs. Temminck’s Robin ( Erithacus komadori) Male received June, 1914, still living 1916. Appearance. — A bold handsome bird about the size of our English Robin, and chiefly conspicuous by his rich chestnut or foxy red back, black sides and breast, and whitish under parts. Habits , Requirements , etc. — Appears possessed of a song of consider¬ able merit and to thrive as a house cage bird when treated similarly to allied species. {To be continued.) v * * * 68 LIEUT. LANE AND PROFESSOR K. WODZIGKI — • A VISIT TO THE OHAU RIVER ESTUARY, NEW ZEALAND ON 12th MARCH, 1944 By Lieut. Lane and Professor K. Wodzicki The Ohau River is one of several which water the western slopes of the Tararua Range, north of Wellington, and which drain into the Tasman Sea. The Ohau River ranks third after the much larger Manawatu and Otaki rivers, and is situated some forty miles north of Wellington on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. We left at about 9 a.m. from Wellington by the main road, and after passing Otaki we took a side road towards the coast. After walking the last mile or so we reached the beach at 11.15 a.m. The weather was mainly fair to fine, with an occasional warm drizzle, while the whole country north and south of the estuary was swept by intermittent heavy showers. The main road from Wellington to the place where we took the beach road presents little, if anything, of interest to an ornithologist. The last five or six miles to the beach run through an undulating plain, occupied by several typical dairy farms, all of which are sheltered by groups of the favourite macrocarpa or a few pine trees. All that coastal plain is supposed to have belonged formerly to the sea, which geologically speaking has retreated a comparatively short time ago. About a mile or two from the beach the rolling hillocks take the shape of sand-dunes, some ancient and some more recently formed. The majority of the latter are already well held, partly with lupins and partly with that typical New Zealand curse, the imported gorse. All this part is uninhabited save for a few “ bachs ” and a fisherman’s household. With the white, sandy, wild beach with its well-defined tidemark, these features form the biggest attraction of that still very primitive part of the New Zealand coast. The last range of dunes — i.e. that closest to the sea — is still in the process of building. These dunes are mostly covered with imported marram or a native sand grass. The coastal belt of dunes forms the home of the majority of the intro¬ duced birds observed, while the estuary proper — i.e. the mouth of the Ohau River and the considerable tidal flats — is the congregating place for several species of native sea and shore birds. The estuary proper has the typical conformation of estuaries in this part of New Zealand ; the river flows to the south, then to the west and north, between three different sandbanks which are partly flooded with water at high tide. The following are the main species of introduced and native birds which were seen or heard during our four to five hours’ stay : — The lists are not arranged systematically. A VISIT TO THE OHAU RIVER ESTUARY, NEW ZEALAND 69 A. Introduced Birds ( 1 ) White-eye (Zosterops lateralis ) . Australian species self-introduced about i860, now widely spread all over the country. A flock of at least ten birds in the lupin-gorse scrub. (2) Hedgesparrow (. Prunella modularis). Two or three birds heard in the scrub close to the beach. (3) Blackbird ( Turdus merula) . Three or four birds seen close to the farms and also in the scrub close to the dunes. The presence of a ! juvenile bird seems to indicate that they may be breeding there. (4) Thrush ( Turdus ericetorum) . Not so plentiful, only two birds seen. ; (5) Skylark (. Alauda arvensis). Several birds seen on the way to the estuary, but fewer than at other estuaries. (6) Yellow Hammer (Ember iza citrinella). Present on the dunes. A couple of birds seen. (7) Goldfinch ( Carduelis carduelis). Plentiful all over the coastal plain in flocks. A flock of over a dozen birds recorded on the coastal dunes. (8) Chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs ). Almost certainly heard and probably present in the coastal scrub. (9) Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) . Common ; a flock of a score of birds observed. (10) Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina leuconota). The White-backed Magpie is an introduced bird from Australia, which in a short time has established itself all over the country. It is quite plentiful all along the western coast of the North Island, in pairs or sometimes in flocks of up to five birds. An interesting feature of our outing was two Magpies attacking a Hawk (Circus appro ximans) . B. Native Birds (11) New Zealand Pipit (Anthus novceseelandice). Present on the beach. We had a very fine view of a pair feeding ashore among drifted logs. (12) Harrier (Circus approximans) . The Harrier or Hawk is one of the commonest New Zealand birds, which since the clearing of the bush and the introducing of pastoral conditions has not only spread all over the country but has also increased in numbers. In spite of the premiums offered by the Acclimatization Societies for its destruction it is still numerous almost everywhere except in heavy bushland, and one can see them even on barren country. A single bird was seen at Ohau estuary. (13) Shag or Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). This ubiquitous species is the most common of all New Zealand Shags and is well spread all over the country, on lakes and the larger rivers, and especially on the coast near the estuaries. It nests like many other Shags, in big colonies, one of them existing close to Wellington, in Golland’s Valley. As in many other parts of the world, this Shag is 70 LIEUT. LANE AND PROFESSOR K. WODZIGKI - supposed to be very destructive, especially with regard to trout and every year large numbers are destroyed by Acclimatization Societies and other people. Owing to that fact the bird is extremely cautious. We had a beautiful sight of some twenty-eight birds resting on a bluff north of the river mouth proper or diving on the tide-flats. (14) Black-backed Gull ( Larus dominicanus). This is the biggest of the three species of New Zealand Gulls and also the most plentiful along the coast of both islands, in the harbours, and also on estuaries. It nests in huge colonies, the nearest to Wellington on the two islands off the west coast — Mana and Kapiti. It has increased recently in numbers owing to a plentiful supply of food, especially near the freezing works and also probably to a lack of natural enemies. Quite frequently one can observe on the estuaries flocks ranging to several hundreds. Like some other Gulls, it becomes mature in the third year ; the one-year-old birds are almost black, while in the second and third year the plumage becomes more and more white. It is a shrewd bird, especially when collecting at low tide the so-called “ pi-pis ”, i.e. flat mussels, which it drops from a height of some 60 to 70 feet in order to break the shells and get hold of the contents. Some thirty- five to forty birds were observed, including several of this year’s brood. (15) Red-billed Gull [Larus novahollandia). The two smaller New Zealand Gulls, i.e. the Red-billed and the Black-billed Gull ( Larus bulleri ), the latter being mostly confined to the South Island, differ mostly in the colour of their bills. The recognition of the latter species is supposed to be one of the tests of a budding New Zealand ornithologist. The Ohau estuary Gulls — about fifteen — all belonged to the Red-billed Gull species. (16) Caspian Tern ( Hydroprogne caspid). This world species is common all along the coast of both islands, but is never present in large quantities. We were delighted to see some six or seven birds in their gracious, head-nodding flight. They included a couple of young birds of this spring’s hatching with their grey caps. The Caspian Tern breeds on bars or bluffs, the nearest being north of Wellington in the Wairarapa province, near Cape Palliser. (17) White-fronted Tern [Sterna striata). This graceful little Tern is very common on the estuaries of the North Island, especially in winter-time, sometimes in numbers ranging up to several hundreds. It associates itself with the Caspian and with the Black-fronted Tern [Sterna albistriata) . Some seven to ten birds were observed, resting ashore. (18) Banded Dotterel [Charadrius bicinctus). Owing to its minute size this bird has never been sought after much by New Zealand’s collectors or sportsmen, and its bright twitter throws a note of life into the boulders of the river beds and the sandbanks near the estuaries. A VISIT TO THE OHAU RIVER ESTUARY, NEW ZEALAND 7 1 It was gratifying to see more than a hundred birds, all in small flocks, spread over the tidal flats ; all in their eclipse plumage, a few males only having still a slight trace of the sternal band which in the Spring is black and red-brown. This species was recognized recently as partly migratory, large flocks of several hundreds of birds congregating in Auckland and north of it during the winter. Some of my observa¬ tions taken during a two-year period at Waikanae estuary, which is south of Ohau, proved this in disclosing peak numbers of these birds twice in the year, late in winter and during the autumn. Some birds, however, do not migrate or do not go so far to the north during the winter. It is likely that the birds observed at Ohau estuary were northbound birds. (19) North Island Oyster-catcher (Hamatopus reischeki ). Of the three species of Oyster-catchers this species differs from the Pied Oyster-catcher by its very small — if any — amount of white, and is also a little smaller than the Black Oyster-catcher, which is found mainly in the South Island. There were two birds feeding on one of the spits, which indicates that these birds were not breeding during the last season. (20) Pied Stilt ( Himantopus leucocephalus) . The Pied Stilt used to be one of the commonest birds frequenting New Zealand estuaries, marshes, and lakes, and is still fairly numerous. Its barking voice brings much life to such deserted places as the Ohau estuary. Like the Banded Dotterel it is supposed to move in big numbers to the north during the Autumn and Winter. The presence of several young birds with grey heads, a different, higher-pitched voice and lighter pink legs, indicates that these birds were breeding last season at the estuary. (21) Grey Duck (Anas superciliosa) . A flock of about eleven birds was seen flying close to the estuary. (22) Lesser Golden Plover ( Pluvialis dominions)* Three most unusual birds were sighted several times by us during our stay at the estuary, feeding on the tide-flats. They were mixed with Banded Dotterels, but did not associate themselves with these or with any other birds. One of them seemed to be in summer plumage with a black throat and breast and a white patch on the sides of the breast extending well into the abdomen. The mantle, back, and rump were olive-buff*, while the short tail appeared brown-buff with some white, possibly in the undercoverts. His two companions were olive-brown streaked with lighter colour and a much lighter breast and abdomen, with no distinct white visible. Their flight was quick, similar to that of some of the Plovers. Their size was almost twice that of a Banded Dotterel. According to a discussion that I had with Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, Director of the Dominion Museum, it seems almost certain that we came across that species which is known and has been split into the 72 NOTES American Golden Plover (P. dominicus dominicus) and the Eastern Plover (P. dominicus fulvus ), distinguished by its shorter wings and tail, longer bill and legs and more conspicuous yellow spots. While the American species migrates to South America, the eastern species, breeding in Siberia and Alaska migrates to Eastern Asia, the Malay Archipelago, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Islands of the Pacific. (23) Pukeko ( Porphyrio melanotus). Though not present at Ohau, this Pacific Swamp Hen was sighted by us on our way back, at Waikanae. * * * NOTES Acclimatizing American Robins In the September-October, 1943, number, I said that I did not recollect seeing mention in the A.M. of the attempted acclimatization of American Robins. Never¬ theless, reference had been made. In A.M. 1910, pp. 104-5, the following was reproduced from the Daily Mail of 13th December, 1909 : — “the NEW ENGLISH BIRDS By W. Beach Thomas An experiment, an endeavour, dear to every English naturalist, has reached another stage of success. More than one account of earlier stages has been given in the Daily Mail. It will be remembered that in the early part of last year a dozen American “ Robins ”, or more properly Thrushes, were brought over to England and kept in a large aviary in a country garden. When breeding time came they duly nested in the aviary, but congregation is not congenial with the family system ; many of the clutches were broken, and none likely to be hatched. When this was dis¬ covered, the eggs were taken out as they were laid and put into the nests of wild Thrushes and Blackbirds ; some few pairs of “ Robins ” were enlarged. The success of both systems was such that the dozen Robins were multiplied eight-fold at the end of the summer . . . So far, so good. The English summer, as breathed in the shine and shade of a beautiful garden, proved thoroughly sympathetic with the American birds. They fed and bred and flourished without disturbance from their neighbours or their surroundings . . . Will they remain ? The pleasing fact is now to be chronicled that up to 1 oth December, they have remained. One migrating period, so far as it has any definite date, is over. Many Blackbirds and Thrushes have gone to France. Flocks of male birds have launched themselves from the shores of Kent southwards and eastwards. But the hundred “ Robins ”, though many have wandered from their garden centre, have not congregated or flown away.” The concluding paragraph is strangely at variance with the recent account in the Countryman. A. A. P. A Parrot House Mystery The Zoological Society’s collection has been impoverished by the theft of two Senegal Parrots. One Sunday (12th March) one was abstracted from its cage, and three days later a second was “ borrowed ”. One was quite an old favourite, having been in the Gardens for twenty years. A. A. P. NOTES 73 Colour Vision Birds, speaking generally, are credited with a very limited range of colour vision. Experiments with domestic poultry and Pigeons tend to show that red, yellow, and green are in this range, that blue is seen with some difficulty and violet not at all. In view of the infinite colour variations of plumage in birds one would naturally assume that their vision was very complete in this respect, but this does not appear to be the case. Colour must count for a great deal among birds as witness the frequent contrasts in colour between the sexes and the manner in which males display during courtship. This point is explained by Professor J. Arthur Thomson in his book The Minds of Animals. He writes : “ ... it is necessary to try to discriminate between the particular colour as colour and its brilliance as a reflector of light in general and of ultra-violet rays in particular. In many cases it may be the pattern that impresses itself on the eye of the impressionable animal, and the pattern may be marked out by different intensities of surface-reflection. These intensities may be perceived though the colours as such are not distinguished.” Some species, however, seem to be appreciative of colour — even blue. It has often been stated that Satin Bower-birds show a decided perference for blue in their decorative schemes. Blue is mentioned by David Fleay in A.M. , 1943, p. 123 — “ Parrot feathers, pieces of blue chocolate paper, and blue glass lying about at the front door.” Again Neville W. Cayley, describing a Satin Bower-bird’s bower in What Bird is That?, p. 15 — “ Scattered over the platform, but rarely in the bower, are various decorations, chiefly coloured blue, yellowish-green, and olive-brown, and consisting of feathers, berries, flowers, leaves, pieces of glass, blue-bags, snail-shells, and cicada larvae shells.” A. E. L. Bertling, at the time Head Keeper of the Zoological Society’s Gardens, carried out some experiments in this connection with Bower-birds and writes in the A.M. , 1904, p. 236 : — “ The two examples now in the Zoological Society’s collection which, I regret to say, are both males, certainly give the choice to blue, as, a few days back, I cut up a small quantity of bright-coloured cloth, consisting of red, pink, and two shades of blue, which I scattered round the bower in the outdoor compartment of their aviary ; but, on visiting the place shortly after, I discovered that they had removed the whole of the blue strips to a bower they were constructing in the interior compartment of their domicile, whilst the red and pink remained outside. “Is there any connection between their preference for blue and the brilliant blue of their eyes, which is a colour seldom found in birds or mammals except as a sport or in a few domestic species ? ” It would be interesting if members who have noticed any particular preference for certain colours by any of their birds would communicate their experiences. A. A. P. Horresco referens The worst has happened. Of course we knew that it would eventually, but the shock is severe, nevertheless. The Crested Budgerigar has made its appearance on the show bench — only in Australia, as yet. The crest is described as being the size of a sixpence, right on the forehead. A. A. P. Lovebird Hybrids There is, at present, in the Parrot House at the London Zoological Gardens, a Lovebird hybrid labelled as Nyasa X Masked. In answer to an inquiry the depositor writes that this is a mistake, the bird actually being a Nyasa X Blackcheek. The error on the part of the authorities is easily understood ; at the time this hybrid was deposited a male Nyasa and a female Masked were also deposited and, presumably, these were taken to be the parents, but this was not the case. Several of the Lovebird hybrids are so very similar that unless the parentage is known it is a matter of mere conjecture. A. A. P. 74 CORRESPONDENCE CORRESPONDENCE BREEDING RECORDS Shortly after the war I propose publishing a revised edition of Dr. Hopkinson’s invaluable compilation “ Records of Birds Bred in Captivity That this may be as complete as possible I would earnestly request readers of the Avicultural Magazine to send me any records, British or foreign, they may have noticed omitted from the first edition (1926), and subsequent records they think may have passed unnoticed. Arthur A. Prestwich. Chelmsford Road, Southgate, N. 14. SPARROW-HAWK ATTACKING CAGE BIRDS On 1 8th March, 1 944, I was feeding my birds in a large upstairs room overlooking the garden and sea ; while filling their drinker I heard a great commotion. On turning round, I saw what at first I took to be an early Cuckoo perched on one of my Goldfinch’s cages. I walked up to it (so close I could have touched it), and found it was a Sparrow Hawk. I always thought these birds were very shy, but I had great difficulty in persuading it to leave the cage. When it did so, it quietly flew straight out of the window. On the 26th March it again came just into the room, but I chased it away. It was fortunate the first time it came I was there, for I have been in the habit of leaving all the windows wide open. The birds I have in the room are Canaries (some sitting, due to hatch this week) Goldfinches, odd Canaries, and Goldfinch- Canary mules. I might mention there are birds of all kinds in the garden. Finches of all sorts, Robins, Wagtails, Tits, Wrens, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Woodpeckers, etc. A. A. Pearse (Mrs.), F.Z.S. Channel View, Bembridge, Isle of Wight. SATIN BOWER BIRDS Further evidence in support of the contention that the Satin Bower Bird shows a preference for blue is to be found in an article reproduced from the Australian Naturalist, July, 1914, in A.M., 1915, pp. 303-7. Mr. G. D. Stead, writing on Mr. G. A. Heumann’s aviaries at Beecroft, N.S.W., says “ The Satin Bower Birds are said to have a decided penchant for the colour of blue, both in the aviary and in a wild state, decorating their bowers or playgrounds with any fragments of blue cloth, paper, or china, etc., or flowers, if available. Mr. Heumann says he has invariably found the bowers in a state of nature, decorated specially with one small blue flower. The irides of this bird are of a blue colour, and it is suggested that perhaps this preference, if such really exists throughout the species, is due to the fact that their mates’ eyes are blue. “ In this connection it is worthy of note that a Bower, described by Leach in p. 185 of his Australian Bird Book, was decorated with blue flowers from the school garden, pieces of blue paper, blue hair-ribbon, besides blue Parrot’s feathers. Campbell, in his Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, p. 193 (footnote), says : ‘ Mr. I. W. De Lany informs me that he has only noticed blue feathers at bowers. His wife, by way of experiment, put out several pieces of coloured wools near the house, and only the blue ones were taken to the bower.’ “ A quotation which the same author makes from the MS. of Herman Law, in regard to the occurrence of the bird in Southern Queensland, seems to indicate that the habit is not quite universal, because bowers are there mentioned as being decorated with ‘ Yellow and blue Lory Parrots’ feathers ’, etc. “ This Bower Bird’s liking for blue is evidently well established, however, and is worthy of attention.” A. A. Prestwich. Chelmsford Road, Southgate, N. 14. CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION Mrs. Elizabeth Shotter, 4 Vicarage Drive, Sheen, S.W. 14. Proposed by Henry C. Venning. Flight-Lieut. G. M. Sparrow, J.P., Radleigh House, Village Road, Enfield, Middx. Proposed by E. Maud Knobel. RE-JOINED Ronald Stevens, Crown Hotel, Orford Ness, Suffolk. DONATIONS R. C. Witting . . £1 Gerald Iles . . . £1 CHANGES OF ADDRESS E. Bernard Potter, M.B., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., F.Z.S., to 69 Wimpole Street, W. 1. Francis L. Wenke, to 115 N. 20th Street, Olean, N.Y., U.S.A. Miss Ida Roberts, to Aberfeldi, Davey Street, Hobart, Tasmania. MEMBERS’ ADVERTISEMENTS The charge for Members' advertisements is one penny per word. Payment must accompany the advertisement , which must be sent on or before the 20th of the month to Miss E. Maud Knobel, 86 Regent’s Park Road, N.W. i. All members of the Society, are entitled to use this column , but the Council reserves the right to refuse any advertisements they consider unsuitable. FOR SALE Free delivery White Millet, 22s. lb. ; yellow Millet, 20.5-. lb. ; good microscope and slides, £5 ; book on Parrots by Russ, £1. — Percy House, Scotton, near Knaresbo rough, Yorkshire. Greene’s Favourite Foreign Birds, 3 s. 6d. ; Notes on Cage Birds, 6^. 6d. ; Feathered Friends, 7 s. 6d. ; Birds I Have Kept, ioj. 6d. ; Parrots in Captivity, vols. i and ii, £3 ; Bechstein’s Cage and Chamber Birds, 12 s. 6d. ; Pycraft’s Book of Birds, ioi'. 6d. ; Sharpe’s A Chapter on Birds , ioi1. Qd. ; Harting’s Summer Migrants, 8^. 6d. ; Wood’s Homes without Hands, 8^. 6d. ; Sharpe’s Wonders of the Bird World, 7 s. 6d. ; Foreign Bird Club’s Bird Notes, assorted, js. 6d. doz. ; Peglar’s Book of the Goat, io.y. 6d. ; Postage extra. — John Frostick, 26 Minster Precincts, Peterborough. WANTED Books Wanted. — Avicultural Magazine , 1895, 1897, 1898; Aviculture, U.S.A. Magazine, all vols. ; Foreign Birds, Vols. 1-7 ; Vogel Ferner Lander, all vols. ; Aviculture, vol. ii ; Parrakeets , Their Care and Breeding (pub. U.S.A.). — A. A. Prestwich, Chelmsford Road, Southgate, N. 14. Absolutely Indispensable to Aviculturists . . . “ AVICULTURE,” Vol. I, £1 Os. 9 d. ( Vols . II and III out of print.) A mine of information on birds of all kinds, compiled by leading authorities on every branch of aviculture. -k “ Index Guide to the Avicultural Magazine, 1894-1930.” By E. H. 55. To be obtained from: ' MESSRS. STEPHEN AUSTIN & SONS, LTD., 1 FORE STREET, HERTFORD, HERTS. For back numbers of the Avicultural Magazine apply also to the Publishers at the above address. ★ The originals of the plates published in the Avicultural Magazine may be, in most cases, purchased ; apply to the Secretary : MISS KNOBEL, 86 REGENT’S PARK ROAD, LONDON, N.W.l. STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, HERTFORD. AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE ai'ilAiS IftSii j MAY 12 1948 j WATERFOWL NUMBER CONTENTS Artificial Goose Nests Again {with plate), by John Berry Asiatic Grey-lag Goose, by A. F. Moody ...... Hand-rearing Fresh-water Ducklings, by Ronald Stevens . Breeding of the Pink-footed Goose in Captivity in the U.S.A., by Clarence L Sibley ........... The Red-breasted Merganser {Mergus senator) at Lilford, by A. F. Moody Thoughts upon Sea Ducks in Captivity ( with plates ), by Major Gavin Maxwell Variation of Colour of Blue Geese ( with plate), by C. L. Sibley Full-winged Tree Ducks, by John Yealland ..... Geese and other Birds at Sunnyfields Farm, Connecticut, by Clarence L Sibley ........... Obituary — Thomas Henry Newman ...... Notes ............ Correspondence . . . . . . . . PAGE 75 79 80 84 86 87 89 90 91 97 97 97 fifth series VOL. IX No. 4 PRICE 5/- JULY-AUGUST 1944 THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Founded i8g4 President : A. EZRA, Esq., O.B.E. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION is £1 per annum, due on ist January each year, and payable in advance. (Entrance fee io/-, suspended during the War.) THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE is published bi-monthly and sent free to members. Members joining at any time during the year are entitled to back numbers for the current year, on the payment of subscription. Subscriptions, Changes of Address, Names of Candidates for Membership, etc., should be sent to — The Honorary Secretary and Treasurer , Tel. : Primrose 0247. MISS E. MAUD KNOBEL, 86 Regent’s Park Road, London, N.W. 1. ALL MATTER FOR PUBLICATION IN THE MAGAZINE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO— The Editor , MSS PHYLLIS BARCL AY-SMITH, F.Z.S., 51 Warwick Avenue, Tel. : Cunningham 3006. London, W. 9. The price of the Magazine to non-members is 5 s. post free per copy, or £1 105. for the year. Orders for the Magazine, extra copies, and back numbers (from 1917) should be sent to the publishers, Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, 1 Fore Street, Hertford. Tel. : Hertford 9546/2547. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Avic. Mag. 1944. Copyright ] [John Berry Bernicle Goose lining an Artificial Nest with her own Flank Feathers and Down Copyright ] [John Berry Pinkfoot Gosling about 20 hours after Hatching Frontispiece] AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Fifth Series. — Vol. IX. — No. 4. — All rights reserved. JULY-AUGUST, 1944 ARTIFICIAL GOOSE NESTS AGAIN Further Observations on the Breeding Psychology of Wild Geese By John Berry In the Waterfowl number of the Avicultural Magazine for May- June, 1943, I described how wild geese of various species appeared to have been induced to lay eggs by the provision of artificial decoy nests. These geese at Tayfield, Fife, are kept in a bare park which lacks ground resembling the nesting territory natural to most species. Before 1942, very few geese had ever attempted to breed, although some pairs had been in the park for many years. But in May of that year a number of artificial nests was made, and no less than fifteen were adopted by geese, eight of which subsequently proceeded with the incubation of eggs. Because of increased feeding difficulties, some of the breeding pairs of geese had to be disposed of before the spring of 1943, but I was keen to repeat the artificial nest-making experiment for those that remained. When I got home for Easter leave, the first nest-making success had already been achieved with a pair of Egyptian Geese. These birds were newcomers to Tayfield, having been sent there by a friend in the previous autumn. They did not prove very welcome guests, for they took up their abode in a duck-pond enclosure where they bullied the ducks and almost killed a Redbreasted Goose and a South African Shelduck. Attempts to catch and evict them were unsuccessful, but at the beginning of April they disappeared of their own accord. Early on the morning of 20th April, the occupant of a cottage near Tayfield went to let out and feed her hens. From within the hen¬ house came a series of most unusual noises, and further investigation revealed the two Egyptians who had taken possession of it, presumably with the intention of nesting. Having heard of my successful nest¬ making in 1942, the owner of the hens now kindly made an imitation nest of straw to which she enticed the geese with grain and porridge. 7 76 J. BERRY - ARTIFICIAL GOOSE NESTS AGAIN Later in the day the goose settled down on the nest, and by the following morning the first of eleven eggs had been laid. On 29th May I was told that the eggs were expected to hatch within twenty- four hours, because when the bird had left the nest that morning as usual for some grain, the eggs were all big end upwards in the nest, instead of lying on their sides as formerly. Three eggs were unfertile, but the other eight hatched during the following day, and the brood left the nest for good on the 31st. On 24th April I set about making artificial goose nests for the park geese as in the previous year. I thought it fully early in the season for any geese to use the nests, except perhaps a Greylag, but by the very next morning, Easter Day, a nest had been occupied by a pair of Bernicles and a real Easter egg had been laid. This nesting site was the most artificial of all, being a built-up mound of stones and turf at the root of an oak tree. It had been occupied in 1942 by a pair of Blue Snow Geese. Four days later I saw another pair of Bernicles running from one artificial nest to another. They were making a great deal of noise, and it seemed that the goose had quite suddenly determined to lay, but could not decide on a site. The pair inspected the root of a lime tree where they had successfully hatched a brood in 1942. There an almost identical artificial nest again awaited them. But after about an hour and a half, they seemed to make up their minds in favour of a new nest at the root of a lone silver fir a couple of hundred yards away. The whole time they were inspecting nesting sites this pair of Bernicles were followed hither and thither by their devoted family of the previous year. When at last the goose decided on the silver fir site, she sat down in the artificial nest and began at once remaking it to her own liking. The “ children ” appeared puzzled by their mother’s extraordinary behaviour ; they stood round the nest craning their, necks and uttering querulous cries. Their father, who had always hitherto behaved as an affectionate parent, now went for two young ganders and chased them away. In the meantime, a young goose had got into the nest and sat down beside her mother. After a minute or so her presence seemed suddenly to be noticed, and she was evicted violently. From then on the father stood on guard beside the nest, and would not permit any of his offspring to come within twenty yards. I was sorry for the young brood, and feared that I was going to lose them. For they consorted with a wild Bernicle which had frequented the park since the previous November, and with it they now took to flying daily to the perilous foreshores of the estuary. One glorious morning early in May the whole party set off on migra¬ tion. After circling higher and higher above the trees, with much calling, they were seen to leave, flying almost due north in V-formation. J. BERRY - ARTIFICIAL GOOSE NESTS AGAIN 77 One young goose was back before evening. Although less than a year old, she seemed more or less paired with a pinioned two-year-old Bernicle X Greylag hybrid,1 which may account for her early return. But within the next twenty-four hours all her brethren had also come back, although their wild leader has not since been seen. When I was next at Tay field on 13th May I found that the Bernicle X Greylag hybrid and his young Bernicle mate were guarding an artificial nest in a charred tree-stump, and were driving away an unmated Bernicle Goose who had laid in that nest in 1942. On the afternoon of the next day, while the two young geese had left the nest to drink and wash in a pool at some distance, the unmated Bernicle took possession and refused to be removed. On 21st May she was sitting on four eggs and was lining her nest with down and feathers pulled, as usual, from the flank wing pockets. Meanwhile the hybrid and his year-old mate were guarding another artificial nest near by, and they continued to do so for more than a fortnight. Only one other artificial nest was adopted in 1943. It was taken by an old Bean Goose. She did not choose the same site as in the previous year, but a similar site about seventy yards away. There she sat on five unfertile eggs from 17th May until almost the end of June. A Greylag, a Lesser Snow, and two pairs of Blue Snow Geese, all of which nested in 1942, showed no desire to do so again in 1943. The Greylag and Lesser Snow Geese had both lost their ganders during the autumn and winter, and the Blue Snows were still devoting undiminished attention to members of their last year’s broods. The first pair of Bernicles hatched two goslings, from three eggs, on 24th May, and the second pair hatched a full clutch of five on 31st May. For seven and five nights respectively after the goslings first left their nests the parents took them back to the nests for brooding, from shortly after sunset until the dew had lifted next morning. In 1942 I noted that this was done for at least three nights after hatching by the Bernicles, but not by the Blue Snows ; nor have I noted it for any other species. By 6th June it seemed evident that all nesting was over for the season. As the unoccupied nests were continually being scattered untidily by poultry, they were all now removed. A fortnight later I was amazed to hear from my wife that she had found a Pinkfooted Goose on a nest. The only female of this species at Tayfield was a full-winged wild bird called “ Faithful She had never become really tame, yet she it was who had now become the first of her kind — so far as I am aware — ever to have nested in Scotland. While living at home during the autumn and winter of 1930, I caught quite a number of Pinkfooted Geese from wild flocks frequent¬ ing the Firth of Tay. Apart from a few birds whose wings were 1 See Avicultural Magazine, 1942, p. 83. 78 J. BERRY - ARTIFICIAL GOOSE NESTS AGAIN injured, none of these geese was pinioned. The flight feathers were cut, but after the next moult they were able to fly as before. I was little at home during the following snowy winters, feeding in the park was short, and the geese took to going further and further afield to seek their own food. Gradually rings began to be returned to me by wildfowlers who had shot the geese, but of “ Faithful ” I heard and saw nothing until the winter of 1934. Then, on returning to Tayfield for Christmas, I found her back in the park with four pinioned Pinkfooted ganders, all that remained of my former flock. Since then “ Faithful 55 has never appeared to contemplate migra¬ tion, and although always shy and ready to take wing, she has never been away from the park for long. A possible reason for this has been the courtship of the four ganders. One of these is an unusually fine specimen called “ Samson ”. He weighed 8 lb. 6 oz. when I winged him in October, 1930. Although he had been courting “ Faithful ” for about seven years, I think that their first definite mating was not until May, 1942, and there was no indication of a desire to nest until “ Faithful ” was found sitting on two eggs on 1 6th June, 1943. The nest was little more than a scrape in a patch of gowan daisies under a hawthorn tree just inside the duckpond enclosure. Through¬ out incubation the goose was never seen to leave the nest and the pinioned gander stood on guard as close to her as the fence of the enclosure permitted. One of the eggs proved unfertile, but the other hatched on 9th July. On the following day the gosling was often to be seen grazing beside the nest, but the goose continued to incubate the unfertile egg until the 13th or 14th. On the nth, I managed to get the gander inside the enclosure beside the nest, and from then on he guarded the gosling most attentively. His presence seemed to reassure his mate, and she became tamer than ever before. This is contrary to my previous experience, for I have found that even the tamest geese tend to become wilder and more suspicious when escorting their goslings. Although “ Faithful 55 did not lay in an artificial nest, none being still available in June when she might have used it, I consider that the artificial nest-making may have been an indirect but important factor in her unexpected breeding. In May, 1942, when many geese seemed suddenly to contemplate egg-laying in the park for the first time, it was noted that all the Pinkfooted ganders, and particularly “ Samson ”, were courting “ Faithful ” more than in any previous season. Her response also was much more marked, and culminated in her definite pairing with “ Samson ”. Moreover, not only did it then appear that the general flock psychology of the geese in the park had undergone a definite change in favour of breeding, but also that this reaction had been A. F. MOODY - ASIATIC GREY-LAG GOOSE 79 conditioned by the provision of the artificial decoy nests. Similarly, in 1943, the nest-making seemed to stimulate courting and attempted pairing even among unmated geese and immatures such as the eleven- i months-old Bernicle “ mate ” of the Bernicle X Greylag hybrid. For geese whose environment cannot be changed for breeding, the appearance in spring of many large and comparatively elaborate ! “ goose nests 55 may perhaps take the place to some slight extent of the missing natural stimulus of arrival in a characteristically different nesting territory. It is scarcely practicable to put this to the test > of a scientifically controlled experiment. But it will be most interesting if others, who have to keep their geese as I do with no naturally suitable breeding ground, can report a similar experience with artificial nests. * * * ASIATIC GREY-LAG GOOSE By A. F. Moody By the kindness of the late Sir Phillip Sassoon, Bt., I was shown during the spring of 1934, two Grey-lag Geese on the lake at Trent Park. Noticing something unusual in their appearance, I inquired particulars of their origin, and was informed that they had been imported direct from India. These I felt sure were the true Eastern form ( Anser cinereus ruhrirostris) , a surmise which was verified later on receiving them at Lilford. These examples, both females, differed from the European Grey-lag by having the bill, legs, feet, and eyelids a decided pink. There was also a general greyness or difference of plumage not easy to describe but which caught the eye at once. They also appeared shorter on the leg and longer in the body than the average Grey-lag. I record the above particulars not because the birds were par¬ ticularly attractive, but because they were very interesting and possibly the first examples of their kind to reach this country. 8o R. STEVENS - HAND-REARING FRESH-WATER DUCKLINGS HAND-REARING FRESH- WATER DUCKLINGS By Ronald Stevens Mr. John Yealland, practical as ever, gave us some very good ideas on the above subject in the last Waterfowl number. I hope he will forgive my stealing his subject once again, but I should like to record the experiences my brother and I have had in rearing fresh-water ducklings by hand. In parenthesis it may be said that there scarcely exists any alternative to hand-rearing, generally speaking. It is most regrettable that ducks cannot be relied on to rear their own young. Personally, I should much prefer to let nature take its course, and if only half the number of duck could be reared by their own parents on their own ponds, I should leave them to carry on rather than succeed in rearing complete broods by hand. Undoubtedly the most charming and instructive phase of a duck’s life is lost to us when we have to rob it of its eggs. . Well, if nature fails us in this respect there is nothing else for man to do but to roll up his sleeves and do the job himself. And so it must be his aim to rear every normal duckling that is hatched. He will make use of all means that will attain this end, however irritatingly artificial. And yet the task will be very pleasant, as it will have its own peculiar and interesting problems. In our early years of duckling rearing, when we were entirely without guidance, we believed that the richer and more expensive the biscuit meal the better the ducklings would thrive. And when young Mandarins and Garolinas developed twisted thighs we blamed cramp and the cold clay soil. We put clean dry sacks over their ground each day. We afterwards tried rearing them on half-inch mesh raised wire-netting, with and without sacks, but still many of them grew into deformities. No, it could not be cramp after all. So it must be rickets, we thought. What is the cause of rickets ? Lack of vitamin B. So next time the traveller for biscuit-meal stood on our doorstep, we all but pulled him in by his coat collar. He laughed at the idea of his firm’s rich and highly priced meal doing aught but produce the most exclusive ducks. We asked him if the mixture was based on a whole-meal biscuit, and he said it was not. Since then I have often thought it strange that bakers and biscuit manufacturers seem so averse to making their foods from wholemeal flour when the properties of bran are so much extolled. After our investigations, we had a very cheap biscuit-meal specially made for us from ioo per cent wholemeal flour. The manufacturer added nothing to it, it was just pure biscuit. All that we afterwards R. STEVENS - HAND-REARING FRESH- WATER DUCKLINGS 8 1 mixed with it was a little fresh blood, delivered daily from the slaughter¬ house. I cannot remember the proportions, but sufficient blood was added to pink the meal. From that day we had no more trouble with deformities or disease. The ducklings throve most satisfactorily. True, they were given, as always, plenty of duck-weed, that sine qua non of duckling rearing. This greatly simplified food was kept almost constantly before them. The very young ducklings were fed five times daily. Their left-over food was collected at each feeding time and given to the older ducklings, which were fed three times a day. We were almost disappointed that feeding had been simplified down to such a monotonous level, so, just to make things more interesting, we threw into their ponds a little tepe (pronounced taypi). This was a food I came across in Portuguese East Africa on one of my duck-hunting trips. Either the word is Portuguese or it is Kaffir, but it stands for the millions of tiny shrimps, fishes, and crabs which the natives net from the sea. They spread their catches on the beaches where they are soon dried by the blistering heat. Undoubtedly fish so dried in the rays of the sun is greatly superior as a food to that which is dried in hot ovens. We used to import many sacks of tepe through a friend in Beira. It cost, I think, about £2 a sack, landed. I forgot to add that the Portuguese eat it with relish. It is usually curried with rice. We really got it as an aid to rearing Longtail and Harlequin, who did eat it as long as it remained a novelty to them. One would think that this form of protein and the lime contained in the shells of the little crabs must be beneficial, the roughage too. Certainly the ducklings did very well with it — and without it. If, after the war, anyone would like to try tepe, I should be glad to try and get him some. We never had to coax fresh- water ducklings to feed when they were first put out. Bright-tinned very shallow baking tins were used, and the meal lightly scattered on them. Ducklings very soon picked at individual particles of food on the shining tin, and probably when the biscuit is pinked by being mixed with blood it makes the particles more attractive. For the first two or three days the tins of food were always put against the edges of the little ponds, where the ducklings were more likely to discover them. Afterwards they were placed away from the water because ducklings always drag their food into the water, and so foul their ponds, if they get the chance. The same system was used successfully for the young of Mergansers, Goosanders, and Smews, but in their case tiny pieces of raw lean beef were given instead of biscuit meal. There was only one fresh-water species that did give trouble to feed, 82 R. STEVENS - HAND-REARING FRESH-WATER DUCKLINGS and that was the little North American Ruddy Duck. The first brood was reared on maggots so successfully that we jumped to a }j too hasty conclusion and judged them to be easy to rear. So that, in the rush of the busy rearing season, we paid no special attention to the next lot, but fed them the same as ordinary fresh-water ducklings. They all died. Only then did we realize to what extent these little duck are tied to the water. Instinct tells them they must dive for their food, as they did for the maggots, it was beyond their under¬ standing to feed off the land, however close the food was to the water. Bantams were nearly always used as foster mothers. They were tethered in the middle of one end of each pen so that they could not drive their broods into a corner where they would tread on them. They had no coop, but sloping roofs protected them from rain and sun. Their droppings were collected each day. They were taken away from the ducklings in about ten days if the weather was fine, and we were always glad to see them go as being possible sources of infection. Mr. Yealland and Dr. Derscheid have proved that ducklings can be hatched by incubator and reared by artificial brooder. This is indeed a milestone. My brother and I once hatched a few eggs in an incubator. The resultant ducklings were given to a bantam, but their down absorbed water like sponges when they went on their pond. After twenty-four hours’ repose in the incubator after hatching their down was dry and brittle, and they died. But that was a very incomplete test, I admit, and now, after Mr. Yealland’s success, I am looking forward to having another try. After the ups and downs of our early years of duckling rearing we believed we had discovered all the necessary requirements for success as regards rearing full broods and the saving of labour. Briefly they are these : — 1. A separate immovable pen containing a little pond for each brood. 2. The pen to be made of wood, as a protection from winds, and to give shade. The sides to be sufficiently high to make a wire-netting top unnecessary. 3. The floor of the pen to have a foundation of brick rubble and a top layer of sand to provide warmth and quick drainage. 4. The pen to be without a coop but with a sloping roof two feet wide at one end. The size of the pen and pond depends on how large a scale the owner wishes to go in for duck breeding, or on how much he is prepared to spend. My brother and I wanted to farm fairly large numbers of duck, so we had two hundred and one of these pens made, in three rows of sixty-seven pens. It worked out that each pen was twelve feet long by R. STEVENS - HAND-REARING FRESH-WATER DUCKLINGS 83 four feet wide by three feet high. A brick canal, four feet wide, ran down the centre of each row. At one end was a tap, which was kept running throughout the rearing season, and at the other was the overflow. A small grid with the bars arranged horizontally, so as to hold up the minimum amount of surface rubbish, was let into each wooden side of every wooden pen. These grids were at water level, so that all surface grease from the bodies of the ducklings was run off. This is a vital necessity. Under their foundations of brick rubble the three rows of pens were adequately piped, so that drainage was perfect. However torrential the rain the pens never became waterlogged. The wood the pens were made of was elm as some of it, of course, had to be laid in the water to partition off the ponds, and we were told that elm lasts longest in water. The whole structure of the pens could easily be dismantled and put together again. The advantage of this was that several pens could be run into one. It was our practice to put broods of the same species in adjoining pens, so that when they were weaned from the bantam the intervening wooden boards were removed and all the ducklings benefited by having an uninterrupted stretch of water to swim up and down. We were always very careful not to mix broods of different species. If you rear two or more species together they are very likely to cross¬ breed later on. That is not surprising. It needs little imagination to realize, for example, that a Carolina duckling reared among Mandarins would probably grow up believing itself to be a Mandarin. At the end of each rearing season the brick canals were drained and cleaned, and the sandy floors of the pens were dressed with agri¬ cultural salt to cleanse and to destroy weeds. Then all the boards were replaced and the canals were half-filled. And, with an eye always to the next rearing season, a little duckweed was thrown on to the ponds which, snug in their protection from the cold winds, gave it every encouragement towards an early increase, so that there should have been a thick green blanket on each little pond, early the following spring, to greet the early ducklings. I say “ should 55 and there would have been did not odd full-winged Mandarins and Carolinas from the lake return to visit their old nurseries before the trees were in leaf again. It is with great regret that my brother and I have to inform readers of the Avicultural Magazine that, as a result of the war, the col¬ lection of waterfowl at Walcot Hall has practically come to an end. 84 G. L. SIBLEY - BREEDING THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE BREEDING OF THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE IN CAPTIVITY IN THE U.S.A. By Clarence L. Sibley Many years ago, possibly forty, or maybe more, my father had a small collection of wild waterfowl at a place in New England where we spent our holidays, as our home was in a large city. I believe father was the first to breed the Black Swan in this country. On my father’s death, the collection of birds was dispersed, but one Goose named “ Mandy,” a lame Pink-foot, acquired years before from a dealer, was given to a near-by farmer. Mandy had never shown any sign of nesting, and had appeared to like human com¬ panionship more than that of her own kind. A year or two after she had been in the farmer’s flock she mated with a young barnyard gander, and a year or two later (I found out afterwards) she laid and incubated infertile eggs. I knew nothing of this until 1936, when I was motoring near our old summer home, and stepped in to see the farmer. He still owned Mandy, and told me that she had laid eggs on two or three occasions, but there were never any young. I asked him if he would sell her, and he was willing, so I bought her and mated her that autumn with a wild-caught (I assume) gander acquired from a dealer. I already had two pairs of Pink-foots in my collection, which had never shown any inclination to nest. In the spring of 1937 Mandy and her mate (both pinioned birds) made a scrape in the ground, and Mandy sat in it, pulling rubbish and leaves around her on two or three occasions, but no eggs were laid, or if they were vermin of some sort got them. I never found any trace of shells or broken eggs, so think none were laid. In 1938 this pair nested and laid five eggs, four of which were fertile and hatched under a fowl, and all were raised. In 1939 no eggs were laid. In 1940 only two eggs were laid, one hatched, and the gosling was reared to maturity. In 1941 a young female, reared from the old pair in 1938, mated with a Greylag male and three hybrids were reared. Mandy and her mate nested again, and three young were reared. A young female given to Mr. John Deeter, of Worcester (the gosling reared in 1940), was mated with an old male, and the pair nested both in 1942 and this season, but Mr. Deeter’s conditions were not good, and no young were reared. In 1942 Mandy did not nest, and died later in the season, possibly from old age, as she must have been 30 years old or more. However, two of her daughters nested and we reared six young. This year (1943) we have only two, as Crows were very troublesome and spoiled many eggs. Also there was a great deal of fighting among the nesting Geese because we had to crowd them to conserve labour. Of the young birds we have sold C. L. SIBLEY - BREEDING THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE 85 or given away, only those of Mr. Deeter have nested, so far as I know. I think it the result of improper care or surroundings. Incidentally, we still have one of the two pairs of Pink-foots we had when we acquired Mandy, and they have never shown any disposition to nest. I think I must have owned them a dozen years or. more. It is interesting to note how some individual birds are more inclined to nest than others. I have had a pair or two of the black and white form of the Spur-winged Goose in our collection for quite a number of years, although they are not particularly attractive and have rather nasty dispositions. A few years ago I gave an unmated female to a man near by who had a male, and he kept them in a really tiny enclosure, apparently as unsuitable as one could imagine. Yet the pair has yearly nested and produced young, while none of their progeny, reared in confinement and very tame, has condescended to do so under far better conditions. I have found that many of the foreign Geese seem more disposed to nest with us, than some of our own American species. Bernicles are very prolific, but our own closely related Cackling Goose breeds with difficulty, only an occasional female getting to the point of laying eggs. Yet I sent some Cackling to Mr. Laidlay, and within a year or so of the time he got them, they were nesting for him. Similarly, the Greater Snow Goose does not breed readily, yet I sent a pair quite late in the season a few years ago, to Mr. Spedan Lewis, and within two weeks of the time he received them, they were nesting. Quite extraordinary for any waterfowl, it seems to me. Incidentally, our Pink-foots are true brachyrhynchus . I know of no breeding records for the species in this country other than those I have mentioned, although records of this sort have been so loosely kept in this country that it is possible nesting and rearing may have occurred at some other time. A Mr. Pelham, near New York City, had young of these some twenty or more years ago, although I could not ascertain whether they were pure-breds or possibly hybrids with domestic Geese, and have never been able to check definitely on this. Before the war, Pink-foots, very wild, could commonly be gotten from the bird dealers, apparently newly-netted birds. Such birds can only be expected to breed under very good conditions after many years in captivity. 86 A. F. MOODY - THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER AT LILFORD THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER ( Mergus senator) AT LILFORD By A. F. Moody On several occasions since 1930 I have found no difficulty in rearing the young of the Merganser from wild-taken eggs. The latter when none too fresh take about 29 days to incubate under a domestic hen. The young on hatching are rather weak upon the legs ; they soon, however, learn to run quickly and may be induced to eat earth¬ worms, fragments of fish, rabbits’ flesh, and liver. Later they will partake of meal bread, etc., but so far as my experience extends, fish and pieces of animal food seems the correct diet for them. These j! young grow rapidly, and begin to feather at 15-16 days old. The females can always be distinguished by their smaller size. Indications of a crest is visible at 5 weeks, and I have observed the white shoulder feathers of certain males beginning to appear at 5 months old. The behaviour of hand-reared Mergansers is that they are remark¬ ably tame, and although they spend much of their time on the water they are ever ready if at all hungry to leave the water and follow one about, or rather precede one by a few inches around the enclosure. Great care has to be exercised at these times to avoid stepping on them, but immediately they are fed they return to the water. In all their movements they are wonderfully quick ; they run swiftly on land, while on or beneath the surface of the water they are almost stoat-like in the way they twist, and far outpace the various Golden¬ eye, Scaup, etc., who share their pond. One curious habit they have is that if hungry, they commence running on the surface of the water to meet one. They then dive with remarkable swiftness for pieces of food thrown, or if this is not forth¬ coming it is but a matter of seconds before they are over the pond’s bank and around one’s toes. The species has not bred with us, but I have observed adult birds pair and show other indications of nesting. They do fairly well in captivity, but in the interest of the wild bird I will refrain from dwelling upon the Merganser’s enormous appetite^, mentioning only that for the size of the bird’s gullet they can swallow quite large fish and numbers of them. G. MAXWELL - THOUGHTS UPON SEA DUCKS IN CAPTIVITY 87 THOUGHTS UPON SEA DUCKS IN CAPTIVITY By Major Gavin Maxwell I believe that to most aviculturists who have specialized in the Anatida, the true sea ducks have eventually appeared as the summit of ambition. Yet to the fastidious there must remain something aesthetically unpleasing in the conditions under which even the most painstaking aviculturist has so far housed this group. I may possibly lay myself open to an accusation of unscientific approach when I say that my fondness for these birds has its roots in a deep and abiding affection for the surroundings in which they are familiar to me. The satisfactory establishment of this ecological normal appeared to me to present such insuperable difficulties that my own collection which I believe now to be the most complete of the wild Geese, includes no representatives of the sea duck group. Since 1939, however, I have become increasingly determined to found, at some future date, a collection of the sea ducks comparable to that of the Geese. To do this to my own satisfaction, I have reached the conclusion that an attempted reproduction of the ecological normal can never be satisfactory and that a section of the natural habitat — not, of course, geographical, but physical, must be enclosed. Several of the more famous of the British collections of wildfowl have included more or less isolated examples of some of the rarer sea ducks. Messrs. Maclean and Wormald kept (and may, for all I know, still keep) a specimen of the King Eider ; Mr. Anthony Rampton kept at South Lake a Smew ; a Steamer-duck eked out a dreary and smoke-grimed existence at the London Zoo ; Scoters and Longtails apparently throve under more favourable conditions at Walcot. Eiders have been kept with varying success in several collections. But to me, and I think to many others, there was in every case a jarring note, almost a mental shock. Eiders and rhododendron bushes, Smews and pampas grass, King Eiders and azaleas, Longtails scrambling for food amongst a bizarre bevy of Mandarins — all are pathetic and unseemly paradox. I was determined that I should not condemn my own personal ambition — Steller’s Eider — to a background so far divorced from reality. Perhaps I should say at once that I have never kept Steller’s Eider in captivity, and that as far as I am aware it has never been captive in any collection, either public or private. I make this clear now, lest I should lure the reader through this manuscript under false pretences. In 1939 I made an expedition to Scandinavian Lapland which I intended to be exploratory, for a collecting expedition the following year. That second expedition was, of course, frustrated, but is still projected. 88 G. MAXWELL - THOUGHTS UPON SEA DUCKS IN CAPTIVITY The main object in 1939 was Anser erythropus , the Lesser White- fronted Goose, of which I did succeed in bringing back a pair, leaving other young goslings to be reared and fetched in 1940. S teller’s Eider was secondary and, since I had not fulfilled my own requisites for the housing of sea ducks, was exploratory and photographic only. However, a close acquaintance with Steller’s Eider — the most beautiful of all the sea ducks — confirmed my determination to keep them under natural conditions. I discovered that the actual catching of the bird would be a comparatively simple matter, though the simul¬ taneous catching of a number of Scandinavian Eiders would be unavoidable, even if the intention were not present. There were also numerous other sea ducks — Longtails being extremely common, King Eiders less so but usually visible, and I encountered one pair of Velvet Scoters. The Longtails and Scandinavian Eiders I intended, on the pro¬ jected second expedition, to rear under hens and import at a half- grown stage. Steller’s Eider I intended to catch in pre-eclipse plumage, and maintain under natural conditions until post-eclipse, both to furnish additional data as to the plumage change and to avoid dietetic troubles during that period. Whether Steller’s Eider actually breeds in Scandinavian Lapland has long been a subject of dispute and contention. Personally, I have little doubt that it does so, but proof acceptable to the ornithological world has so far been lacking. The bird is usually present in con¬ siderable numbers during the summer, and inconclusive evidence of its breeding has been furnished since the middle of the last century, culminating in the finding of downy young by Bolam (1924). Bolam was a reliable field naturalist, and it is almost inconceivable to anyone familiar with the two species that he could, as was subsequently suggested, have mistaken Scandinavian Eiders for Stellers. My own acquaintance with Steller’s Eider was briefer than Bolam’s, yet I was confident that I could distinguish at great ranges the females of the three species — Scandinavian, Steller’s, and King Eiders. There is a slight similarity between the females of the King Eider and Scandinavian, but Steller’s is completely unlike either. I have not, at the present time, access to my notes, but I think that during the summer of 1939 there were between 40 and 50 Steller’s Eiders regularly appearing upon the short stretch of coast and estuary which I was working. Inland is mile after mile of rolling ground bearing tundra vegetation, sprinkled with lakes varying in size from a mile or more in length to mere puddles, and often surrounded by treacherous bogs. Whether or not there were nests of Steller’s Eider somewhere in this waste I cannot say, though on more than one occasion I saw females flying inland. Had there been only a few nests it is improbable that I should have found them. A via Mag. 1944. Scandinavian Eiders in June sn Blue Snow Geese G. L. SIBLEY — VARIATION IN COLOUR OF BLUE GEESE 89 From observations of Steller’s Eider, Scandinavian Eiders, and others, I formed a clear mental picture of the site requisites for the future collection. These must be — (a) a natural supply of food, which implies ; (b) tidal water, with a minimum central depth of 2 fathoms at high water, boulder shore for at least part of the way, and rocky islands — if possible one large and heather-clad. (c) a freshwater stream, which can be dammed higher in its course to form, (d) a freshwater pond. The mental picture thus called up immediately suggests the west coast of Scotland, and to it I turned my attention in the search for a site. I have now found several alternative sites which fulfil the minimum requirements, and I hope that, other things being equal, the collection may be started not very long after the war. sjc Hi ❖ VARIATION IN COLOUR OF BLUE GEESE By G. L. Sibley The accompanying photograph was kindly sent me by Mr. W. A. Peters, of Kingston, Ontario. It shows part of his bag of Blue Geese (or, as you call them, Blue Snows), and was taken to show the variation in colour among wild-shot birds of this species. These were taken at Hannah Bay in the southern part of James Bay, during the fall migration, when hundreds of thousands of Blue, Lesser, and Greater Snow and Canada Geese, as well as many species of ducks find it a paradise for feeding and resting. Many species breed there in large numbers. There are millions of acres of salt and brackish marshes as flat as a table, with great quantities of vegetation suitable for waterfowl food. It has long been known that there is much variation in plumage colour among adult Blue Geese. Some never achieve the pure white head and neck, which so strikingly sets forth their grey-blue body plumage, but always retain more or less blackish markings, much as though they were still just emerging from juvenile plumage. Others have considerable areas of white on the belly and upper breast, and Mr. Peters’ photograph well illustrates this variation. All the specimens shown were adult birds, and so arranged as to show the great variation in belly and breast markings. 90 J. YEALLAND - FULL-WINGED TREE DUCKS FULL- WINGED TREE DUCKS By John Yealland It is a pity to pinion such waterfowl as can be relied upon to stay well without interfering with others in the collection, and there must be many species that could safely be kept full-winged. The pinioning itself is a very unpleasant operation, unless it is done when the duckling is only a few days old, and the disfigurement is in some cases sadly conspicuous. Most Ducks must be even more handsome in flight than on the water : they must be much better able to save themselves from natural enemies and, it is reasonable to suppose, must be more healthy than pinioned ones. Even among the migrants it might prove satisfactory in the case of mated pairs to pinion the female only. One would, of course, need to be careful in the choice of subjects, choosing only those that would not either fight or hybridize with birds in other enclosures, and a range of Duck aviaries, which would in any case be useful for many purposes, would be necessary for the confinement of young full- winged birds and newly caught wild ones. In the collection at Sterrebeek there were six species of Tree Ducks, and all, if I remember correctly, were full- winged. The only ones that proved a failure were the White-faced ( Dendro - cygna viduata) ; there were four or five of them, and all disappeared together in the autumn and were never heard of again. The Black-billed and Red-billed (D. discolor) flew a little, but never left their enclosure : the Javan (D. javanica) I do not recollect ever having seen in flight, but the Wandering (D. arcuata) and Fulvous (D. fulva ) were often on the wing visiting other enclosures, but never leaving the park, and it was nice to see them and to hear their curious whistling flight. They did not interfere with other birds, but we thought they may have destroyed the flowers of water-lilies. It would, of course, be unwise to conclude that these five species are good stayers : our experience of them, however, suggests that they might be. During the winter of 1938-39, there came a bitter wind and a spell of extremely cold weather, so that within a matter of hours the temperature fell from that of an average mild winter day to some 3 2° F. of frost — the coldest weather, I was told, since the winter of 1917. The Javan was soon killed by the cold, and so were the Wandering and one Fulvous. The Black-billed were not killed but had their legs so severely frost-bitten that they had to be destroyed, and only the Red-billed and one Fulvous were unharmed. G. L. SIBLEY — GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS AT SUNNYFlELDS FARM 9! Many of the really hardy Ducks were soon in distress, and we had to bring a large number of the birds into two rooms used for rearing ducklings, and to maintain heat there in order to prevent the water from freezing ; but, unhappily, it was not possible to catch up the agile Tree Ducks in time. It is interesting to compare our experience of the effect of severe cold on the Tree Ducks with the effect of perhaps not quite such severe weather during that winter and the next on those at Leckford, where, I was told, none was lost. It may be that ours would have survived had not the temperature fallen so suddenly ; they lived in a fairly sheltered place, but the slowly flowing water quickly froze over. The position at Leckford, though very much more open and comparatively bleak, had the advantage of swiftly flowing water, which probably did not freeze, while the banks were covered with dry sedge and other riverside vegetation from which a resting bird might derive some degree of warmth. * * * GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS AT SUNNYFlELDS FARM, CONNECTICUT By Clarence L. Sibley These notes are being written in the crowded city of Washington, mecca for everyone connected with the war’s winning, including those with a very inconsiderable and unimportant part like my own. As I do not have access to my notes, these observations will have to be from memory, and mine is not entirely flawless. However, possibly they will be as accurate as might otherwise be, for my usual “ notes ” consist oftentimes of hurried scrawls on envelopes or such bits of paper as are present in my jacket when making the rounds of our birds, and although I have every intention of having them properly entered and recorded for future reference, they often get no further than the original scrawl. How envious I am of those with orderly and scientific minds whose observations are always so complete and properly indexed and tabulated ! If an intelligence test were made of our birds and animals, I feel sure that wild Geese would be well up at the top. They conduct their affairs with foresight and apparent logic, and are models of domesticity. Geese are birds which may be allowed to hatch and rear their young, with the expectation that they will make a good job of it and end the season with a healthy, happy brood of well grown offspring. As much cannot be said for many of the species aviculturists attempt. 8 92 G. L. SIBLEY — GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS AT SUNNYFIELDS FARM This spring, in spite of lack of the usual feed stuffs, and insufficient and inadequate care, our Geese seem to be doing as well, or possibly a bit better at breeding than usual. One very good thing about Geese in war time is that with ample pasture for grazing they can fairly well maintain themselves without precious and rationed grains. Through the winter our Geese have had cabbage, chopped alfalfa hay steamed overnight, apples and mangel wurzels, and smaller than usual amounts of precious grains. In addition, it has been interesting to see them, on the warmer days in winter when patches of brown, dried grass would appear from under the melted snow, tugging at grass roots and possible embryo shoots as though they were nectar. Thus far this present spring the following Geese have nested with us, and so far as I know, most have given us fertile eggs : Greylag, White-cheeked, Cackling, Bernicle, Ross, Blue, Greater Snow, Lesser Snow, American Whitefront, Tule, European Lesser Whitefront, Bluewinged, Egyptian, Hutchins (now called by the systematists “ Lesser Canada ”), Barhead, Wild Chinese. We no longer keep a breeding pair of Canada Geese, as they are extremely quarrelsome, and we usually have a couple of unmated females to represent the species. For the first time in some years our Pinkfoots are not breeding. For some reason in this latitude the lovely little Orinoco Goose does not nest until very late in the season, August and September. They are not hardy with respect to cold, so it is something of a scramble to get the young reared to a point where they will winter safely. In ordinary seasons we would have a brood or two of Gereopsis well grown by now, but we now lack a breeding pair. At one time we had twenty-one of these interesting (but devilish and pugnacious) Geese. When the war took our men we could no longer keep small separate yards with a pair or a brood of Gereopsis in each, so all were disposed of except a breeding pair, their two current young, and an extra and unrelated gander. A fox killed the breeding female, and the two young proved to be males, so we were left with four males and no female. A female secured later has thus far not deigned to breed. This sad little tale illustrates the fact that in aviculture we are never entirely sure of our stock, for a mischance may easily jeopardize our breeding stock of a species which has bred so well as to appear safely established. In connection with Pinkfoots, Mr. Berry wrote that they were seldom bred in confinement in Europe, and was surprised that in listing the Geese which had bred for us we spoke very casually of breeding our Pinkfoots. Possibly it’s one of our failings that until we have succeeded in inducing a species to breed for the first time G. L. SIBLEY - GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS AT SUNNYFIELDS FARM 93 (with us) that first breeding looms large in importance. Yet once, having bred a species, we often consider it “ old story ” afterward. We have an odd mesalliance among our Geese, about which I may have written previously. A pair of Spurwing Geese (the black and white variety) were quartered with some Cranes and miscellaneous birds in an aviary built upon the foundations of a former tennis court. (Why do tennis courts tend to become aviaries eventually when bird-lovers own them ?) Across a public road and in a ten-acre fenced field, quartered with several other breeding pairs of Geese, an apparently devoted pair of Andean Geese were kept. One day, without any warning, we found Mrs. Andean outside the wire of the old tennis court, making violent love to Mr. Spurwing. How she had, being pinioned, gotten out of the field where she lived surrounded by a six-foot high fence, we have never been able to fathom. She was put back, and promptly the next morning she was back at the tennis court chattering to Mr. Spurwing. This went on with no apparent response from Mr. Spurwing for some time, but finally his masculine ego must have succumbed to so flattering a display of devotion, and he responded. Removed to another Paddock, Mrs. Andean promptly set upon her spouse and probably would have seriously injured him had we not removed him. He, poor chap, was too bewildered to resist. Kept apart for several weeks, Mrs. Andean refused to eat, and walked up and down her fence until the feathers of her breast were entirely worn off. She finally got into such a precarious state of health that we allowed her outside, when she immediately made for the tennis court and started wooing her erstwhile love, Mr. Spurwing. Thinking it might save her life, we put them together, and immediately Mrs. Andean started to thrive. We have seen the pair mating and they are a most devoted couple, but it is impossible to think that fertile eggs could be produced by this mismated pair. It does mean, however, that until we obtain another female we can report no success with Andean breedings or Spurwings. A rather extraordinary thing happened a few years ago. We had never succeeded in getting our Spurwings to nest. A female was sent to Mr. Clarence Crandall at Groton, Conn., who already had a male. The birds were kept in a small, and most inadequate pen, yet the following season the pair reared ten fine youngsters to full maturity, and for good measure a second clutch of eggs was laid and hatched late in the autumn. Each season thereafter, in spite of what seemed most unsuitable conditions, at least one brood was reared. It makes one feel that in all species of birds some individuals will persist in breeding, no matter how much the odds are against them. We lack breeding pairs of many of our Geese, one or the other of the pair having been lost, with no chance to replace the birds, due to the lack of importations because of the war. One species which 94 c. L. SIBLEY - GEESE AND OTHER BIRDS AT SUNNYFIELDS FARM has done well for us is the Barhead. Last season a two-year-old Barhead Goose laid three clutches of eggs, nearly all fertile, and a fine lot of young were reared. I think there were 17 eggs in all. Multiple broods are not confined to Geese, however. This season a pair of Manchurian Cranes (saved from an importation of eleven, the last birds we received from Japan before the war) laid their two eggs quite early in the season, and although the female sat upon them assiduously, a late frost evidently spoiled them for they failed to hatch, although fertile. I wrote them off for the season. Yet some time later this same pair nested again with the usual two eggs, and as these appear to be fertile, I hope with the better weather we are now having, they will hatch, and the young be reared. Several years ago we sent a young pair of White-necked Cranes to Mr. Henry Berolzheimer, of Ghappaqua, N.Y. They were nest mates, and we supposed them male and female. Last spring Mr. Berolzheimer informed us they were both females, as both had laid. Having an extra male, we suggested that we send it to him, to mate with one of the females, which was promptly done. Imagine our surprise when a couple of weeks later he reported that the birds had paired at once, the female had laid another pair of eggs, and was sitting. From that nesting two fine stalwart young were reared, and I understand that this year another pair of young has been hatched. Evidently, if a first nest is destroyed, Cranes, as well as other birds, will nest a second time. We find that most Geese will, if the first clutch of eggs is taken to be hatched by a foster mother, produce a second clutch of eggs the same season. Two or three years ago a pair of Greater Snow Geese made a nest and laid two eggs. Then a vicious Whooper Swan in the same enclosure destroyed the nest and eggs. Because it was not feasible to move the Swans, the Greater Snows were moved to another breeding enclosure. The following day they had another nest made and an egg laid. Some time in the following night, something (we thought a weasel) attacked the female and made a wound in her head and neck, and she suffered loss of much blood. She was extremely weak, but in a few days was put back with her mate. Two or three days after¬ wards we were amazed to see her going through all the motions of scraping out a nest under a low bush, and on investigation later found she had laid an egg. Keeping constant watch against marauders, we left the pair and a clutch of five was laid, and all were hatched. The following year this pair of birds was sent to Mr. Spedan Lewis, and within a couple of weeks after their arrival had nested for him in their new home. I consider that particular pair of birds one of those which would nest under almost any conditions, as mentioned above. These notes are very rambling without any coherence, but it is OBITUARY 95 possible they may be of some interest to Goose lovers, and so they are submitted for the Waterfowl Number, which I am sure, many fanciers of Waterfowl look forward to most eagerly each sesson. Aviculture is an avocation of peace, so may we all do our share to bring about that desirable state of affairs in the shortest possible time. * * * OBITUARY THOMAS HENRY NEWMAN The Avicultural Society has lost a valued member by the death, which took place in April last, of Mr. T. H. Newman, who became a member in 1900. In 1904 he was appointed Honorary Business Secretary, a post he held with efficiency until 1916, and for many years he served as a member of the Council. Newman was born near Worcester in 1876 and lost his parents when he was quite young. He spent part of his early childhood in Italy. He was fond of travel and visited most European countries as well as North Africa. From an early age he was devoted to birds, his special favourites being the Golumbidae, and when he went to live in Wembley he built extensive aviaries for the accommodation of this group of which, at one time, he had a remarkably fine collection. His close studies of his birds enabled him to contribute many excellent and informative articles to our Journal. In the number for April, 1904, he wrote “ On some Turtle-Dove Hybrids and their Fertility ”. In September, 1906, writing on “ The Burmese Collared Turtle Dove ”, he discusses the origin of the so-called Barbary Dove, and concludes : “ There can be no longer any doubt that it is descended from the pretty little Rose-grey Turtle Dove (T. roseogriseus) of North Africa.” In September, 1907, he writes on “The Half-collared Turtle Dove, Turtur semitorquatus ” , and in 1908 on “ The Madagascar Turtle Dove, Turtur picturatus ”. In October and November, 1908, under the title “ Nesting of the Partridge Bronzewing Pigeon, Geophaps scripta ”, Newman contributes a very interesting article upon this Ground Pigeon in which he not only goes thoroughly into the history of the species but records his observations on its nesting habits. In the following year we find him writing upon another rare and interesting Ground Pigeon, Bartlett’s Bleeding-heart Pigeon, Phlogoenas crinigera, of which a very excellent coloured plate is given. He succeeded in breeding this fine Pigeon. 9^ OBITUARY In 1910 we find articles by him on Turtur decipiens and the White- throated Pigeon, Columba albigularis , both of which bred in his aviaries, as well as “ Notes from North-West Africa ”, in which he made a five week’s tour in 1909. In the number for July, 1921, Newman returns to the subject of the Rose-grey Turtle Dove and gives further proof that it is indeed the true wild ancestor of the Barbary Dove. He did not like the present tendency to change the names of genera that we have all known for so long, any more than most of us do. He writes : “ Unfortunately we are now forbidden to use Turtur in this connection, since it must be applied to the little African Amethyst- and Emerald-spotted Doves formerly known as Chalcopelia, which sounds like a riddle — when is a Turtle-dove not a Turtle-dove ? The answer to which, I suppose, would be, when it is a Turtur , for no one is likely to call the species of Chalcopelia Turtle-doves.” He also contributed to Volume III of Aviculture exhaustive articles on Ph.D. / L. Lovell-Keays, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 1919 I92o{A G Butlerj ph D 1921-1922 rj. Lewis Bonhote, M.A. 1923- f Miss E. Maud Knobel, F.Z.S. Treasurers 1894-1897 H. R. Fillmer. 1897-1899 O. E. Gresswell. 1899-1901 1 1906-1913 M. L. Bonhote, M.A. 1921-1922 j 1901-1906 W. H. St. Quintin. 1913-1917 B. C. Thomasett. 1917- 1919 A. Ezra, O.B.E., F.Z.S. I9I9“I920 L. Lovell-Keays, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. 1923- Miss E. Maud Knobel, F.Z.S. 1894- 1896- 1899- 1901- ■1896 1899 •1901 ■1907 1908 1907 1908- 1909 1909- 1910 1910- 1912- I9I7' 1920 ■1912 ■W7 1919 1921-1923 1924 Editors fDr. C. S. Simpson. IH. R. Fillmer. H. R. Fillmer. O. E. Gresswell, M.A. David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. /David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. t A. G. Butler, Ph.D. /David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. i Frank Finn, F.Z.S. /Frank Finn, F.Z.S. IJ. Lewis Bonhote, M.A. J. Lewis Bonhote, M.A. H. D. Astley, M.A. Graham Renshaw, M.D., F.R.S.E. / Graham Renshaw, M.D., F.R.S.E. I R. I. Pocock, F.R.S. [David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. f David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. IR. I. Pocock, F.R.S. The Marquess of Tavistock. 20 A. F. MOODY - ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING !925 1926-1934 1935 1 936-I938 !939" f The Marquess of Tavistock. 1 David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. David Seth-Smith, F.Z.S. r The Hon. Anthony Chaplin. I Miss E. F. Chawner. Miss E. F. Chawner. Miss Phyllis Barclay-Smith, F.Z.S. ❖ * * THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING By A. F. Moody In attempting a brief and what I fear is a very incomplete summary of the keeping of ornamental waterfowl in general, it is perhaps safe to assume that Swans and other members of the family Anatidae, together with Peacocks, etc., were kept in very ancient times. Solomon, we gather, in addition to his 900 wives and concubines, also kept Peacocks and perhaps other birds. That very early etching or wall painting of the Geese of Medum, supposed to be of the period 3,000 years before Christ, depicts pairs of White-fronted, Grey-Lag, and Red¬ breasted Geese. The evidence this gives in support of aviculture is that the picture was of Egyptian, and the Red-breasted Geese of Siberian origin, and it is very doubtful if an artist of that period would ever have become familiar enough with the bird to reproduce it accurately unless from birds kept in captivity. In 1661 many kinds of Waterfowl were introduced to the waters of St. James’s Park by Charles II. Referring to this interesting bird sanctuary in her book, Ornamental Waterfowl , the Hon. Rose Hubbard in 1888 writes. “ ... It is under circumstances such as these that water- fowl look best and do best, while it is interesting to remember that the St. James’s waterfowl are a matter of history. First introduced by Charles II (1661), whose pleasure it was to feed the Ducks and play with his dogs, they were here bred in great numbers, as were also a variety of other animals, including roebucks, red deer, antelopes, etc. It would appear that St. James’s Park at that period became, as Mr. Hare expressed it, c a kind of Zoological Garden for London.’ We gather from the writings of Evelyn that wicker baskets which are at this time in use on the Continent as nesting-places for the smaller fancy ducks, were then employed for the same purpose in England, as may be seen by the following curious extract from this author : — “ 9th February, 1664. I went to St. James’s Park where I saw various animals. . . . The park was at this time stored with numerous A. F. MOODY - ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING 21 flocks of severall sorts of ordinary and extraordinary wild fowle, breeding about the Decoy, which, for being neere so grette a City, and among such a concourse of souldiers and people, is a singular and diverting thing. . . . There were withy-potts or nests for the wild fowle to lay their eggs in,- a little above ye surface of ye water/’ Around 1764 water birds were kept at Osterley Park in the county of Middlesex, one species of Crane at least being recorded as having been reared there before that date. It is difficult in these busy war-time days to follow the trail more closely, but taking a long leap from late Georgian to early Victorian times we learn that the waters of St. James’s Park were still being used aiis now as a pleasaunce and sanctuary for the keeping of rare and uncommon species of waterfowl. Paris also, at this time I believe, specialized to some extent in the Anatidse. Prior to 1851, when the Knowsley Collection was dispersed, the 13 th Lord Derby owned a beautiful collection of waterfowl there, which I understand occupied about 80 acres of water and was maintained at a cost of several thousand pounds a year. Later in the same century the formation of the Waterfowl Club, under the secretaryship of Mr. W. R. Ryly, of Kendal, gave a filip to the fancy or rather the study, as did the excellent handbook on ornamental waterfowl by the Hon. Rose Hubbard published in 1888. During more modern days, in addition to the London Zoo, which at one time devoted considerable care to waterfowl, the best of the collections in this country, and most of which I have seen, was that at Woburn, established by the late Duke of Bedford. There amidst a unique and beautiful natural setting the birds enjoyed the most ideal conditions under which this group could be kept. Many, of course, were full winged, and all, I should imagine, were happier and better fed than when in the wild. Other collections not so extensive or perhaps so favourably situated, but still intensely interesting, were Lord Lifford’s in Northamptonshire, started in i860, and Mr. W. H. St. Quintin’s and the late Sir Henry Boynton’s, both of East Yorkshire, and probably begun in the eighties. About this time also, or later, Mr. F. E. Blaauw, who kept waterfowl for fifty years or more, did much with his fine collection of waterbirds at Gooilust in Holland, breeding such rare Geese as Emperor, Abyssinian, Blue-winged, Andean, and the Sandwich Island Goose ; the latter he kept going for thirty years. Several small Continental breeders were also extolling the merits of waterfowl breeding in that country and in Belgium, a source from which a portion of the young stock annually offered for sale in this country originated. The late Lord Grey of Falloden, who purchased his first waterfowl in 1884, had also many tame and interesting wild fowl, whilst Sir Richard Graham, Bt., experimented on a larger scale with British Ducks at Netherby in Cumberland. 22 A. F. MOODY - ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING In still more recent times, although the Woburn and the Lilford birds continue to exist, others have entered the field, and prior to the present war choice and extensive collections have been formed by Mr. Alfred Ezra, O.B.E., at Foxwarren ; Mr. Delacour in Normandy ; the late Sir Philip Sassoon, Bt., at Trent ; the Stevens brothers at Walcot, ; Major Maxwell ; Lieut. -Commander Peter Scott, and others. Messrs. McLean and Wormald, R. and N. Stevens, J. Spedan Lewis, J. C. Laidlay have done much towards importing and breeding new species, and although Some have commercialized their undertakings have, I feel sure, made this a secondary con¬ sideration. In America the late Mr. J. V. de Laveaga’s collection of waterfowl, which had taken many years to build up, numbered at his death some few years ago, nearly ioo species. These eventually, owing to the efforts and generosity of certain American ornithologists, found their way into the W. K. Kellogg Bird Park, owned I believe by the Whittier Ornithological Academy, a Californian enterprise formed, I understand, for educational purposes and for combining aviculture with the protection and perpetuating of rare and vanishing species. There are others in America who are keenly interested, such as Mr. C. L. Sibley, who owns a progressive and valuable collection at Sunnyfields Farm, Wallingford, Conn., U.S.A. In Australia and New Zealand members of our own Avicultural Society are in touch with affiliated members of those countries who are keen supporters of the cult. To give the devil his due there were many admirers of waterfowl in Germany. It is almost unthinkable, however, that a people who could assemble such aesthetic beauty as was to be seen at Carl Hagen- beck’s Tierpark, Stellingen-Hamburg, could twice within one lifetime plunge the world in misery. Be that as it may, the arrangement of the waterfowl ponds, etc., at Hamburg were a credit and a pattern to any public institution of that nature. As to the species of waterfowl kept during the periods mentioned, one or two such as the Sandwich Island. Goose ( JVesochen sandvicensis) , which at one time bred fairly regularly, has disappeared. The Marble Duck, too (Anas angustirostris) , once plentiful, both at Lilford and at Scampston, are, like the Andaman Teal, which once bred at this Zoo, absent from every collection. Others, including the Red-breasted Goose (. Branta rujicollis), almost unknown except for the few received at Woburn in 191 1 and 1913, are now common property and beautiful specimens are owned by many. The American Wigeon (Anas americana) appeared about 1908, and the Falcated Duck (A.falcata) about 1916. Both bred at Scampston at once, and for years most of the latter, in England at least, were direct descendants of three birds received by Mr. St. Quin tin in the year named. The same applies to the A. F. MOODY - ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING 23 Chestnut-breasted Teal (A. castaneum ) brought from Australia by Mr. Seth-Smith in 1 909, and bred by him for the first time in England at the Zoo. The Common Golden-eye ( Bucephala clangula ), once plentiful in captivity, owing to a disinclination to breed and to certain restrictions in their importation, is now rarely represented, whilst the larger and more handsome Barrow’s Golden-eye (B. islandicd) , unknown in confinement until first hatched by myself, with the Harlequin ( Histrionicus histrionicus) in 191 1, have now been reared from wild taken eggs by several, and the former bred by two or three. Since then, chiefly owing to the efforts of Messrs. McLean and Wormald, R. and N. Stevens, J. C. Laidlay, P. Scott, Captain Howard, and others, many at one time rare wildfowl have been more or less established. The rarest of these is perhaps that Antarctic species the Kelp Goose (Chlwphaga hybridd) which, although represented in • the Zoo in 1 868, and attempted by Mr. Blaauw with a single specimen in 1 9 1 1 , is perhaps yet not thoroughly understood, and has only recently been satisfactorily kept for lengthy periods by both Mr. Delacour and by Mr. Spedan Lewis. Another great rarity once represented at Lilford is the Pink-headed Duck ( Rhodonessa caryo - phyllacea ), several of which have done well with Mr. Ezra, as have also that curious and fascinating little diver the Madagascan White- backed Duck ( Thalassornis leuconata ) . Mr. Alastair Morrison has been instrumental in adding to our ornamental waterfowl by collecting with others the beautiful Puna Teal ( Anas versicolor puna), a distinct species resembling a larger and more handsome edition of the well known Versicolor Teal, and a pair or more of which now thrive and breed at Leckford. Messrs. Stevens, I believe, have been responsible for firmly establishing the African Red-billed Duck (Anas erythro- rhyncha ), and amongst many have put into circulation from their beautiful park at Walcot the Southern Pochard (JVyroca erythrophthama) , White-winged Wood Duck ( Asarcornis scutulata), Chinese Swan Goose (Cygnopsis cygnoides), the Hottentot and the Cape Teal (Anas punctatum and A. capensis), not to mention the strikingly handsome Radjah Shelduck (Tadorna radjah). Mr. Porter also gave waterfowl keepers pleasure by bringing over a few of the very rare New Zealand Brown Duck (Elasmonetta chlorotis), a species which was once kept by the late Mr. Bonhote, but has long since disappeared. Mr. Wormald, I believe, first sponsored or intro¬ duced the lordly Canvas Back (JVyroca valisnerea), the American Red¬ head (JV. americana), and the Ring-necked Duck (JV. collaris), the first two of which are firmly established, the third still a rarity. Across the Channel, too, much good work has been done by Mr. Delacour, Dr. Derscheid, Mr. Schuyl, and others. Dr. Derscheid was specially successful with Icelandic Ducks, and until war put a stop to such activities was experimenting with Scoters, a branch of the sea ducks about which there is still much to learn. 24 A. F. MOODY - ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL KEEPING Of other species not mentioned Eiders, I believe, were first started by Mr. St. Quintin in 1886, who with the help of one or two infusions of new blood, carried on a breeding strain for many years, the direct descendants of two young birds reared in the Orkneys. Of other old friends the Red-crested Pochard (JVetta rufina), always an ornament to any gathering of wildfowl, still carries on and breeds wherever it is allowed to do so. The same more or less applies to the gorgeous coloured Mandarin and Carolina (Aix galerienlata andT. sponsa ), both of which, wherever conditions are suitable, are specially decorative when allowed the full use of their wings. Another old timer more soberly clad is the Chilian Pintail ( Anas spinicanda). As regards com¬ parative newcomers several species of Mallard have come to stay as I hope will the beautiful Red or Argentine Shoveller [Spatula spatalea ), the Cape Shoveller (S. capensis), the Madagascan White-eye ( JVyroca innotata ), and several others, including the Grey Teal (Anas • gibberifrons ) and the Maned Goose ( Chenonetta jubata), both at one time very rare in this country. Upon the charm of waterfowl keeping I will not dwell. No piece of water, however picturesque, is complete without some form of animal life. A pond without Ducks I have heard it said is like a garden without flowers. I love flowers and like to know them and to master their cultivation. Wildfowl, however, have the additional merit of being all true species not enlarged or hybridized by man, but just as God, nature, or the passing of the ages made them. There is also a wonderful diversity in the form and colouring of the 150 species or so available. Their wants also for the most part are simple, and wearing their most spectacular colouring during the most dreary months of the year may almost be referred to as the flowers of winter. The chief qualifications of an ornamental Duck to some of course, and particularly to children, is that it should eat bread and come quite near to take it. To the ornithologist and the lover of nature things are very different, each species, in addition to its quaint colour scheme, habits, and gracefulness "of form, represents an inhabitant of some portion of the earth’s surface, and a link in some particular genus or family. These in many cases may have only previously been read about, and it is indeed a privilege and an education for those who cannot travel or explore to have, as it were, the earth at their feet in this respect, and at close quarters become acquainted with some of the many aquatic forms of bird life which it would otherwise be impossible to see. For this reason, in addition to private enterprise which so far has been the most successful in this respect, I most sincerely hope that in this new heaven upon earth which is to come those responsible for the formation of our public beauty spots (parks, etc.) will, in addition to providing still life, an inanimate restful beauty only (flowers, etc.), where circumstances allow, make adequate A% SILVER - BIRD FEEDING THEN AND NOW 25 provision for waterfowl (real semi-natural conditions), and avoiding the many mongrel Mallards so often seen on public waters show the species only, and give more people an opportunity of seeing the real thing. As to rjecent literature concerning waterfowl many interesting and instructive articles by various writers have from time to time appeared in the Avicultural Magazine. J. C. Laidlay’s book, The Care and Propagation of Waterfowl , published in 1933, has also been much appreciated, whilst my own small effort, Waterfowl and Game Birds in Captivity , published a year earlier, I consider not wasted if it has encouraged even one beginner to take up this fascinating and whole¬ some study. ❖ ❖ ❖ BIRD FEEDING THEN AND NOW By Allen Silver, F.Z.S., F.R.H.S. When Miss Barclay-Smith requested me to contribute something for this issue relating to the subject of bird foods, I confess that I regarded the task with some apprehension. One felt that it was impossible to interest fellow members after the manner of the late Edward Bunyard in his work on The Anatomy of Dessert , because excepting in certain cases it appears that flavour has little to do with birds’ likes and dislikes, and secondly, after many years practical use and test of very varied food substances, together with the manufacture and commercial handling of such material, one’s personal opinions are with increasing years liable to become anything but dogmatic. Before making any comment with regard to the immediate past I felt compelled to refresh my memory by going much farther back. Taking the remote past into consideration with the present, one is compelled to arrive at the conclusion that the changes which have taken place with reference to substances employed in bird feeding are not so very great. I well remember a talk with an elderly individual rich in experience as to the commercial side of livestock foodstuff, but no bird keeper. He listened patiently to me, and then tersely summed up the matter by remarking, “ Well, Silver, all it amounts to is Grease and Meal ! ”‘ On the other hand, during the last fifty years, due to improved transport, etc., many things unfamiliar to our grandparents became readily available. Bird keepers tested them out on their birds, and in due course their usefulness and convenience in this direction became apparent. During this period in particular a wider interest in living birds arose beyond that of the mere house pet or rare curiosity. This 26 A. SILVER - BIRD FEEDING THEN AND NOW in turn brought about the publication of weekly and monthly papers and magazines dealing wholly or in part with aviculture in its various branches. The circulation of information contained therein enabled many to take up a recreation without the uphill work experienced by the pioneers. It may be remarked, however, that although the commissariat department is an important feature of bird keeping, it is not the only item conducive to success. Blame is often attached to foodstuffs which may have little to do with disaster in a number of instances. Unless a bird is in a condition to make use of good food due to an impaired constitution often irreparably damaged when acquired, it cannot respond to good or suitable feeding. Infections and maladies are generally very obscure, and cannot always be diagnosed, even after death. In some cases ill effects proceed rapidly, in others gradually, and generally they cannot be remedied through nourishment or medicaments. In a wild state, birds are compelled to subsist upon whatever is available in season, their regimen is one of change. In many cases such food is only obtainable under conditions of great activity, coupled with disturbance, interference, and excitement. According to the particular species food has to be rapidly gulped down as caught, or quickly shelled and swallowed. When under control in cage or aviary, the opposite is the case, excepting perhaps in certain mixed collections of birds. In consequence, more birds become unwell from an excess of nourishment than from the lack of it. To procure many of the items which form the food of birds in a natural state, is both inconvenient and impracticable, and curiously enough many of them do not necessarily suit the bird when confined so well as other items which are customarily provided. It is therefore natural that man from the earliest times has employed foodstuffs for them from materials (i) either consumed by himself, (2) used for domestic animals, (3) items prevalent and easily obtainable in his immediate vicinity and obviously acceptable to his birds. It is not without interest to hark back to the time of Francis Willughby (edition enlarged and translated by John Ray, 1678), in order to see that birds were fed in those days not so very differently to modern methods. Canary, rape, hemp, flax, poppy, millet, lettuce, and panicum seeds were well known and used. Oats, “ off-corn wheat,” “ spelt,” 1 ant eggs, spiders, mealworms, gentles, maggots, seem to have been employed. Bread or meal constituted the main cereal base of food used for insectivorous birds, and egg and meat (raw and cooked) made up the chief protein content. There seems to be no mention of milk or snails. The usual advice as to cleanliness and the prevention of injury 1 Spelt = Triticum sativum spelta, a race of wheat with loose ears and triangular grains. A. SILVER - BIRD FEEDING THEN AND NOW 27 in the case of 44 buckish ” birds is quaintly elaborated. A sort of preserved paste for storing is mentioned, together with its method of preparation. It consisted of bean meal, sweet almonds (blanched and pounded), honey, etc., and after cooking was passed through a sieve and stored in jars. Doubtless quite good food -for some birds. During that period, round and about 1 799, and onwards, Bechstein’s methods loomed large in European aviculture of the period, and in addition to the seeds and foods employed during the earlier period, we find the more prevalent use of salads (cress, cabbage, and lettuce leaves), fruits, and berries (juniper, service, whitethorn, elder), nuts (walnut, hazel, and palm), fir seeds and beech mast. Grated raw carrot came into use as did biscuit, sponge cake, milk, cheese, curds, potatoes, raisins, buckwheat, barley, groats, lentils, rye, vetches, peas, sun¬ flower, poppy, and their meals were also employed. Much amusement may be obtained from a perusal of Cage and Chamber Birds , wherein one encounters advice and guidance not exactly deficient in humour, such as : “ The Chaffinch may be made to sing by whistling Yach ! yack ! and stroking it on the neck,55 or with reference to that hardiest of Thrushes ( Turdus merula merula) in short the Blackbird anent which the author remarks : 46 It is, however, a tender bird, and would not live long on a diet of bran and water.55 At a later period, 1823, Sweet (Robert) in his account of the genus Sylvia , appeared to largely employ bread crushed hemp, and raw meat, and so we pass on to my grand parents5 days, when various insectivorous birds were very similarly fed and given in addition egg and raw and cooked meat, and a 4 4 German Paste 55 concoction consisting mainly of coarse pea meal crushed and whole oil seeds, honey and lard, which was cooked, cooled, and stored in jars. Quite a good food for some birds, but unsuited to others. A Dee Bartlett, during his long service (1851-1897), as Superintendent of the Zoological Gardens, enjoyed an almost unique scope for the exercise of avicultural feeding experiments. Here we see employed in addition to those items already tabulated, figs, dates, bananas, grapes, cod-liver oil, meat extract, pears, grapes, poultry biscuit meals, oil-cake, rice, pea nuts, shrimp, preserved and dry fruit, and the more extensive use of salad ingredients in mixed food. All the customary seeds and cereal grains were employed, together with Indian corn (maize) and its meal, but the seeds of sunflower seem not to have been then used to any extent. The more rapid and frequent transport of commodities, together with development of new industries, brought to Europe not only many previously expensive fruits and foodstuffs, but large varied and regular consignments of seeds and grain for use in the mills of both cereal and oil crushing establishments. An age of manufactured human and animal foodstuffs had commenced. Lubricants were needed in 28 A. SILVER - BIRD FEEDING THEN AND NOW increasing quantity, and the use of soap for many purposes had increased. All these things became increasingly commonplace, and the avicultural commissariat department after due tests, became considerably enlarged, and modified thereby. It should be realized that unless these things were needed in bulk for more important pur¬ poses it is unlikely that they would be readily obtainable for birds. The most outstanding feature during the last fifty years has been an improvement in the methods of conveniently feeding insectivorous birds, and latterly the use of invalid and baby foods in conjunction with meat extract, preserved and condensed milk, and honey supplied in a liquid state, particular to Sugar Birds ( Dacnis and Coereha), Hummers, Sunbirds, some Tanagers and Quits, Honeyeaters, Lories and Lorikeets, and Hanging Parrots, etc. Due to the increased manufacture of biscuits for human use and for dogs (which included poultry biscuit meal in a kibbled state), together with the importation of Mexican and Chinese “ Dried Flies 55 and Daphnea, Finnish ant cocoons, Italian silkworm pupae, etc., which were in bulk employed for game, fish, and poultry feeding, there arose further scope for the bird keeper to test and employ such items as bird food. The increased manufacture of meat extracts provided meat fibrine for poultry and dog feeding, and incidentally another food ingredient for the bird keeper. Confectioners and bakers employed in increasing quantities egg and milk in a preserved state, and thereby made available yet two other substances which might be used for birds. The real art in employing the things just mentioned 'was concerned with their mixing in suitable proportion, the correct addition of roughage, and their miscibility when prepared for use with water or carrot raw and grated, or incorporated with rice or potato. One of the noticeable features in the use of food containing chitinous and fibrous matter for insectivorous birds is that they can cast pellets better than when fed on other matter. It is just as necessary for a Shama, Redbreast, or Wood-swallow Shrike to cast a pellet as it is for an Owl or a Kingfisher. During the 1914-18 war, bird keepers were not so incommoded as during the present one. At the very commencement both shipping and cereal and grain stocks in warehouses immediately came under the control of the Government. When the stocks of those smaller grains were exhausted, it was only natural in the common interest that nothing was imported other than grain and seeds required for food, lubricants, etc. Anything not needed for the war effort was rightly outside the pale. Gradually land came under control as to cropping, and this was not allowed to be occupied for growing anything but cereal and food crops under specific regulations as to their disposal. All grain and meals were soon under similar regulations, and rationed D. SE'J H- SMITH - NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 29 out for utility and working livestock only, under permit by voucher and coupon. Traders and merchants became mere custodians and distributors' and during the later periods prohibition of the growth of both buckwheat and canary seed here were embodied in an order. Later the sale of linseed except for seed and medicinal purposes came under an order, so that only quantities purchased previous to the date of the order could be sold. All bulk not needed for seed could only be sold to seed crushing and oil making concerns. In spite of all this, with a little initiative, it has been possible to cater for the needs of most species kept, other than those which would only accept canary or millet seed as food. Insectivorous birds, Canaries and European Finches, some exotic Finches, Budgerigars and Parrot-like birds have thriven on substitutes. I have never bred stronger and better young Parrakeets than those from birds living on 90 per cent to 95 per cent buckwheat, getting otherwise the roots and leaves of dandelion and milk thistle (whole plant). These included Bourke’s, Rosellas, Lutino Ringnecks, and Stanley’s. Unpaired birds including Cocktaoos,, Parrots, Crimson Wings, Barrabands, Cockatiels, etc., have been similarly fed. % * * * NOTABLE MEMBERS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SOCIETY By David Seth-Smith It is difficult to believe that half a century has passed since, in November, 1894, I was handed a proof of the first number of a new journal, to be entitled the Avigultural Magazine, by my old friend, J. B. Housden who, thereupon, put my name up for membership. That first number contained a list of the original members, fifty-two in number, of whom very few remain to-day though, I am glad to say, we still have our old friend John Frostick, a familiar figure at every bird show of note and a well-known judge, who we hope to see at many more of these gatherings in the future. Many more joined the new society as soon as its existence became known, and the numbers went up rapidly. Looking through the first two or three volumes, one’s memory takes one back to happy times spent with very good friends one made amongst those early members ; friends who have now left us, but who one remembers as though it were yesterday that we last met. The Society may be said to have been born in Brighton, for .there its Magazine was printed and there its chief founders lived. Dr. C. S. Simpson, a medical practitioner, was its first Secretary ; he was a busy man who found relaxation in watching and tending his birds. I remember lunching with him and Mrs. Simpson and being shown 3o D. SETH-SMITH - NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY his bird room, where he had some fine Ornamented Lorikeets, Cuban Finches, and, no doubt, many others that I have forgotten. He contributed many articles to the Magazine in its . early life. • His friend, Horatio R. Fillmer, a solicitor in Brighton, was Treasurer, and a very active worker and writer for the Society. These two keen enthusiasts together edited the first two volumes. I came to know Fillmer well in those days, but had not seen him since then until, a few years ago, Dr. Hopkinson drove me over to Hassocks where we 'found our old friend, living in well-earned retirement, and very interested in his garden. The only other member I knew in Brighton in those days was W. Swaysland, the bird dealer, who nearly always had something of interest, especially from South America, in his shop in Western Road, and was always pleased to discuss birds and dispense his knowledge of their requirements. Later he moved to Queen’s Road, where I visited him. whenever I chanced to be in Brighton. Simpson and Fillmer were strong’y supported in their work for the Society by others in London and elsewhere. There was Arthur G. Butler, of the Entomological Department of the British Museum, who took up aviculture as a hobby. His scientific training stood him in good stead and for many years he contributed articles to the Magazine, served upon the Council, and gave valuable help and advice to members. I often visited Dr. Butler at his home in Beckenham, where we discussed avicultural subjects and he showed me his birds, some of which were in cages in the house while others lived in a large open aviary in his garden. He was a familiar figure at the Crystal Palace when a bird show was being held, an occasion upon which avi- culturists from all parts of the country were wont to meet. Butler’s death in 1925 was a great loss to aviculture. The name of Reginald Phillipps is closely associated with the early years of the Society, for he was a prolific writer and aviculturist of long experience. His exhaustive articles, often running into two or three numbers of the- Magazine, are well worth reading to-day, for they show intensive observation of the- intimate ways and habits of the birds dealt with. He lived in a very ordinary London house with a small back garden in West Kensington, but part of the house and the whole of the garden were converted into an aviary, a back room, which most people would have used as the dining-room, forming the inner or sheltered part, while a room in the basement formed a splendid observation post for all that went on in the garden. Many rare birds inhabited that garden, and many were his successes in breeding species never before bred in captivity. It was there that he bred that gem, the Australian Blue Wren ( Malwrus cyaneus) and the handsome Regent Bower Bird (. Sericulus chrysocephalus ) . I remember many very pleasant visits to his house and the abounding hospitality Avic. Mag. 1944 Arthur G. Butler Horatio R. Fillmer Hon. Secretary 1904-1920 * Treasurer 1894-1897 Editor 1907-1908 . Hon. Secretary 1896-1899 Editor 1894-1896 A vie. Mag. 1944. D. SETH-SMITH- — -N OTABLE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 3 1 of both Mr. and Mrs. Phillipps. There it was that I first met Hubert D. Astley, of whom more anon. Reginald Phillipps. died in 1915, a great loss to our Society. W. Herbert St. Quintin was one of the original members, and at his charming home, Scampston Hall, Yorkshire, kept a fine collection of birds of many kinds, though specializing in the larger species such as - Bustards, Cranes, Ravens, and Waterfowl. ' Ably assisted by Mr. J. Moody, still a valued member of our Society, his breeding results, under ideal conditions, were numerous, and his articles and annual reports on the doings of the Scampston birds always of much interest. St. Quintin was a great naturalist and observer of all that took place amongst the wild creatures around him as well as those under his control, and few excelled him as a botanist. He kept a careful diary of Nature's happenings throughout the seasons, and regularly exchanged his experiences with those of his great friend Meade-Waldo in the South, with whom he often stayed. O. E. CresswelPs name appears in the original list. At his home, Morney Cross, Hereford, he lived the life of a highly respected country gentleman and Justice of the Peace. Always devoted to living creatures, he was specially fond of birds, and possessed fine aviaries in which he kept a variety of species, but rather specialized in Parrakeets and Doves. He took a great interest in the Magazine, writing many articles and editing Volumes VI and VII. I think he died in 1908. James B. Housden was well known to a large number of our Members for, in spite of his advanced years, he was a regular attendant at the delightful gatherings which, by the kindness of the President, were held annually at Foxwarren Park before the war. At one time he kept a large number of birds at his house at Sydenham, which it always delighted me to visit in those days. He was a great exhibitor of foreign birds at the Crystal Palace shows, and took many prizes some thirty or forty years ago, though in recent years he contented himself with a few favourite old Parrots and Cockatoos. In the second list of members, corrected to 1st November, 1895, appears the name of Joseph Abrahams, at one time a celebrated dealer in rare foreign birds. Every aviculturist of those days knew the old gentleman in his shop in George Street, East, a few doors from another famous dealer in wild animals, A. E. Jamrach. Beside ‘ selling wonderful birds and a celebrated brand of flaked yolk of egg to feed them on, Abrahams was always ready to give advice to beginners in aviculture. I remember A. G. Butler used to say that he had learnt a very great deal from the teaching of Joseph Abrahams. G. P. Arthur, of Melksham, was interested in all of the Parrot family, and acknowledged to be a great specialist in Budgerigars which were far less common then- than now. He always took numerous prizes at the leading bird shows, and wrote in our Magazine : “ Some 32 D. SETH-SMITH - NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY persons doubt about an aviary being made to pay, but I find breeding Budgerigars can be made very profitable with proper management.” Many others have since followed Mr. Arthur’s example. The name of Hubert D. Astley first appears in the list of members published in November, 1895. He was then a young clergyman, very interested in natural history, particularly birds, of which he kept a good many even in those days, and was to become in later years one of our leading aviculturists, occupying the posts of President of the Society and Editor of the Magazine. He married Lady Sutton and for a good many years lived in her beautiful residence, Benham Valence, Newbury, where he built a number of splendid aviaries. Later, on the coming of age of Lady Sutton’s eldest son, Sir Richard Sutton, fie and his wife lived in a very charming home in Hereford¬ shire where equally fine aviaries were built and a wonderful collection of birds kept. Besides being a successful and experienced aviculturist, Hubert Astley was a most charming person, greatly missed by a large circle of friends when he died in 1925. J. Lewis Bonhote joined the Society in its early days, when he was an undergraduate at Cambridge. He was especially interested in British birds and a prominent member of the British Ornithologists’ Union. He kept a number of birds, specializing in Waterfowl, Waders, Hawks, and Eagles, and made some valuable experiments in hybridizing the various species of Ducks. For some years he was Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of our Society, and, for a time, Editor of the Magazine. The Honourable and Reverend F. G. Dutton, later known as Canon Dutton, a typical example of the ideal and charming country parson, was vicar of the beautiful village of Bibury in the Cotswolds. His hobby was Parrots, and he kept quite a number and knew all there was to know about their habits and treatment. For several years President of the Society, he regularly attended meetings of the Council, delighting the members by his geniality. He died in 1920. A very different type of country clergyman was the Rev. C. D. Farrar, vicar of Micklefield, in Yorkshire. He possessed very large aviaries, and was successful in breeding many rare species of which he contributed to our Magazine accounts full of wit and humour. Frank Finn, at one time Deputy Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, became well known to our members on his return to this country. He was an authority on birds of all kinds, but especially those of India. He had a wonderful memory and great knowledge, though he was not always successful in applying it to the best advantage. For a short time he edited the Magazine. In the 1896 list, the name of E. G. B. Meade- Waldo first appears. A country gentleman with large estates, he was a great naturalist and most interesting person. He had travelled a good deal, and spent much time in North Africa, on the birds of which he was an authority. 33 D. SETH-SMITH— NOTABLE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY He was very keen on bird protection, but saw no harm in the keeping of birds in aviaries for at Stonewall Park he kept and bred various Owls, Hawks, Sandgrouse, Desert Bullfinches, Quails, and others. He was an authority on hawking, and one of the introducers of the Little Owl into this country. He has been blamed for this, but the investigations undertaken by the British Trust for Ornithology have proved that the bird does far more good than harm. For many years he served on the Councils of the Zoological Society, R.S.P.B., and Avicultural Society, and his contributions to our Magazine were always instructive. Among our most useful members of the past was Miss R. Alderson, who joined the Society in 1896, served on the Council for several years, and occupied the post of Honorary Business Secretary which she only relinquished on account of ill-health shortly before her death in 1919. She had many kinds of birds, but her favourite group was the Doves and Pigeons, of which she kept a number of species with great success. Bernard C. Thomasset, who joined the Society in 1896, was a fine all-round naturalist, and although he never kept a large number of birds, was very successful with those he did, especially Gouldian Finches of which he bred a large number. He served on the Council for a number of years, and his death in 1942 was a severe blow to his many friends. Aubyn Trevor-Battye, who joined in 1898, was another delightful person, and a great naturalist, who had travelled a good deal, especially in Arctic regions, and written some excellent books. Like his cousin, Meade- Waldo, he was an all-round student of nature, both zoology and botany, and a walk with him in the country or even round his beautiful garden was a great treat. He wrote a good deal in our Magazine, his articles entitled “ Jottings on Common Indian Birds ” in 1915 being a type of his attractive style. He served for some years on our Council as well as that of the Zoological Society, his death occurring in 1922. Captain Boyd Horsbrugh, of the A.S.C., joined the Society in 1898. Having spent some years in South Africa, he was particularly interested in the birds of that country, and his many interesting contributions to our Magazine deal with these. He was promoted to Lieut.-Colonel in the first world war, but was later invalided out of the Army and died in 1916. I have mentioned some of the principal members of the Society in its early days, members who did most of the work in forming the Society, and who I was privileged to know, some of them inti¬ mately ; but there were others who I did not know, but who also helped, and to these we would also record our grateful thanks whether they have passed on or are with us still. 3 34 PHYLLIS BARGLAY-SMITH - THE PLACE OF AVICULTURE IN ORNITHOLOGY By Phyllis Barclay-Smith Has aviculture paid its full contribution to the science of ornithology as envisaged fifty years ago by the original Secretary and Treasurer ] of the Avicultural Society ? In the first number of the Magazine published in November, 1894, C. S. Simpson and H. R. Fillmer' wrote : — “ One of our chief objects will be to endeavour to bridge over the gulf which exists between the lover of live birds and the scientific ornithologist — we believe that each has much to learn from the other. We want to infuse a little science into the bird-keeper, and to interest the cabinet ornithologist in the habits of birds. ... A word as to our name. It seems desirable and even necessary to invent or acclimatize a word which shall denote ‘ a person interested in the keeping and breeding of birds ’ and Aviculturist (being analogous to Horticulturist) will do perhaps as well as another. If anyone will suggest a better we shall be glad to adopt it — till then we beg to subscribe ourselves Aviculturists.” This aim of the founders of the Society was further emphasized by Dr. A. G. Butler in an article “ Scientific Aviculture ” published in the April number, 1898 : — “ All hobbies, to be really interesting, should add something to the sum of general knowledge ; in other words, should make some new facts known to mankind. “ It has been forced upon me lately, by the questions put to me by scientific workers in other branches of zoological study, that aviculturists are doing far less than they might do towards helping their brethren the cabinet-ornithologists. As a class they seem to think that if they have succeeded in breeding a bird not previously reared in captivity in this country they have done all that mankind is entitled to expect at , their hands. “ When a man has been fortunate enough to succeed up to this point the cabinet- naturalist has a right to expect far more from him ; for if he merely records the bare fact, he has indeed been fortunate (and men will doubtless praise him who does good to himself), but he has nevertheless fallen short of that which he ought to have done, and has neglected a golden opportunity of imparting knowledge. “ To know a bird thoroughly it must be studied in both sexes and at all ages ; and this, alas (in spite of the indefatigable zeal of such men as Dr. Russ) has been done in very few of the numerous species which exist on the earth’s surface ; and , not in anything like all of even the commonly imported species. “ The aviculturist has it in his power to correct the errors which even careful travellers and cabinet-naturalists have, from time to time, undoubtedly made — respecting the young plumage, or the sexual plumage, the seasonal changes, and the senile plumage, of various species ; he has his birds before him from year’s end to year’s end ; he is interested in their habits, in their dances, songs, courtships, nest- buildings, and method of feeding their young ; he tells us about these things, all of which give us pleasure to read about, and perhaps enable some of us to follow in his footsteps ; yet, more often than not, the recital of these items adds little or nothing to the sum of facts already recorded in European works. “ On the other hand, every new item made known to the world is a distinct gain to mankind ; in that it assists in the great scheme of education, in which, whether we recognize it or not, we are all interested. “ The first duty of the breeder is to describe the nest, the eggs, the time of incubation, and the nesting plumage of every species reared by him, provided that it has not already been thoroughly done by some previous breeder ; then the date at which the young leave their nest should be noted, in order to decide how long this infant plumage is retained ; and the change to the adult plumage should be carefully studied. . . . THE PLAGE OF AVICULTURE IN ORNITHOLOGY 35 cs . . . Many of our members may perhaps think to back out of their responsibilities, on the ground that they have no aviaries but only a few small birds in cages. Now I will tell them what they can do if they only have a pair of common Avadavats in a cage. “ It is well known that this commonest of all Indian Waxbills is incessantly changing its plumage throughout the year, but nobody has ever made a careful study of these changes ; nobody knows whether they are produced by complete or partial moults, by growth of colour in the feathers themselves, or how long each phase of colour is permanent. It is certain that at some time or other there must be a complete moult, perhaps once, perhaps twice in the year, it is certain that the bird which at one time is in full breeding plumage resembles a hen at another time ; resembles all kinds of comical mixtures between male and female plumage sometimes, and at other times does not remind one of either sex. A carefully dated diary describing the metamorphoses of this common bird would be a boon to science and if undertaken by several independent workers would do much to clear up the mystery which enshrouds this little Waxbill.” Aviculture had already played an important part in the delibera¬ tions of the First International Ornithological Congress held in Vienna in 1884 ; true the interest centred round the origin and breeding of domestic poultry, Pigeons, and Pheasants, but it formed one of the only three sections of that Congress. Other prominent features of the meeting were an exhibition of birds in the Hall of the Horti¬ cultural Society and a visit to the collection of birds at the Imperial Palace of Schonbrunn. At the Second International Congress held in Budapest in 1891 aviculture was not specifically mentioned in any section, but two papers were given at general meetings ; a com¬ prehensive and illuminating account on the nest and juvenile plumage of foreign birds in captivity by Dr. Karl Russ and “ Volksswirtschaft- liche Bedeutung der Geflugelzucht in LJngarn ”, by Professor Eugen v. Rodiczky. At Paris in 1905 aviculture was given a good deal of attention, and when the President proposed that the fourth section should be divided into two sub-sections, viz. (1) Protection of Birds and Sport, (2) Acclimation and Aviculture, Monsieur H. Voitellier objected to this and stated that a third sub-section should be organized purely for aviculture, and won his point. A good deal of interest was again focussed on Pigeons and domestic poultry, but the progress in aviculture was evidenced by the photograph contributed by Monsieur Marco de Marchi and published in the Proceedings, of a Humming Bird ( Chlorostilbon splendidus ), perched on a wineglass. This bird was taken in Cordoba on the 20th December, 1898, and died in Milan in 1899 after five months of captivity. Another interesting paper on “ L’enseignment Avicole et ses Avantages ” was given by Don Salvador Gastello y Carreras. In London, 1905, a section was allocated solely for aviculture, and at this Congress two well-known British Aviculturists contributed papers, J. Lewis Bonhote on “ Some Notes on Hybridizing Ducks ”, and D. Seth-Smith on “ The Importance of Aviculture as an Aid to the Study of Ornithology ”. Mr. Seth-Smith stressed the many ways in which aviculture could amplify and assist the work both of the purely scientific ornithologist and the field naturalist, quoting 36 PHYLLIS BARGLAY-SMITH — as examples the discovery made by E. G. B. Meade- Waldo as to the method used by the Greater Pintailed Sand-Grouse in obtaining water for its young, the information obtained from the study of Tinamous in captivity, and the valuable observations made on the breeding habits of many species. In 1910, in Berlin, interest so far as aviculture was concerned had swung back again to the domestic poultry angle, but two outstanding papers were contributed, one on “ Biology, Ethnology, and Psychology of the Anatidae ”, by Dr. Oscar Heinroth, and another, by Magdela Heinroth, on “ Observations on Seldom Kept European Birds 55 . Magdela Heinroth had an exceptional and amazing capacity for handling and rearing wild things, both mammals and birds, and her successes were outstanding. In her paper she describes her experiences with many species and including such birds as Swift and Dipper. When the International Ornithological Congresses were resumed in Copenhagen in 1926 Aviculture was placed in the same section as Bird Protection, but no paper was contributed. Four years later, in Amsterdam, in 1930, Aviculture was not even mentioned at all, but in Oxford in 1934, when it appeared again in the same section as Bird Protection a paper was presented by Monsieur Jean Delacour on “ The First Rearing of Pittas in Captivity ”. In Rouen in 1938, thotigh the President of the Congress was an aviculturist, Aviculture did not play any large part. Four papers were contributed but no special section was allocated to this subject. From the above brief survey it would appear that, on the whole, aviculture’s importance, so far as International Congresses are concerned, has waned and yet the material which could be contributed to the general knowledge of ornithology has increased a hundredfold during the last fifty years. The aims of the early aviculturists can be only too well fulfilled, and aviculture, as has been proved, can usefully serve as a link between many branches of ornithology. It has been argued that the behaviour of birds in captivity differs to that in the wild, but with the great progress in bird keeping and the conditions as near perfect as possible which have been achieved, the possibilities of observations on display, courtship, breeding, and nesting habits are illimitable. In his book The Life of the Robin, one of the most striking studies of bird life published in recent years, David Lack obtained much information from observa¬ tions of Robins in aviaries. Invaluable contributions to research on genetics have been made by the breeding of varieties of Budgerigars and the experiments being carried on by P. W. Teague in the breeding of Gouldian Finches will undoubtedly be of the greatest scientific purport. In his articles on the “ Breeding Psychology of Geese ” John Berry has shown the possibilities of this perhaps most entrancing of all branches of orni¬ thology, and many more instances of the great value of aviculturists’ THE PLAGE OF AVICULTURE IN ORNITHOLOGY 37 work could be quoted. To the anatomist and those studying bird plumages, particularly nestling down, aviculturists can be of the greatest assistance, but the amount of “ wasted ” material which has either been buried, cremated, or placed in the dustbin when it would have been so welcome in the museum spirit jar is deplorable, and Zoological Societies cannot be excluded from this indictment. This lack of co-ordination of effort and opportunity cannot, however, be placed at the door of aviculturists alone, ornithology has been kept far too much in cut and dried sections and lack of understanding has prevented the general pooling of knowledge and resources which can only achieve the aim all have in common — the better knowledge of bird life in all its aspects. This state of affairs has, however, been changing rapidly during recent years, and oologists, photographers, bird protectionists, sportsmen, and collectors of bird skins are less inclined to regard each other with unmitigated suspicion. In his articles on “ The Preservation of Water-fowl and Aviculture ” ■(Avi. Mag., March and September, 1939) Dr. J. M. Derscheid pointed out the great opportunities of preserving some of the vanishing bird species of the world which have got beyond the recognized methods of preservation and which are subject to adverse conditions beyond human control by “ maintaining them and increasing their numbers by methodical breeding in captivity ”. A striking example of this theory is the project for the propagation and maintenance of the Trumpeter Swan in America, which is now being carried out by Captain Jean Delacour for the Fish and Wild Life Service of that country. There is no doubt whatever that aviculturists have done much for the common good of ornithology, but in addition to the pleasurable occupation which it is undoubtedly is, can it be hoped that in the future far more papers of detailed observations on bird behaviour, breeding and nesting, plumage changes, song, and psychology will be forthcoming, that Aviculture will be a prominent feature in the deliberations of Ornithological Congresses, that a closer link-up with museum workers will be instituted, and that when my successor comes to write a similar survey on the Society attaining its centenary it will be a record of the ever-increasing value of aviculture to science, and that the definition of aviculture as given in the Oxford Dictionary to-day, “ rearing of birds — bird fancying,” will have been changed to “ the scientific study of birds in captivity ” ? 38 M. AMSLER— MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS By Maurice Amsler, M.D., F.Z.S. This number of our Magazine will, I trust, open with a note of rejoicing and triumph at the growth from strength to strength of the Avicultural Society, until it now celebrates its 50th birthday. None the less one cannot help regretting that this jubilation comes at a time when our doings are a mere shadow of what we remember in pre-war days. It is perhaps for this reason that I pen these notes with a certain feeling of sadness, perhaps even of regret that I myself, being so much older than our Society, can never expect again to see a return of those good old days. Gone are the times when importation of rare and new birds were an almost monthly event. No longer will we receive telegrams from old Hamlyn or from Chapman saying, “ Am sending you pair of so-and-so on approval.” How seldom were those “ so-and-so’s ” returned to the vendor. It was an exciting adventure to be at one of these bird shops when an important consignment arrived from abroad and to be able to take one’s choice of the best and healthiest. During my 30 years of medical practice, I managed in my spare hours to derive unbounded pleasure and interest from my birds and garden, and I often asked myself which of these two I liked the better ; even now I cannot answer that question, but under the present con¬ ditions I do feel fortunate that I had two strings to my bow. There are certain landmarks and red-letter days in my past life which I propose to touch on, although most of the facts have been mentioned, but almost certainly forgotten, in past numbers of the Avicultural Magazine. The first notable achievement was the nesting and partial rearing of young by the Golden-fronted Fruitsucker (C. aurifrons) . In all, three clutches of two eggs were laid and from each one youngster was hatched. My nearest attempt to complete success was a chick of twelve to fifteen days of age. This event took place in a small aviary in a sunless back garden and although the following year my family of birds and I moved to much better surroundings, I never again so nearly succeeded with this species. The sexes are difficult to recognize and like so many other softbills true pairs will often fight to the death in the off-season. This was my experience with the Blue-headed Rock Thrush ( Monticola cinchloryncha) , perhaps the most lovely of all that beautiful genus. My cock killed at least three wives and in order to avoid financial ruin I gave him to the Zoo where he lived for an incredible time, ten years at the very least, durrhg which he doubtless learned to regret his evil deeds. Mr. Astley’s charming account of his tame Blue Rock Thrush M. AMSLER - MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS 39 (. Monticola solitaria ) in “ My Birds in Freedom and Captivity ” fired me with the desire to breed this species, a feat which had been accom¬ plished abroad but not in Great Britain. When on a plant hunting expedition in the Maritime Alps I saw several males in cages and also flying wild in the mountains. The natives usually refused to part with their birds or else asked a quite impossible price. Finally on the day of my departure I encountered several boxes of live birds at the hotel entrance, one of which contained a pair. As these appeared to be quite lively and fit, as far as I could see in a dark box, they at once became mine. I suppose this is what is meant by “ buying a pig in a poke ”, for on breaking my journey at Cleres where Mons. Delacour kindly lent me cages in which to place my two birds, we then discovered that the hen was really a Pied Rock-Thrush and practically useless to me. But as Mons. Delacour had a hen Blue Rock Thrush and as he wanted a hen Pied all was well and the following year I successfully reared young from this pair. One of these, a very fine male, was given to Mrs. Astley and lived for many years at Brinsop. My love of Thrushes gave me many heartaches and disappoint¬ ments chiefly on account of intermarital fighting and murders, but among my successes may be numbered the Orange-headed Ground Thrush (annually for many years), the American Robin or Migratory Thrush, and that little gem the Hermit Thrush. Of all the Thrushes the last-named were the only ones I could keep together during the whole year — possibly because they are not true Thrushes. The Common Song Thrush, with the Blackbird and the Missel Thrush, all of which I bred successfully, were no exception to this drawback. It was in 1912 that I won my first medal by breeding the Hooded Siskin (C. cucullata) . This was my first attempt and was obviously beginner’s luck for although I have had many pairs since those days I have never succeeded again though I have bred scores of hybrids between the male Siskin and domestic Canaries, one cock producing over thirty mules in one season. My first medal had the usual effect so often seen in young aviculturists and I looked around for species that had not previously been bred. Among these, two native birds suggested themselves to me— the Crested Tit and the Great Tit ; the former of these two is not an easy bird to come by, is difficult to keep for long in captivity, and almost impossible to sex. Anyhow I never succeeded in inducing my Crested’s to nest but the Common Great Tit was a simple matter. I caught a pair in the spring, they reared me six young in their first nest, won me a medal and were also the means of my breeding many birds later on in a state of semi-liberty. We all know how confiding all the Tits are, especially in the winter months when food is scarce, I was therefore much surprised when I first turned this pair into a small aviary to find them the wildest birds 40 M. AMSLER - MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS I had ever kept. Nevertheless they soon took to a Berlepsch nesting box and before long the hen was obviously sitting. During the whole of incubation the cock remained as wild as ever and the hen was seldom seen. One morning there was a transformation scene, both birds treating me as their greatest friend and almost taking the meal¬ worms from my hand ; the reason was obvious but I could not resist a peep into the nest-box which sure enough contained six young, all of which were reared and liberated when quite independent. The old pair went to nest again almost immediately. As soon as the hen was steady on her eggs I opened the aviary door by day and closed it in the evenings usually after dark. Again the hatching of young was made obvious by the birds’ tameness, but now they followed me all round the garden and even into the house ; in fact I remember one occasion when we had six people to tea who were greatly entertained by the constant visits of my Great Tits who helped themselves to4)read and butter and the almonds and raisins from our cake. None of these luxuries were then rationed or “ on points ”, so everyone was happy and pleased. Shortly after this I picked up a pair of Orchard Finches ( Phrygilus fruticeti) , a rather handsome Bunting-like bird with an attractive little trilling song. As I looked at the birds in the dealer’s shop I had a feeling I could certainly breed them. This proved easy and was another “ first-timer I gave away the young as soon as I saw the parents were about to build again and once more I gave them complete liberty when the young were hatched. Although the hen had not much use for me, but busied herself collecting insects, chiefly greenfly, the cock showed quite wonderful intelligence in recognizing me at a great distance. In those days I frequently returned to lunch after doing my rounds in Eton College via the South Meadow on to which my garden abutted. It was quite impossible for me to get home without my being spotted by the cock, who knew that I usually had a box of mealworms in my pocket, and he would frequently meet me when I was still sixty to eighty yards from home, though as far as I know he never approached anybody else. These South Americans appeared to be perfectly hardy and I hope their end was a happy one, for the following spring I liberated them in Windsor Forest. The foregoing were thus the first lessons in breeding birds at semi-liberty, a method which I think I have now practised more than most people. Other species which have successfully reared young in this manner are Green Cardinals and American Robins and there are doubtless many other cases which could be successfully tried. But it will be noticed that all the birds I have mentioned are either insectivorous or at any rate inordinately fond of mealworms when breeding. In other words the mealworm is the bait which brings them home. M. AMSLER - MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS 41 It has always been a surprising fact that many more have not succeeded in breeding that charming bird the Shama either at total or partial liberty ; indeed this confiding bird with all its attributes of grace, song, and hardiness has ever been a shy breeder. Nests are readily built, eggs laid and incubated, but what percentage of chicks is reared to maturity ? In my own experience about one in a hundred, and the fault is usually attributable to the ardent love of the male who is ever anxious to start another nest and for this reason has a nasty habit of robbing the nest of its callow young which he is wont to deposit in various parts of the aviary. My only real successes have been achieved by caging or removing the male when the young were a few days old. My attempts at giving the parents their liberty when the young were hatched ever ended in failure or catastrophe, one or other bird would stray or the excitement of liberty caused them to neglect their young. One definite cause which I have observed at least twice is that they appear to lose the instinct of finding a good sheltered spot if sleeping out, which the cocks are prone to do. A heavy storm of rain so drenches the poor bird that he either dies of cold or, being quite unable to fly, falls a ready prey to the many forms of vermin with which the world abounds. Of these rats are the commonest and most hateful. Such then has been my experience, but I should dearly love to try once more if I could get another pair of Shamas. This naturally leads me to the delightful Blue Robin whose doings I have reported, perhaps ad nauseam , in these pages, but I have the conceit to consider myself an expert on the breeding of these birds at partial liberty. My first pair came to me in 1926 as a very generous but unmerited present from the Zoological Society. From this pair and an unrelated hen given me by a friend I reared sixty young by fair means and foul in the course of three or four years. The first year only produced one young bird, a cock, though nearly a score were hatched. I soon found that in my aviaries, at any rate, young were easy to produce but very difficult to rear, they were either neglected when quite young and all died by degrees during the first ten days or so ; occasionally several left the nest and were so neglected that they also died off. The following year I was tempted to try “ semi-liberty ”, but dared not take the risk with birds which are very strictly protected and so difficult to procure. I have found that Bluebirds will almost always lay again exactly ten days after their clutch of four to six eggs is removed and that the normal number laid is about 20 in a season. It occurred to me to try the common Redbreast as a foster parent and although there is not room in these notes to go into full details, it is interesting to note that — 42 M. AMSLER - MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS 1 . The Redbreasts will readily incubate Bluebirds5 eggs, which are much larger than their own and not speckled but clear sky blue. 2. That they do not appear to be disturbed if given eggs just about to hatch even though their own are almost “ new-laid and vice versa they will carry on for many days even though their own eggs are actually chipping. 3. They rear the Bluebirds without any hesitation and produce large healthy young birds, who are ready to leave the nest about the i6th-i7th day. My method was to trap the Redbreasts and take the young at a fortnight and to put the whole family in a large cage with an un¬ limited supply of gentles, mealworms, and fresh ants’ eggs. As soon as I found that the young were self-supporting, I would return the two Redbreasts to their old home after ringing both, and by this means I have been able to know that I once used the same pair twice in one season. These methods sound very simple but there is always “ the fly in the ointment ”. One of the old birds may meet with an accident and its mate will then probably desert ; more frequently the nest is dis¬ turbed and the young thrown out, the culprits being small boys, rats, cats, Magpies, and even mice, in the order given. None the less I built up a good colony of Bluebirds and was prepared to give my parent Bluebirds their liberty during the third year, and on the whole everything went well, although I always had a mauvais quart d'heure when I first opened the aviary door for a pair which had never before been liberated. On one occasion the whole nest of young died during the night for some mysterious reason, and when I opened the aviary in the morning the parents came out, took no interest in their nest-box, and finally disappeared ; it was then that I looked into the nest and discovered the cause of their departure. This escaped pair I traced to a place about three-quarters of a mile away some six weeks later. Both birds and a family of young had been seen feeding in his garden* by a cottager whose description of both adults and young ones was so accurate that there could be no question as to their identity. I spent a good deal of time near that garden with a call-bird and traps but never saw a sign of my escapees. The following spring a full-plumaged cock was seen by a nurse at the Eton College Sanatorium, again her description left no doubt as to the species. I mention this happening to show that in this particular case this bird did not migrate as is usual with Bluebirds and that he came through what was a fairly severe winter. There is yet a fourth method by which I managed to rear five of the best and strongest youngsters I have ever seen. During the liberty of one particular pair I noticed that the male took much interest in a M. AMSLER - MEMORIES OF HAPPY DAYS 43 large nest-box which was hung in my garden for wild birds, actually in the hope of attracting a Wryneck. When this pair had finished off their young and were about due to lay again I took an opportunity of letting the male out alone, keeping the hen shut inside their aviary. He at once flew to his coveted nest-box and began to call to his mate who joined him as soon as I allowed her to do so. They quickly built and laid but I made it a rule never to give them either insects or soft food anywhere but inside their aviary ; by this means I had a certain control over their movements and when the five young were almost ready to fly it was an easy matter to catch both parents in their aviary and to transfer them and the box of young into a cage. I always took this last precaution for I am certain that in a cage the young are less likely to be neglected after leaving the nest than if they are flying about even in a small aviary. The foregoing remarks apply to the Eastern Bluebird (< Sialia sialis ), but since coming to Kent I have had the good fortune to own a pair of the Western species, S. mexicana occidentalism thanks to the generosity of Mr. Ezra and Mons. Delacour. These birds I also bred at semi¬ liberty but since coming to the country my results have, much to my surprise and disappointment, been far less successful than when I lived in a small town. Owls and other predatory creatures are naturally more numerous in rural districts and I have noticed a very large percentage of tragedies here with the young of wild birds, and perhaps most frequently of all in the case of the common Robin who is so fearless and confiding that its nest is very easily located. There are four species of insectivorous birds whose reproduction I have striven for without more than partial success, and I now realize that that success will never be mine. The first is to my mind the gem of all softbills, the small Robin-like Arctic Blue throat. I must have owned at least three pairs, but only once did I succeed in maintaining a pair through the winter and spring in sufficiently good condition to warrant any hope of breeding. This pair actually finished a nest and then the hen mysteriously disappeared. She may have been killed and carried away by a mouse or have died a natural death, such a tiny mite could easily be overlooked even in a small aviary. Mons. Plocq, a Frenchman, used to catch these birds on their migration through France and appeared to keep them in good con¬ dition without difficulty, but this man was an avicultural genius who could even hand-rear and keep Swallows. The other birds I referred to were the three species of Niltava. Both the Greater Niltava (JV. grandis ) and the Lesser Niltava (N. macgrigoria) built nests but were never really fighting-fit. The much commoner Rufous-bellied Niltava (jV*. sundara ) never showed any inclination to breed. These last three species had they hatched 44 editor’s note young would have been good subjects for liberation, but my experience with them as also with certain other of the more delicate softbills was that they often suffered from a poor feathering of the flight quills and also at times from a brittleness of the quills themselves which made flight an effort and breeding a most unlikely event. There may have been something amiss with the diet, my home¬ made soft food erred on the side of simplicity which I now realize was a false economy. But aviculture is an expensive hobby ! Have you ever asked your- I self how many good books or how many permanent trees and shrubs you could buy for the money you have spent on birds, almost all of which are now, alas ! only distant memories ? ❖ * * EDITOR’S NOTE In the ordinary course of events the attainment of the Avicultural Society’s 50th Anniversary would undoubtedly have been celebrated with due festivity — scientific and social. However, things being as they are, the only method of marking this important milestone in the Society’s history is the publication of a Jubilee Supplement, here presented. This Supplement has not come into being without many trials and setbacks, the first and most formidable being the definite and final refusal of the Paper Controller to the request for a special ration of paper for the purpose. But with careful saving of pages here and pages there over the past twelve months, and reaping the benefit of the policy we have always maintained of keeping well within the margin of the ration in order to build up a small reserve, sufficient paper was available and the Paper Controller gave permission for the Jubilee Supplement to be printed from these “ savings ”. Other difficulties and delays have occurred, one of the most regrettable being the loss by enemy action of the article written by Dr. Ranston of the Avicultural Society of New Zealand, an article which would have been particularly welcome and without which the Jubilee Supplement is certainly incomplete. In conclusion, I should like to thank all the contributors to this Supplement, many of whom could ill afford the time to write their articles, for without them there would have been no Supplement at all, and to Messrs. Stephen Austin, who despite shortage of staff, shortage of supplies, and the many other worries which harry the lives of printers in these days, have done their utmost to produce proofs as speedily as possible, and whose standard of work, particularly that of the compositors, has been maintained at their high peacetime level, which in the sixth year of war is no mean achievement. THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY Founded 1894 President : A. EZRA, Esq., O.B.E. MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION is £1 per annum, due on 1st January each year, and payable in advance. (Entrance fee 10/-, suspended during the War.) THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE is published bi-monthly and sent free to members. Members joining at any time during the year are entitled to back numbers for the current year, on the payment of subscription. Subscriptions, Changes of Address, Names of Candidates for Membership, etc., should be sent to — The Honorary Secretary and Treasurer , Tel. : Primrose 0247. MISS E. MAUD KNOBEL, 86 Regent’s Park Road, London, N.W.i. ALL MATTER FOR PUBLICATION IN THE MAGAZINE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO— The Editor , MISS PHYLLIS BARCLAY-SMITH, F.Z.S., 51 Warwick Avenue, Tel. : Cunningham 3006. London, W. 9. The price of the Magazine to non-members is 55. post free per copy, or £1 10 s. for the year. Orders for the Magazine, extra copies, and back numbers (from 1917) should be sent to the publishers, Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, 1 Fore Street, Hertford. Tel. : Hertford 2546/2547. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THE AVICULTURAL MAGAZINE BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIRDS IN FREEDOM AND IN CAPTIVITY EDITED BY PHYLLIS BARCLAY-SMITH, F.Z.S. FIFTH SERIES. VOL X JANUARY, 1945, to DECEMBER, 1945 Hertford STEPHEN. AUSTIN & SONS, Ltd. 1945 CONTENTS Title-page .... Contents ..... Alphabetical List of Contributors List of Plates Officers for the Year 1945 List of Members Rules of the Avicultural Society The Society’s Medal Magazine .... Index ..... i iii v viii 1 3 *7 20 1 183 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Abrahams, J. A. A Royal Blue Parrot Finch Hybrid, 21. Barclay-Smith, Phyllis (P. B-S.) Cage-Bird Show, 182. Obituary — Dr. J. M. Derscheid, 157. Berry, John Notes on the Nesting of Geese at Tayfield, Fife, in 1944, 102. Boosey, E. 1 944 Breeding ’ Season at Keston, 1 . Breeding of African Grey Parrots at Keston, 145. Carr, V. A. V. Hand-rearing British Birds, 126. Crandall, Lee S. The Wattled Crane, 28. Davis, Sir Godfrey Miscellanea, 131. Ziarat, 151. Davis, H. H. Wild Geese on the Severn, 89. Delacour, Jean Decorative Aviaries in the New York Zoo, 57. The Family Anatidae, 93. Parrot Breeding in the South-Western United States, 19. Dharmakumarsinhji of Bhavnagar, Prince K. S. The Bustard-Quail at home, 58. Doxford, Agnes V. Nesting of Yellow- winged Sugar Birds, 141. Eaves, W. L. Breeding of the Plum-head Parrakeet, 14. England, M. D. Colouration of Kookaburras, 55. Ornithological Aviculture, 116. “ Submission ” in Redrump Parrakeets, 56. Ezra, Alfred The Green-winged King Parrakeet, 130. Falkner, Guy The Japanese Blue Flycatcher, 53. VI ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Floyd, J. F. M. Tropical Sanctuary, 113. Furner, A. C. Corncrake in Captivity, 82. Goodwin, D. A Soldier’s Bird Guests, 174. Guy, Charles P. Conditions for Breeding Redrumps and Bourke’s Parrakeets, 29. Hawke, The Hon. Mary A Mexican Clarino, 28. Hopkinson, Dr. Emilius, C.M.G., D.S.O. Birds of Paradise in Captivity, 169. ISENBERG, A. H. Breeding of Silver-eared Mesias, 66. Lax, Sergeant J. M. S., R.A.F. Birds seen in India and Burma, 70. Lendon, Lieut.-Colonel Alan Breeding Results for 1944, 33. Parrakeet Breeding in Australia since the war, 9. Manfield, H. Breeding in captivity of the Naretha or Little Blue Bonnet Parrakeet, 7. Matthews, Frances E. Bird Notes from Kenya, 172. Maxwell, P. H. Recent Arrivals at the London Zoo, 83. The New Pheasant Collection at the London Zoo, October, 1945, 182. Moody, A. F. An Early Account of some Perching Birds in the Scampston Collection 48, 75, 134. Patten, R. A. Eye Disease in Australian Parrots, 12. Phillips, G. P. My Parrakeets in 1944, 17. Plath, K. A Talking Budgerigar, 15. Green-cheeked Amazon with Yellow Shoulders, 55. Pope, Lieut.-Col. Nesting Habits of Coursers and Plovers, 31. ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Vll Prestwich, A. A. (A. A. P.) Early Importations of Birds of Paradise, 44. Breeding of Silver-eared Mesias, 1 12. Hybrid Macaws, 28. London Zoo Notes, 27. Lovebirds, Red, Yellow, and Blue, 143. News from California, 27. Penguins at the Edinburgh Zoo, 83. The First Importation of Humming Birds, 144. Risdon, Flight-Lieutenant D. H. S., R.A.F. Fecundity of Gregarious Birds, 84. Reminiscences I, 61. Reminiscences II, Waterfowl, 107. Reminiscences III, Pheasants, 127- Reminiscences IV, Softbills and Miscellaneous, 158. Seth-Smith, David (D. S-S.) The Newman Library, 42. Stevens, Ronald Waterfowl after the War, 85. Stromgren, Carl Colour Preference in Weaver Birds, 29. Sweetnam, Prebendary The Possibilities of Semi-Liberty, 72. Taibel, A. M. Hybrids between the Ornamented and Swainson’s Lorikeets, 24. Truitt, Viola K. Breeding my Sugar Birds, 180. Wharton-Tigar, N. A Long-lived Fruitsucker, 56. Yealland, John Conditions for Breeding Redrumps and Bourke’s Parrakeets, 29. viii LIST OF PLATES LIST OF PLATES Pair of Rosella Parrakeets .... Family of young Many-colour Parrakeets . Eggs of Kittlitz’s Sand Plover .... Eggs of Crowned Lapwing .... Aviaries in New York Zoo — Arid Plain and “ New England Garden 55 for native Birds . * Mandarin and Carolina ..... White-fronted Gander on his nest with two eggs which he removed from adjoining Greylag’s nest ........ Barnacle X Greylag hybrid