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In 41 Volumes. Compiled by ROBERT DODWELL.

Being a Biographical, Historical, and Topographical account, alpha-
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FEATHERED FRIENDS.

FEATHERED F1(IEWD£

Old and New,

BY

DR. W. T. GREENE, M.A., 5fc.

Author of "Parrots in Captivity", "Birds I have Kept in Days gone l>y " ,

" The Amateurs Aviary of Foreign Birds^\ " The Birds in my Garden " ,

"Favourite Foreign Birds", "The Grey Parrot", "The Song- Birds

of Great Britain", etc.

EDITOR OF " NOTES ON CAGE BIRDS."

LONDON :
L UPCOTT GILL, i7"o, STRAND, W.C.

1896.

NOTICE.

In the following pages I have followed the Clas-
sification of the London Zoological Society rather for
the sake of convenience than because I approve of it.

W. T. GREENE.

IVEAGH LODGE,
PICARDY HILL,

BELVEDERE, KENT.

June, 1896.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTERS. PAGE.

I. COMMON BLUEBIRD Siatia wilsonii, Sw I

II. NIGHTINGALE Daulias hiscinia, Lnn 8

III. COAL TIT Parus atcr, Lnn . . .• 29

IV. TREE PIPIT Anthtts arboreus, Ikhst 39

V. RED-BELLIED WAXBILL Esirelda rubriventris, Lnn 44

VI. CKIMSON-EARED WAXBILL.. „ phoenlcotis, Lnn 50

VII. BLACK-HEADED FINCH Mttnia stnensis, Lnn 55

VIII. MAJA FINCH „ maja, Lnn 60

IX. BANDED FINCH Poephila cincta, Gld 62

X. JAVA SPARROW (WHITE)... Padda oryzivora alba, Lnn.. 65

XL OLIVE WEAVER Hyphantornis capjnsis, Gin 70

XII. YELLOW-BILLED CARUIXAL.. Paroaria capitata, Lnn 73

XIII. BLACK BULLFINCH Melopyrrha nigra, Lnn 76

XIV7. WHAT is IT ? Passer anonymus, Grn 85

XV. BRAMBLING Fringilla monlifringilla, Lnn 89

XVI. SISKIN CJirysomitris spinus, Lnn 91

XVII. ORTOLAN Emberiza horhdana, Lnn 95

XVIII. STARLING (ADDITIONAL). . . . Sturnus vulgaris, Lnn 97

XIX. LVRGER HlLL-MYNAH Gracula intermedia, Hy 103

XX. RAVEN Carvus corax, Lnn 1 05

XXI. ROSE-CRESTED COCKATOO. . Cacatua maluccensis, Gm 1 16

XXII. BLUE-EYED COCKATOO „ ophthalm'ua, Scltr 122

XXIII. LEMON-CRESTED COCKATOO. . „ galerita, Lthm 123

XXIV. LESSER SULPHUR-CRESTED .

COCKATOO „ sulphtirea, Gm 1 24

XXV. BARE-EYED COCKATOO „ . gymnopis, Scltr 126

XXVI. WESTERN SLENDER-BILL

COCKATOO Licmetis pastinator, Gld 128

XXVII. SWAINSON'S LORIKEET Trichoglossus nova hollandia, Gm. 129

XXVIII. SCALY-BREASTED LORIKEET. < „ chlorolepidotus, Khl. 134

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTERS. PAGE.

XXIX. RING-NECKED PARRAKEET.. Palaomis torqtiatus, Bdd 140

XXX. BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET „ cyanocephalus,\^vm 149

XXX!. BLACK-TAILED PARRAKEET. Polytelis melamira, Vgrs 154

XXXII. RID-WINGED PARRAKEET.. Aprosmictus erythroptews, Lth . . . 155

XXXIII. KING PARRAKEET „ scapulatus, Khl 160

XXXIV. CEYLONESE HANGING PARR A-

KKET Lorictdus asiatictis, Lth 164.

XXXV. TURQUOISINE GRASS PARRA-

KEET Euphema pulchella^ Shw 169

XXXVI. BOURKE'S PARRAKEET „ bourkii, Mtchl 173

XXXVII. ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRD Agapornis roseicollis, Vllt 179

XXXVIII. PENNANT'S PARRAKEET Platycercus pennan'ii, Lth 183

XXXIX. ADELAIDE PARRAKEET „ adelaida, Gld 187

XL. PILEATED PARRAKEET „ pilcatusy Vgrs 189

XLI. NEW ZEALAND PARRAKEET Cyanorhamphus nov. zel.t Gm... 195

XLII. GOLDEN-HEADED PARRAKEET „ auriceps, Khl 199

XLI II. GREY PARROT Psittacus erithacus, Lnn 203

XLIV. SENEGAL PARROT Pueocephahis senegalus, Lnn 210

XLV. HALF-MOON CONURE Conurus aureiis, Gm 211

XLVT. WHITE-EARED CONURE , le-ucotis, Lcht 212

XLVII. GREY-BREASTED PARRAKEET Bolborhynchus monachits, Hd 217

XLVIII. LlNEOLATED PARRAKEET.. ,, lineolatlis, Bd . . . . 221

XLIX. FESTIVE AMAZON PARROT.. Chrysotis f estiva, Lnn 224

L. HAWK-HEADED CAIQUE Deroptyus acdpitrinus, Lnn 227

LI. RINGDOVE Columba pahimbus, Lnn 232

LII. TRIANGULAR-SPOTTEDPIGEON „ guineay\Mv 242

LTII. CAPE DOVE CEna capensis, Lnn 244

LIV. BARRED DOVE Geopella striata, Lnn 253

LV. TURTLE DOVE Turlur comnmnis, Slby 257

LVI. CAMBAYAN TURI LE DOVE . . „ senegalensis, Lnn 270

LVII. JAPANESE TURTLEDOVE... „ risorius albus, Lnn 277

LVIII. BRONZE-SPOTTED DOVE.... Chalcopelia chalcospilos, Wgl 280

LIX. TAMBOURINE DOVE Tympanistria bicolor, Bp 284

LX. CRESTED DOVE Ocyphaps lophotes, Tmm 286

LXI. GREEN-WINGED DOVE Chalcophaps indica, Lnn 290

LXII. LITTLE GREEN-WINGED DOVE ,, chrysochlora, \Vgl.... 294

FEATHERED FRIENDS

OLD AND NEW.

CHAPTER I.

©lue Robin.

I HIS exceedingly pretty bird, Der Hiittensanger (the
cottage-singer) of the Germans, is a great favourite
where he is not too well known, for ,he has a few
faults which should, perhaps, be mentioned first, for to
give an account of his good qualities, and then begin
to depreciate him, would scarcely be fair; seeing that
people, as a rule, remember what they have last read
better than they do what went before, just as in a
controversy the latest speaker has a decided advantage
over his antagonist, a fact that often powerfully affects
a jury, as lawyers are very well aware.

It is somewhat curious that fewer birds should be
imported from America than from South Africa or
Australia, for in the first case the passage is so much

I

2 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

shorter; but so it is, and Dr. Russ laments the fact in the
most pathetic fashion, particularly as regards the subject of
the present notice, for which he expresses a warm admi-
ration that is certainly in every respect, save one, its due.

To the point, however. I have said that it has some
defects which detract from the general excellence of
its character, and so it has. In the first place, it is purely
of insectivorous habits, a serious difficulty in the matter
of keeping it until recently, for after a short dieting
upon the makeshifts that are vended for insect-eaters,
one of these birds will soon grieve its owner by having
a fit, or it may even carry its objection to its feeding
so far as to die, which of course is a most unreasonable
proceeding on its part, at least from the fancier's point
of view.

We now come to defect number two: the Blue
Robin will go to nest quite freely in the aviary, making
a loose clumsy construction, of grass and leaves in any
convenient corner, and will lay and incubate its eggs
in the most praiseworthy fashion. Then, however, it
seems to consider that it has done enough, for nearly
always it refuses to feed the young, which are either
thrown out as soon as hatched, or, if fed for a few
days, are then abandoned, which is exceedingly annoying
to the aviarist, and decidedly cruel to the poor little
things themselves.

Why the Blue Robins should act in such an unnatural
manner is difficult to say; some authorities think that

THE AMERICAN BLUE ROE1N.

THE BLUE ROBIN. 5

in consequence of the birds having too much tempting
food at their disposal they over-eat themselves and
become so heated that their instinct prompts them to
commence breeding again. Others, however, assert that
the young are neglected because the parents, not being
supplied with food to their liking", namely live insects,
refuse to give them what they know to be unsuitable,
and that if they were correctly dieted they would do
their duty by their offspring and rear them to maturity.

Possibly; but a correspondent in Hampshire, who
is a great admirer of these beautiful birds, and has
received some direct from North America, of which
part of the world they are natives, has tested them in
every way, and been unfortunate each time. Once or
twice success was almost attained, and in a day or
two more the young would have left their birthplace,
when, lo and behold! on going to visit the aviary one
morning the poor little Robins were found lying stark
and stiff below the nest, from which they had wriggled
in the last agonies of starvation ; or they were all huddled
up together in their cradle with their heads turned to the
opening and equally past recovery.

It was very provoking, and my correspondent tried
all means to bring the delinquents to a sense of their
duty, but in vain, and at last was so disgusted by
their cruel behaviour that, pretty as they were, and
sweet singer as was the cock, they were exchanged
for sqme other feathered bipeds of a rqore c|omestic^

6 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

ated and affectionate, not to say natural, disposition.

Now that it is so easy to get ants' eggs (cocoons)
of good quality, there should be a better chance of
successfully breeding the Blue Robin in confinement,
and in fact I have heard of young ones having been
fully reared in the Western Aviary of the London
Zoological Society. I fancy it would be only in some
enclosure of the kind that complete success could be
hoped for, namely, one of considerable extent, well
grassed and planted with a variety of shrubs, where
the birds would have plenty of space to exercise their
legs and wings and be able to find at least some
insects for themselves.

I have never met with an instance of their having
nested in a cage, or even heard of their having done
so, nor can I fancy that they would.

The Blue Robin is a larger bird than his European
namesake; his upper parts are sky-blue, and his lower
ruddy brown, except the tail coverts, which are white.
The female is altogether duller in colour and of smaller
size than her mate. The food of these birds in a state
of nature consists entirely of insects, and although in
confinement they will swallow some seed, it does not
agree with them ; unless they can have a fair proportion
of animal food they will not long survive.

The male is a charming songster, but his best notes
are not to be compared with those of our English Red-
breast, than which the Blue Robin is much more sociable

THE BLUE ROBLN. 7

and amiable with his own kind, while with other birds
I have never known him to interfere.

The eggs are blue and vary from three to five in
number.

A pair of these birds that I once had must have
been delicate when I bought them, for the cock, who
always looked a little puffy from the day when he first
came into my possession, soon fell into a sort of decline
and died, a mere skeleton covered with skin and feathers.
The hen, however, survived and I kept her for a time,
hoping that she might pair with a Robin Redbreast I
had, and who shared the same large cage with her.
But no, the native champion would have nothing to
say to the American beauty, and if he did not drive
her about and persecute her, as he would have done a
female of his own race, he left her severely alone and
after awhile I gave her away.

What an appetite she had I and what a swallow!
Thirteen or fourteen full-grown black-beetles were merely
a sort of pick-me-up before breakfast for her, and where-
as other birds would pull them to pieces before eating
them, she would gulp them down entire and then look
round for more !

I never heard her utter a sound during the seven or
eight months she was in my custody.

The scientific name of the Blue Robin is Sialiq
Wilsonii, Swn.

CHAPTER II.

WILL y°u accePt a Nightingale?" began a letter I
received one day from a hitherto unknown
correspondent.

I paused when I had got thus far: "accept a Night-
ingale?" the King of songsters, whom I had always con-
sidered it was little short of sacrilege to cage, especially
since a man I knew lost fourteen of the incomparable
minstrels of the night in a week or two from the date
of their capture. No! I would be no party to such a
deed as wantonly to deprive of its liberty the most
delightful musician in the world.

When I read a little more of the letter, however, I
began to see that I had been somewhat hasty, and
that I might retreat from my position not only without
loss of dignity but with positive honour, not to speak
of advantage, for the bird had been brought up by
hand from the nest, was two years old and perfectly
tame. That quite altered the matter, so I wrote to
accept the lady's offer with many thanks.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 9

My correspondent then sent me another letter, that
enlarged further upon the merits of the bird, which
was so tame it would go in and out of its cage of its
own accord, would bathe in a saucer placed on the floor
and then sit on the fender to dry itself. It would also
run about the room after a mealworm tied to a piece

THE NIGHTINGALE.

of thread and trailed along, exactly like a kitten after
a reel of cotton! Many other accomplishments it also
possessed, but was capricious as to its song.

Well, to make a long story short, as the books say,
the bird was sent to me, and a very charming creature
it was. Olive brown on the back and wings, reddish
qn the rump and tail, and greyish white on the throat

io FEATHERED FRIENDS.

and breast. Then what an eye! full, tender, jetty
black : and such a knowing expression. How sprightly
it was, and in what perfect feather !

When I opened the door of its small travelling cage
it hopped out at once and flew on to my hand for a
mealworm that I was holding between my fingers ; this
it speedily disposed of and then looked round for
more

To say I was charmed, is to speak unworthily, at
least as far as the merits of my new acquisition were
concerned; rather I was enraptured with "Joey", which,
its former owner had informed me, was the pretty
creature's name. And who, I ask, would not have
been? It was so tame, so confiding, impudent even,
and utterly devoid of fear.

If the door of the cage was open when I entered
the room where the bird was kept, it would dart out
and alighting on my hand or shoulder, give utterance
to a harsh sort of squeak, which was simply its way
of asking me for a mealworm ; and when I had responded
to the appeal by giving it one, how quickly that
insect would disappear down the capacious throat of
my petl

I never saw such a capacity for swallowing as Joey
possessed except in the case of the Blue-bird I have
just described, and yet I do not think that my little
treasure was particularly fond of mealworms; in fact, if
there were any small soft green garden caterpillars to

THE NIGHTINGALE. 1 1

be had, the Nightingale would not touch the former,
but I never knew it to refuse a black-beetle, though it
did not as a rule bolt them entire, but, unless very
hungry, would dismember and eat them at leisure. Of
daddy-long-legs it was very fond, but it would never
touch an earth w<5rm, differing much in this respect from
its congener the Robin Redbreast.

In many of its " little ways" the Nightingale bears a
great resemblance to the latter familiar bird, and when
tamed is just as bold and confiding; but between their
songs there is no comparison, the minstrel of the
night being incomparably the better performer of the
two, though his melody does not last as long as that
of our friend with the red breast, which may be said
to continue, practically, throughout the year.

But to return to the feeding, which is the chief
point for consideration in regard to the keeping of
birds in confinement: the lady who gave me Joey
wrote to say that he had been accustomed to a diet
of ground biscuit and yolk of hard-boiled egg, of each
equal parts, well rubbed up together in a mortar, but
not wetted, and a little lean meat, mutton or beef,
shredded finely and raw : also to about six mealworms
daily, and as many flies as could be procured.

Needless to say, I religiously carried out the re-
commendations, but soon found that the bird wasted
far more of the egg and biscuit than he ate, and that
the raw meat, in addition to making the cage smell

12 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

unpleasantly, appeared to give him indigestion, for after
partaking of some he would sit motionless on his
perch with his head drawn down among his breast
feathers and sometimes even he would tuck it under his
wing, which was a sure sign of indisposition of some
kind. The dear bird, too, began to get thin, and his
feathers seemed to lie less smoothly on him than for-
merly, so that I felt quite concerned, the more espe-
cially as I had never heard him attempt to sing a note.
So I had to look about for some other method of
feeding.

Nonpareils and various Buntings I had had at differ-
ent times used to eat the imported German ants'
eggs, and seemed to like and thrive on them, as did
also a tame Starling. Why not the Nightingale? par-
ticularly as fresh insects were difficult to get, and I
did not care to see Joey banging them about as he
always did unless they were very small.

Well, in the cage there was a drawer that in the
case of a former inmate used to be filled with seed,
and in this I placed a handful of the ants' eggs as
they came from the shop. Joey at once returned from
among the ferns to his domicile and, with a knowing
twist of the head and a flirt of his handsome reddish
brown tail, inspected the novel provision for a
moment, and then, to my surprise no less than satis-
faction, commenced to swallow them, one by one, as
fast as he could.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 13

It was all plain sailing after that: no more hard-
boiled egg and biscuit for my Nightingale, and, after
another little while, no more flesh meat, but instead
ants' eggs ad libititm, and as many fresh insects as
could be obtained in addition to his regular course of
black-beetles and mealworms. Snails, when quite young,
he was very fond of, and would bolt whole with
immense satisfaction, but their eggs were his special
treat: I really believe Joey would have swallowed his
own weight of them if they could only have been
found in such quantity.

Mealworms are not altogether satisfactory insects,
but 'are apt sometimes to disagree with birds that
partake of them too freely, on account, I imagine, of
their tough skin. They are unsatisfactory too as
regards breeding them, my own experience being that
it is better to buy them from the importers, who retail
them at an average price of from three to four shil-
lings per thousand.

One cause of the difficulty in keeping them is that
they are liable to the attacks of a minute species of
acarus, invisible to the naked eye, but clearly dis-
cernible when massed together in myriads, as they
soon are in any receptacle devoted to the culture of
the mealworm. I do not think this minute pest
actually preys on the larger insects, but simply starves
them by eating up their provisions.

Heat is essential for the development of Tcncbrio

14 FEATHERED FRIENDS,

molitor, to give the mealworm its scientific title, and
the bird-room or aviary is scarcely warm enough in
winter for the creeping delicacy of which such birds
as the Starling are so immoderately fond. It thrives
best in a bakehouse, where it finds plenty of warmth
and moisture as well as food, but since the passing of
the Acts relating to those places it is rarely met with
in this country and has to be imported from the con-
tinent where the conditions for its propagation are not
interfered with by any Sanitary Authority.

Still, in case anyone should like to try and cultivate
his own mealworms, I have found the following plan
answer fairly well. Take a barrel, or a box, of con-
venient size, and line it for about four inches down
from the top with smooth tin or glass, in order to
prevent the grubs, or caterpillars, from crawling up : then
half fill the receptacle with a mixture composed of
equal parts of chaff and meal of some kind, or of
" middlings", but bran is no good ; introduce a thousand or
two full-grown mealworms, or a hundred or so of the
perfect insect, a small blackish brown beetle, cover over
with a piece of coarse canvas fixed in its place by
means of a hoop, in order not only to prevent the
escape of the beetles which can fly, but to hinder the
intrusion of such torments as mice and moths, and
after depositing the box, or barrel, in some warm place,
such as a stable, cowhouse, or even a kitchen
corner, leave it untouched for six months, at the

THE NIGHTINGALE. 15

expiration of which time it should be examined, but
not deeply disturbed, and some more meal should be
added; on the top of which should be placed a piece
of coarse sacking and the receptacle be covered as
before and left for another period of two or three
months, at the expiration of which a number of meal-
worms will always be found congregated under the
sacking and can be collected as required. More meal
must be added from time to time, and if the above
instructions are carried out a fair supply of the insects
will be available for a considerable time. Ground dog-
biscuit may be substituted for meal, and is thought
to discourage the development of the acarus already
referred to.

It is better not to introduce dead birds, or mice, or
animal matter of any kind (except what is contained
in the dog-biscuit), but a regular supply of food must
be kept up, and if the barrel is kept in a dry place
pieces of blotting paper moistened in water, or beer,
should be occasionally added, for although the meal-
worm itself does not require much moisture, the full-
grown beetle does, and will not breed successfully unless
it can quench its thirst as well as satisfy its hunger.

On the whole, however, the mealworm cannot be
propagated without a certain amount of trouble, and
even when most carefully attended to entails far more
care on the aviarist than an other insect, which I
have often wondered is not more generally utilised for

1 6 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

feeding insectivorous birds than it is. I refer to the
silkworm, which is much appreciated in the aviary
especially when about half-grown, as well as in the
pupa and moth stages of its existence: of the eggs,
too, many birds are very fond, and these as well as
the dried imagines may be preserved for a long time
and will serve capitally for winter feeding. The former
require no preparation, and the latter only a slight
damping before they are given to the birds.

I have purposely postponed the ending of my tale
as long as possible, for I cannot bear even to think
about it, but as I have undertaken to tell it, I resume.

We had a cat, a yellow tabby, a fine enough animal
in its way, and not by any means a savage, though
endued with a natural feline appetite for mice and
birds. One day some one (perhaps myself) left the
greenhouse door open, and the Nightingale, my precious
Joey, found his way into the drawing-room, where no
doubt he enjoyed himself very much, for he was passion-
ately fond of exploring unknown nooks and corners.
Sandy was partial to the apartment, too, for there was
a soft woollen hearth-rug in it, and either he must have
come in, or been lying there unperceived, for presently
a commotion, followed by agonizing shrieks, was heard and
on one of the inmates running to see what was the matter,
the cat was met darting out with something in his mouth.
He rushed off, but was pursued and captured on the
stairs, where he was forced to relinquish his hold of

THE NIGHTINGALE. 17

his victim, which appeared to be dead, though it had
only fainted, for presently it revived and even did not
seem to be much hurt, but next day, the poor thing
died, and on examination I found that the cat's teeth
had penetrated one of the bird's lungs, and that its
death was due to internal hemorrhage. I also discov-
ered that Joey ought to have been called Josephine,
which accounted for her never having sung.

Ah well, the poor dear little creature had careful
burial in the garden and although I have since pos-
sessed other Nightingales I have never had one to
compare with my lost pet.

The male Nightingale can be readily distinguished
from his mate by the ruddier colour of his back, and
the purer white of his breast; which latter mark will
also serve to differentiate him from the female Red-
start, to which otherwise he bears no inconsiderable
resemblance, though he is longer and a bolder looking
and more inquisitive bird.

While "Joey" was in my possession and lodged in
the conservatory, a very fine wild cock Nightingale
made his appearance in the garden one day, attracted
possibly in his migratory flight by the presence of
the captive female, whose call-note he had very likely
heard in passing : I had a good opportunity of watching
him for some little time and observing his active move-
ments and quick hops from side to side in quest of
the minute insects that harbour in the grass, of which

2

1 8 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

I judged that he captured a good many, chiefly small
dipterous flies, of which these birds are very fond.

An incautious movement on my part alarmed the
handsome and distinguished stranger, who immediately
flew up into one of the trees and quickly disappeared
from sight.

Surrey is the favourite county of the Nightingale,
and after it Kent, then Sussex, but in the North, and
strange to say the West of England it is unknown,
though the country there seems to be in every way
suitable for the birds; but even in the places they
frequent the most, or rather used to frequent, they are
yearly becoming more scarce on account of the per-
secution of the bird-catchers, who in spite of the well-
intentioned but inoperative Wild Birds Preservation
Acts wage unceasing war against them from the moment
of their arrival to that of their departure from our
shores.

I have recently seen it stated that a certain game-
keeper was in the habit of shooting every Nightingale
he met with, and of destroying their nests, because, he
averred, they disturbed the "beauty-sleep" of his pheas-
ants by their noise ! and I am not sure the story is
an exaggeration, for, thanks to game-preservers and
their satellites, the day would seem to be not so very
far distant when no more wild birds of any kind will
be left in this land of ours.

A lady once reproached me with changing my mind

THE NIGHTINGALE. tg

on the subject of caging the Wagtail, and with equal
justice could bring the same accusation against me
with regard to the Nightingale, for until I had Joey I
was decidedly of opinion that it was little short of a
crime to confine one of these incomparable songsters.
But since I have seen how happy and comfortable it
is possible to make their lives in captivity, and how
thoroughly they enjoy and appreciate kindly human
attention to their little wants, I have renounced my
former theory; nor am I in the least ashamed of having
done so : on the contrary, a healthy change of sentiment
is entirely laudable, and it is only obstinate persistence
in a given course, simply because it is an accustomed
one, that is to be reprobated.

The nest of the Nightingale is not a very pretentious
affair; it is made of grass stems and leaves, and is
lined with finer portions of the former, and a few hairs.
It is usually placed on or near the ground among
brambles or nettles, and close to the trunk of a tree,
or a wall, or large stone, and is not at all difficult to
find. The eggs are four or five in number, usually
five, they are self-coloured of a dull olive- green, and
are hatched in thirteen or fourteen days.

If it is desired to bring up the young by hand — and
that is by far the better plan- -they should be taken
when the quills of the tail and wings are beginning
to burst their sheath, and may then be very readily
reared on ants' eggs alone, but if small caterpillars of

so FEATHERED FRIENDS.

any kind except hairy ones can be added, so much the
better, but they are not indispensable.

Birds obtained in this manner are much more familiar
than such as have been taken when full-grown even
in the autumn; while spring-captured Nightingales, of
which about nineteen out of every twenty die within a
day or two, and sometimes in a few hours, are always
more or less wild, and have a distressing knack of
banging themselves about in a mad fashion at the
approach even of the person who feeds them, and the
sight of a stranger will often cause the more timid to
fall from the perch in a fit.

The cage in which a tame Nightingale is kept should
be scrupulously clean, the perches requiring to be scraped
or washed at least every other day, and the floor must be
covered with dry garden mould, or better still with cocoanut
refuse as used by gardeners for strewing over flower-beds.

Some fanciers recommend a cage wired only in front,
and advise its being constructed so much of wood that
the interior shall be always in a state of semi-darkness ;
but a good deal must depend upon the temper and
tameness of each individual bird, for some are naturally
bolder than others, and take little or no notice of
strangers, while others again are constitutionally timid
and should always have at their disposal a dark corner
to which they can retire when alarmed, otherwise they
are apt to injure their delicate plumage by dashing
wildly about the cage.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 21

This reminds me that the summer after "Joey" came
into my possession I thought I would try her in the
outdoor aviary, and accordingly hung up her cage
there one bright sunshiny morning. In the afternoon
she was not to be seen anywhere, and I concluded,
after a minute search, that she had escaped; but later
on I saw her emerging from behind some bushes where
she had, evidently, been hunting for spiders and other
insects, and as she then returned to her cage and
picked up some ants' eggs I perceived that I had been
needlessly alarmed about her, and thought she might
possibly make a match of it with an Accentor that
lived in the same place; but I had to take her away
after all, for I had a Starling in the same aviary, and
"Jacky Spotts" took a dislike to the Nightingale and
chased her about, not even permitting her to rest in
her own cage, into which he would follow her with
ruffled feathers and open beak, which was, to say the
least, very rude on the part of Spotty.

Joey showed fight, I am bound to admit, but what
chance had a little mite like her against a great big
able-bodied fellow more than twice her size? None at
all : the contest was too unequal, and so, much to my
regret, I was obliged to take the Nightingale indoors
again and let her once more have the run of the
conservatory.

Now concerning the song of the Nightingale? Well,
I must confess that it is very fine, full of melody, and

22 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

studded with trills and quavers and cadences, and all
that sort of thing, and if there is not too much "jug"
in it, even fascinating ; but it has one drawback, it is
just a trifle loud, and that is why I prefer a bird that
has been brought up by hand from the nest to one that
has been captured when adult, and that even in a case
where one is as tame as the other, for the hand- reared
bird certainly never fully acquires the natural song of
its race as given in wood and copse by the uncaged
minstrel and is, consequently, less regarded on that
account by many connoisseurs : but, on the other hand,
the voice of the domesticated Nightingale is more
mellow than that of the wild one, not pitched in so
high a key, and especially its performance is continued
for a much longer period than is customary with one
that has enjoyed the " sweets" of liberty, even for a
comparatively brief season.

I see no reason why a pair of these birds, especially
if brought up by hand, should not nest and rear a brood
in a suitable aviary. The last summer of poor little
Joey's life, when I had begun to think that a mistake
had been made with regard to the dear creature's
sex, I frequently caught sight of her hopping about
the conservatory with little bits of grass or leaves, or
something of the kind in her bill, and I feel sure that
if she had had a mate she would have built herself
a nest, and no doubt have laid some eggs and
perhaps reared some young ones: so that if I ever

THE NIGHTINGALE. 23

should possess a tame pair of Nightingales I shall
certainly give them an opportunity of nesting if they
like.

The Nightingale, it is almost superfluous to observe,
is a migratory species, that pays a visit to our shores
in the spring of the year, and deserts us again in the
autumn (when permitted to do so by the bird-catchers),
accompanied by its mate and young. As the males
usually arrive a day or two before the females, it is
probable that they only pair for the season, and not
for life as the more sedate Finches are in the habit of
doing. On their arrival, the cocks burst at once into
song, as if to guide the females on their way, or
possibly in rivalry of each other, and then it is that
the trappers are on the alert to encompass the poor
birds' destruction, or at the least their imprisonment
for the rest of their days.

Anyone who has not had the privilege of studying
these birds intimately would, not unnaturally, arrive at
the conclusion that they were extremely wary and
circumspect, so deliberate and cautious are they in all
their movements, as they hop lightly about the ground
in search of food. Two steps are not taken consecu-
tively without a pause, during which the tail is jerked
in an upward direction and the points of the wings
are dropped until they almost touch the ground, while
the head is at the same time turned downwards, first to
one side and then to the other, until the large soft

24 FEATHERED FRIENDS,

black tender eyes have closely scrutinized everything
that falls within their range.

Not much use, is there, in trying to catch such a
cunning creature as thatl the inexperienced spectator
is involuntarily tempted to exclaim. But on the con-
trary, there is not a less suspicious bird anywhere
than the Nightingale, or one that falls more readily
into a snare, even when it has been spread before its eyes.
The usual bait is a mealworm placed in some con-
spicuous position and surrounded by limed twigs. The
insect is tied to a little peg by means of a fine black
thread, but in such a manner as not to impede its
movements, and its struggles to escape soon attract the
attention of the watchful Nightingale, which at once
hops down to reconnoitre, goes through the whole wise-
looking performance of seeing that all is safe, rushes
in, seizes the prey, and is caught!

So far no great harm would be done if so many of
these grand songsters did not resent their capture so
bitterly as to prefer death to the loss of their freedom ;
but, as I have said, scarce one in twenty that are thus
limed in the spring will survive their disgrace, chiefly
because the captors do not know how to treat the poor
creatures.

The Nightingale may be described as a purely insect-
ivorous bird, and the trappers are bent upon making
him live on artificial food, which he loathes, and which,
even when he does make up his mind to swallow it,

THE NIGHTINGALE. 25

does not at all suit his constitution: so they "meat"
him, that is to say, they forcibly open his bill and compel
him to take little scraps of raw lean meat (flesh) which
have the effect, sometimes, of keeping the poor captive
alive against his will, and at last the instinct of self-
preservation gets the better of his fear and of his regret,
and he eats the messes that are set before him, on
which he does not thrive, quickly falling into a decline
and dying, unless he is at the same time liberally
supplied with insects of some kind.

There is, however, no real necessity for this cruel
"meating" and the subsequent slow starvation on a
practically indigestible diet, for if the Nightingale is
allowed a full ration of mealworms, gentles, or similar
insects he will in the great majority of cases be unable
to resist their attractions, but, if left alone, will quickly
begin to pick them up, and soon become reconciled to
the inevitable, though certainly never to the same extent
as a young one that has been brought up by hand from
the nest, a by no means impossible or even a very
difficult feat, providing always that an abundance of
suitable insect-food is at the fancier's command.

Whether the insects be young mealworms, infantile
silk-caterpillars, or baby cockroaches, is immaterial, a
nest of Nightingales will flourish on them, and ants' eggs
come next, but, naturally, are not so nutritious as the
fresh article, but require to be cautiously supplemented
with tiny morsels of raw lean meat, beef or mutton,

26 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

should any difficulty be experienced in obtaining a
sufficient supply of insect-food.

For the guidance of amateurs who might have a desire
to rear a brood of young Nightingales, I may observe
that a considerable amount of experience has convinced
me that the young of the first nest are for the most
part males, and those of the subsequent batches, females.

Since penning the foregoing paragraphs I have been
able myself to rear a youthful Nightingale, and did not
find the task a specially difficult one: I had a good
supply of the best preserved English ants' eggs (cocoons)
from Romans of Llanelly, and a number of small meal-
worms, on which my bird throve admirably.

It was a young one I brought in from the garden
one day, but incapable of feeding itself, though it could
fly a little, and was, probably, the youngest of a brood,
the rest of which escaped.

By the bye, the nestling Nightingale is very unlike its
parents, and more nearly resembles a baby Robin: it
is of a light reddish- brown colour thickly dotted all
over, especially on the breast, with yellowish-grey spots ;
its tail, however, and the upper tail-coverts are of a
ruddy chesnut hue, and at once afford a clue to the
little creature's identity.

At first it was very shy, and would not open its bill to
be fed, so that I was afraid I should have to force it, but
I put it into a covered basket, on opening which a short
time after wards, it came hopping up to me with open mouth

THE NIGHTINGALE. 27

and flapping wings, and readily took the morsel I held
out for it between the points of a small old pair of surgical
forceps that I had devoted to the use of young birds.

At this time the Nightingale would eat flesh-flies and
wood-lice, or any kind of garden insect that was offered
to it, but afterwards, when it became able to feed itself,
which it did in the course of ten or twelve days after I
had it, it absolutely refused to touch them, and would
only partake of ants' eggs and mealworms, of which last
it would, I believe, have eaten any number given it.

When this bird, which required to be fed about every
twelve minutes or so from daylight to dark, while it
was immature, became able to supply its own wants,
it got considerably wilder than poor dear Joey had been
and would never come on my hand, though while I was
feeding it it used to do so freely, and I had to keep it in
a cage, which was three feet six long, by two wide and
two and a half high, and only wired in front.

Instead of straight perches I substituted a branch of a
tree, on which it would sit and sing for half an hour at
a time. If was extremely fond of bathing and soon
began to change colour. The tail and wing feathers
were not cast, but the body ones were and in a very
short time after it was able to feed itself the nest feathers
were replaced by those that distinguish the adult.

It was a very handsome creature, and large, too, with
every plume as perfect as if it had been in the woods.
After a time it began to sing sweetly in a low tone, as

28 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

I have said, and would take mealworms from my hand,
or small caterpillars, but it did not much care for anything
to which it had not been accustomed from the first. I
tried it with a portion of a much vaunted " Nightingales'
Food", from which it picked out some ants' eggs and
scattered the remainder.

This bird I kept for about three months and then had
to part with it in consequence of going from home. It
was carefully packed in a little square basket padded and
lined inside, and reached its destination (in the North of
England) "not in the least the worse for its long jour-
ney", which was satisfactory intelligence.

The scientific name of the Nightingale is Daulias
luscinia at "The Zoo", but Philomela everywhere else.

CHAPTER III.

I HIS pretty little bird is also known as the Cole Tit,
although the etymology of the latter designation is
not by any means clear, while that of the one I have
adopted is unmistakable, and has reference to the colour
of the bird's head and throat, which are both as black
as the blackest of "black diamonds" and sparkle like
veritable gems of the first water.

It is a British species and remains with us throughout
the year, though it is very much given to wandering
during the winter in search of its favourite food, that
is to say various small insects upon which it subsists
almost exclusively during the spring, summer and
autumn months of the year.

Although pretty generally diffused throughout the
country, it is not of numerous occurrence anywhere, but
prefers the vicinity of fir and pine woods, which are its
favourite haunt, especially during the inclement season.
Insectivorous in its habits in the main, it must eat

30 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

something when its natural diet fails, and then it
evinces a marked preference for the seeds of the various
coniferae over those of any other tree or plant; next to
pine and fir seeds it prefers those of the sunflower and
hemp, a partiality it possesses in common with the
remaining members of the group, or family to which it
belongs, a circumstance that should be borne in mind
when it is desired to keep it successfully in confinement.

I had long been acquainted with this little bird as an
occasional winter visitor to my garden, but had never
thought of keeping it in a cage until one day I happened
to see some in the window of a bird-dealer's shop, look-
ing so miserable and so very much out of place that I
went in and bought a pair of them immediately.

The attendant having caught two of the struggling
captives, transferred them to a little paper bag which he
twisted up adroitly, having previously made a few small
holes in it to admit air, and I carried them away in my
hand.

At first there was a great commotion in the bag, and
once or twice I thought my new acquisitions would have
got away by forcing themselves through the ventilators,
but after a time they quieted down, and I reached home
without any mishap, at least in the way of loss ; but as
the birds had been perfectly quiet I was afraid they had
been suffocated, or had died from sheer fright.

On peeping carefully into the little paper bag I
discovered the cause of the almost supernatural stillness

THE COAL TIT. 31

that had succeeded the previous disturbance in its
interior. The pair of little captives had grasped each
other firmly round the throat with their strong black
feet, and were, indeed, all but strangled.

At once I transferred them to a suitable cage, where
they promptly relaxed their hold of each other's necks
and began to dash wildly about, seeking for some outlet
by which to make good their escape. Finding none,
however, they presently settled down and began to feed
on some seeds of hemp which I had previously intro-
duced for their benefit.

It was curious to watch their method of eating : seizing
one grain in their short strong black bill, they immediately
mounted to the topmost perch in the cage and placed,
each, its seed between its feet and began hammering at
it in the most business-like manner with its beak, soon
making a hole in the shell ; from this it quickly picked
the kernel which was swallowed at a gulp, and then each
bird flew down again for a fresh supply, when the rapid
hammering process was repeated with a like result.

I could not help wondering that the birds never seemed
to miss their aim, seeing that the object against which
their rapid blows were directed was so small, and in
such close proximity to their toes, but they did not,
though their strokes were delivered with lightning-like
rapidity and the edible portion of the seed was promptly
in their possession.

About a dozen grains of the hemp seemed to suffice

32 F&ATBERED FRIENDS,

them for a meal, and when the kernels had been devoured
the birds would sit motionless for a few minutes, and
then recommence their frantic search for an outlet from
the confining cage, every corner and portion of which
they examined with a minuteness that was remarkable
and an assiduity deserving of a better result than the
fatigue which was the only reward of their earnest
endeavours to get away.

Tired out at last, the Tits would rest for a minute
or two, then fly down for a fresh supply of food, and
when that had been consumed, they would begin again
their attempt to escape from "durance vile": and so
on from dawn till dusk, when, tucking their heads under
their wings and nestling as closely to each other as they
could, they composed themselves to sleep, and rested
quietly till morning, possibly dreaming pleasant dreams
of liberty in the pine woods which for all they knew
to the contrary, poor little things, they were never to
visit any more.

A very few days, experience of them in the house
was sufficient to convert my desire to possess a pair
of Coal Tits into a yet stronger determination to get
rid of them at once, when somebody suggested that
I should turn them out into a small aviary that stood
on the lawn and was then tenanted by a number of
tiny Waxbills, Weavers, Java Sparrows, and I think a
couple of Shaft-tailed Whydah Birds and some Masked
and other small Doves.

THE COAL TIT. 33

No sooner said than done: I carried the cage con-
taining the Tits out into the garden, and having opened
its door placed it on the floor of the aviary (the inner
compartment), when the little prisoners quickly availed
themselves of the chance and flew out with triumphant
notes of congratulation that were soon exchanged for
a twitter of vexation when they found that they had
only got out of a small prison into one of a larger
kind.

The Coal Tit, however, soon reconciles itself to the
inevitable, and when they had thoroughly surveyed and
explored every nook and corner of their new abode they
commenced to feel hungry, and began to search for
something fit to eat, and were presently rewarded for
their exertions by the discovery of an abundant supply of
hemp-seed and other delicacies, including some German
ants' eggs, in the inner portion of the aviary.

The little couple partook of an abundant repast, and it
being then about bedtime at once took possession of a
neatly constructed dwelling that belonged to a pair of
Weaver-birds whom they successfully kept out of their
abode, which the Tits ever afterwards appropriated to
their own use.

I kept them throughout the summer and although
I occasionally noticed a Waxbill somewhat bare of
feathers on the crown of the head, and found a broken
egg on the floor, I had no reason to suspect my little
pair of British birds of being the cause of either disaster,

3

34 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

but rather put the mischief down to the account of a
certain pert cock Saffron Sparrow who, with his mate,
had a nest and young ones inside, for he did not bear
the best of characters, though I must confess I had
never detected him in any overt act of malicious moles-
tation of his neighbours, at whose hands, or bills rather,
as I afterwards discovered, he had himself been more
than once a sufferer.

That year my success in breeding foreign birds had
to be written down ;#7; even a sedate pair of Cock-
ateels I had kept for a number of years in the aviary
did not produce a single yo'jng one, though numerous
eggs were laid in the box inhabited by them, and in
which on former occasions they had reared a numerous
family, or, as I should say, a succession of families.

I put my bad luck down to the mice, which certainly
infested the place: but although they were undoubtedly
guilty of many small peccadilloes, in this connection
they would appear to have been blameless.

Summer passed, and autumn arrived in due course
and departed without any change in the condition of
affairs in the aviary, and then a severe winter set in
somewhat prematurely. The first really cold night
killed several of my poor Waxbills, whereupon I captured
the survivors as well as the Whydah Birds and took
them indoors, leaving the rest of the colony where they
had spent the summer and not a few of them the previous
winter, and there they appeared to be quite comfortable

THE COAL TIT. 35

and seemed to suffer no inconvenience from the severity
of the weather.

But it was otherwise as regards the Coal Tits, which,
contrary to what might have been expected, felt the cold
so much that one morning, after an exceptionally hard
frost I found one of them dead and the other in such a
benumbed condition that it soon followed its companion
to the "happy hunting-grounds" of its race, where
bird-catchers cease from troubling and Coal Tits are left
in peace.

Undeterred by my unfortunate experience with the
first pair, I subsequently, in the following spring, I think,
obtained some more of them, but upon detecting one of
these in the very act of sucking the egg of a Silverbill,
I caught the naughty little couple and restored them
to an ill-deserved liberty in the private wood on the
opposite side of the Common to where I then lived,
and there they passed the summer, in all probability;
and perhaps the pair I saw in my elm-tree at the
beginning of the following winter may have been the
same; but of course that is only a surmise, and I
cannot be positive as to their identity.

On the whole I have arrived at the conclusion that
the Coal Tit is not a suitable companion for other birds
in a confined space, unless perhaps for the members
of its own family, with whom it appears to agree fairly
well; but it should certainly not be located with the
delicate little Waxbills: these are utterly unable to cope

36 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

with such pugnacious creatures as the Tits, which, as I
subsequently found out, are capable of worrying even
such a big bird as a Cockateel, until the life of the latter
has become a burden to it.

If a large aviary, however, could be devoted to the
sole use of the various members of the Tit family, I
am of opinion that it would be well worth while to give
them a trial, for they are, all of them, really handsome
birds, even the species now under consideration, and that
notwithstanding the sombre colour of their headdress, and
the dull bluish-greyish-green, or greenish-grey of their
back and wings, for the spotless purity of the white
cheeks and under-parts presents a most pleasing contrast
to the less conspicuous colouring of the upper portions
of the body.

As all the Tits are mainly insectivorous in their habits,
it is hopeless to attempt to keep any of them in confine-
ment for any length of time without an adequate supply
of animal food, for which elaborately prepared and much
belauded "mixtures" are a very insufficient substitute.

Ants' eggs, or the cocoons rather of these industrious
insects, are abundant and cheap, and if freely supplied
to the birds will suffice to keep them in good health with
very little addition of anything else; and if the Tits are
healthy, they will preserve their pretty plumage in per-
fect condition, and will sing, too, for they have a little
song of their own, and their call-note is musical and
exceedingly pleasant to many ears.

THE COAL TIT. 37

It is a very lively and active bird, too, and one of
Nature's acrobats, never still for a moment, excepting
when asleep; while at other times it is ever on the
move, now clinging head downwards to a branch, now
turning a complete somersault, and peering all the time
into every scrap of moss or lichen that may be growing
to the bough on which it has taken up its position, so
that well-hidden indeed must be the insect or the batch
of insect-eggs that escapes its keen sight, or reposes
beyond the reach of its ready bill.

The late Rev. F. O. Morris, himself a true lover of
Nature and a keen observer of her methods, no less than
an able exponent of them, was a strong supporter and
advocate of these much misunderstood and sorely per-
secuted birds, which, as he repeated over and over
again, do infinitely more good than harm to the horti-
culturist.

It is true they knock off a few buds some of which
may not be diseased, but how many does the gardener
himself remove when he is pruning his trees ? Or how
many does he destroy when he discharges his gun,
loaded with small shot, at a pair of useful Tits, who
all the time are intent on protecting him from his many
insect foes? "The man who shoots an Owl", wrote
Mr. Morris, "is an encourager of vermin", and if the
name of Tit be substituted for that of the "Prowler of
the Night", the remark is equally correct.

An acquaintance of mine has a large garden in which

3 8 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

are a number of fruit trees ; among these, and especially
on one of them, the gardener spied a pair of Coal Tits
busily at work one day, and immediately thirsted for
their blood, but was powerless to act without permis-
sion from the master, which after a time was obtained
and the poor Tits were shot.

That year there was a plague of caterpillars in the
garden and the only tree that had any fruit on it was the
one to which the poor Tits had paid such attention that
the gardener had declared it was ruined and had better
be cut down !

I might multiply examples, but what is the use?
An ounce of observation with one's eyes open is worth
a hundredweight of cut and dried precept in a book;
let the horticulturist watch and draw his own conclusions
instead of blindly following in the footsteps of the
prejudiced and unlearned,

The scientific name, of this species is Pants ater.

CHAPTER IV.

Tree Pipit.

ASSING down Rye- Lane Peckham, one day, I saw four
of these birds in a cage in the window of a bird-
shop where at various times I have been able to pick
up a rarity, and never having seen any of them in
such a situation before, I went in and asked their price.
I quite forget what I paid for them, but not a great
deal, I dare say. The dealer was feeding them on
bread and milk with an occasional mealworm thrown
in by way of encouragement. They were fairly tame,
and would take the wriggling "millers" from between
his finger-tips, but made a sad bungle of killing and
eating their prey, from which I concluded that they
were not in the habit of devouring anything as large
as the full grown larva of Tenebrio molitor, but confined
their attention, when at liberty in their native woods,
or groves, or copses, to flies and "small deer" of that
kind.

40 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

To come to the point, I purchased the lot and
transferred it to a very large unoccupied cage which stood
opposite the window on the top landing, where I con-
tinued to feed my new acquisitions as they had been fed
at the dealer's, and they seemed to get on very well,
and even began to sing a little, at least some of them
did, as soon as a ray of sunshine lit upon their dwell-
ing; but ohl dear me! they were extremely partial to
bathing, and would make themselves thoroughly wet
several times a day, splashing the water all over the
floor of the cage, and to some distance beyond it-
Then they were decidedly dirty and voided incessantly,
which, probably, was in a great measure due to the
nature of the food that was supplied to them, namely
bread and milk for the most part: much of this, I
suspect, they could but very inperfectly, if at all, digest.
Had I been acquainted with the merits of the dried
ants' eggs of commerce then, or had that admirable
substitute for live insect-food been as readily obtainable
as it is at present, I dare say I should have kept the
Pipits longer than I did — but their slender figure, neat,
if not gaudy, plumage, confiding nature and pleasing,
if somewhat insignificant song, were insufficient to
compensate me for the unpleasant odour that soon
began to arise from their cage, and that, too, in spite
of the most scrupulous attention to cleanliness : so I
made up my mind to restore them to liberty, and really
they seemed to leave me with regret, for when I had

THE TREE PIPIT. 41

carried them in a small cage to the far side of Peckham
Rye Common, they would not fly away into the private
wood that existed there at that date, and it was only
by dint of pelting them with little clods of grass that
I at last persuaded them to get off among the bushes,
where I left them to shift for themselves, which I had
little doubt about their being able to do very well, for
the winter was past and over and the voice of the
Turtle, or at least of the Wood Pigeon, was com-
mencing to, make itself heard in the land.

I cannot, of course, say what ultimately became of
my ex-captives, or whether some individuals of the same
species that I afterwards saw in the same shop from
which I had obtained mine, were the same, or not,
but I fancy they must have been different, for they
were much wilder than mine had ever been, and espe-
cially more so than when I had turned them loose.

The Tree Pipit, as its English name implies, is not
such a ground loving bird as are some of its congeners,
but frequents trees, though not usually such as are of
any great altitude, and subsists for the most part, as
I strongly suspect, on the different species of aphis,
or green-fly, that are to be met with in such abun-
dance there.

Mr. Morris, however, affirms that the Tree Pipits do
not find their subsistence among the trees, but search
W their supplies of food on the ground and seldom
among the branches, which is, of course, the exact

42 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

opposite of my own conclusions; but it is not at all
improbable that we may, both of us, be equally right,
and that these birds resort to both situations, namely
the ground and the tree tops according to circumstances,
to the latter in the summer-time, and to the former
when the trees have been divested of their leafy coverings
by the icy hand of winter and the aphis has, at least
temporarily, disappeared.

I am more in accord with the author of "A History
of British Birds" when he describes the song of the
Tree Pipit as pretty and tremulous, and says that its
voice is low and sweet, as it is emitted from the branch
of a tree, and occasionally from the ground.

As to the nest, however, I quite agree with him when
he says it is always placed in the latter situation, and
is a somewhat inartistic and decidedly unpretentious
affair, consisting for the most part of a few dried blades
of grass, some small roots, and perhaps a little hair,
gathered together, artlessly, into a natural depression
of the ground at or near the root of a tree or under
the shelter of a bush or shrub. Bechstein is of opinion
that it may even be placed on the branch of some low
bush, but I have never chanced to meet with one in
such a position.

The eggs vary considerably in appearance, but bear
a general resemblance to those that are deposited by
other members of the Lark Family; some are dull
bluish-white, spotted with purple-brown, while others

THE TREE PIPIT. 43

are of a reddish-white shade clouded with pale purplish-
grey and faintly streaked and spotted with rusty black;
others, again, are pale purplish -red, minutely marked
in a net-like manner with red of a darker shade; which
is surely enough of variation to puzzle even the most
experienced of oologists. It is to be noted, however,
that no matter how greatly the eggs of an individual
bird differ in appearance from those of her fellows, the
eggs that occur in a given nest are almost invariably,
if not always, marked and coloured in the same manner.

This species must not be confounded with the Meadow
Pipit, or Titlark, to which in some respects it bears
no inconsiderable resemblance, but the latter is of a
much lighter colour on the under-surface of the body
and lacks altogether the pale slate-blue tinge that is so
conspicuous on the breast of the former and which serves
to differentiate it from its congeners.

The tail of the Titlark also is shorter than that of
the bird under consideration, which on the whole is
more like a Wagtail than a Lark, and is thought by
some naturalists to form a kind of connecting link
between the two families.

Bechstein appears to have confounded the Tree and
the Meadow Pipits with each other, for the latter he
names Ant/ms arbor eus, which is the correct scientific
appellation of the former.

CHAPTER V.

Red-bellied or §!. Helena

His is a very .charming little creature, about the
* same size as the Lesser Whitethroat, but of even
slimmer build than the latter. It is wonderfully
active in its movements and is perpetually jerking its
rather long tail up and down and to right and left in
the most vivacious and comical manner, while the tips
of its wings are rapidly flapped in close accompaniment.

Of a brownish colour generally, the plumage is plenti-
fully besprinkled with narrow undulations of a darker
shade; the breast is delicate rosy-red, and this tint is
continued to the vent, but the tail and flight feathers
are black. A line of brilliant red passes across the
face from the eye on either side reaching to the bill
and forms a conspicuous mark that is all but differentia-
tive of the species.

Very gregarious in its habits, the St. Helena Waxbill,
which, by the bye, was originally derived from the
Eastern parts of Africa, has been quite naturalized

THE ST. HELENA WAXBILL.

45

in the Island from which it derives its ordinary English
name, loves to fly as well as to build in companies
which, small as are the individuals composing them,

THE BED-BELLIED OR ST. HELENA WAXBILL.

nevertheless do a great deal of mischief to the millet
crops of the settlers and natives who, wiser in this
respect than our own agriculturists, catch their tiny

46 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

foes alive and sell them into captivity, instead of
shooting them and leaving their small bodies to wither
on the ground.

In addition to millet these beautiful little birds also
consume a number of minute insects, and, as I strongly
suspect, feed their young mainly, if not entirely, upon
them, which may be the reason why the St. Helena
Waxbill does not often breed successfully in confinement.

I say "successfully", for nothing is more common
than for these Waxbills to nest, whether in cage or
aviary, any small box or covered basket serving them
for a foundation for their inartistic domicile, which,
failing such adventitious aid, is not infrequently placed
in a bush, or even among a few sticks arranged closely
together in a corner of the enclosure.

Hay and fibre are the materials employed for building
purposes, but the inside of the nest is snugly lined
with cotton-wool or small feathers. The eggs are white,
six or seven in number, as a rule, and about the same
size as those of the European Wren. Incubation lasts
twelve or thirteen days, and on the second, third, or fourth
after the hatching the young are usually thrown out
of the nest, when the old birds at once begin to build
again. Such, at least, is the ordinary procedure in con-
finement, for when at liberty in their native haunts, they
act, of course, in conformity with the natural instinct
implanted in all created beings and attend to their
young until these are able to provide for themselves.

THE ST. HELENA WAYBILL. 47

Although I have kept these Waxbills for many
years, and am acquainted with numerous amateurs who
have also had them in their possession, I have never
met with a single instance in which the young ones
have been successfully reared in this country.

It is curious that at first the beak of all the young
Waxbills should be quite black, instead of resembling
the brilliant hue of that of the parents, which as the
name (Waxbill) indicates is the colour of vermilion, and,
judging from analogy, the youthful St. Helenas do not
differ in this respect from their congeners.

Although natives of Africa and some of the adjacent
islands, these little birds are not at all delicate, but
will live for twelve or fourteen years in a cage without
showing any sign of ailment, and moreover they are
able to stand a considerable degree of cold with
impunity. Damp, however, soon puts an end to them,
and on that account it is not advisable to let them
remain out of doors during the winter in this country,
although they greatly enjoy a summer holiday among
the bushes and on the grass of a good-sized garden-
aviary, in which they are also seen to far greater
advantage than in the house, and where they spend a
large portion of their time searching for minute flies
and other insects, in the grass and among the leaves:
to the latter they do no harm by nibbling them as our
own and most of the large foreign birds habitually do.
Indeed, I cannot help thinking that if two or three

48 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

pairs of them had an enclosure, say one of twelve by
six feet in area, and eight or ten feet high, well turfed
and planted with suitable shrubs, box, elder, etc., they
would probably be more successful in regard to the
rearing of their young than they have hitherto been
in this country.

The price at which the St. Helena Waxbill is sold
by the dealers is now very trifling, three or four shil-
lings a pair, or even half-a crown, for which latter sum
I have occasionally seen them offered, and except as
a curiosity, or for the sake of attempting a hitherto
unaccomplished feat, it certainly would not be worth
anybody's while to go to any expense to induce the
birds to breed and behave in a natural and proper
manner to their helpless offspring: but it is something
after all, to be able to say, "I have achieved complete
success where everyone else has failed".

The sexes are very much alike in outward appear-
ance, but the female is decidedly the smaller of the
two, and the red of her breast and lower parts gener-
ally is less brilliant than that of the' male. He sings,
too, very prettily, and she seldom does — never, unless
she happens to be caged by herself, when she some-
times warbles a little.

White millet (properly sorghum) is the best food
for these little birds in a general way, but they may
also be given some spray or French millet and Canary-
seed for a change occasionally. A sod of short grass*

THE ST. HELENA WAXBILL. 49

with or without white clover among it, is the best
kind of green food for them, but they require plenty
of coarse sand and a free supply of water for drinking
and bathing.

Peaceful as a rule, the males will sometimes fight
bitterly among themselves, but they are so light that
not much damage to the combatants results from these
encounters, which are usually the result of jealousy.

They readily contract an alliance with other species ;
thus, I have had males that mated, one with a Silver-
bill, and another with a small hen German Canary 1
But in both cases the result was barren eggs only.
Other amateurs, I understand, have been more fortunate
and have succeeded in obtaining a cross between the
St. Helena and the common Grey Waxbill.

All these little red-billed birds are very charming,
but the subject of the present notice, often absurdly
called the Pheasant Finch, is perhaps the most engaging
of them all, and no collection of small foreign birds should
be considered complete without a pair or two of them.

The scientific name is Estrelda rubrivcntris.

CHAPTER VI.

Grimsort--eareci

I His very delightful little bird was for a long time
reputed delicate, but erroneously so, for although
I shared this opinion with many fanciers, a sad accident
that befel some of my other foreign pets convinced
me that the very opposite of the popular impression
respecting it is the correct one.

I had a considerable number of Waxbills of different
species lodged in a very convenient and comfortable
lawn-aviary, in which they did well and enjoyed them-
selves immensely during the summer, but its last days
had gone and autumn had followed in its wake, and
the little strangers seemed so well and happy that
from day to day I deferred catching and transferring
them to their winter quarters indoors.

The aviary consisted of two parts, the first a snug house
of octagonal shape that was partly glazed in front and
had two small windows at the sides (it had originally
been a summer-house), and the second part was an

THE CRIMSON-EARED WAX BILL. 51

open wire-covered court or playground. The nests
and food pans were in the former and there the birds
passed the night and such hours of daylight as were
rainy or during which a cold wind blew.

The doorway of communication between the inner and
outer portions had a little sliding door in it, such as
one often sees affixed to a dovecot, and on either side
of this was a ledge for the inmates to rest on before
passnig in or out. This little door I used to close
every evening and so keep the birds snug and warm
until they were released in the morning when the sun
was shining, whether visibly or not.

One day, by mischance, either I shut out a number
of birds, or they got through a minute opening at the
side of the ledge, I cannot say which, and next morning
I found many of them dead on the grass. It is un-
necessary to say that I was deeply grieved; however,
there it was, and the only survivor was a fine cock
Cordon Bleu, which is another name for the subject
of the present notice.

He did not seem any the worse for his exposu r
to the cold night air and to the drizzling rain that
had proved so disastrous to his companions. It was
buying my knowledge rather dear, it is true, but I
left him out for the rest of the season, and not only
did he take no hurt, but when I turned some others
out in the spring he was the finest and handsomest
bird of the lot.

52 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

No, the Crimson-eared Waxbill is not particularly
delicate, in fact I consider that he is really the hardiest
of all the small foreign Finches ; but his mate is not as
strong as he is, for many females of the species which
I have had at different times have all died, sooner or
later, from egg-binding, which was a great pity seeing
that they are such lovely little creatures and so soon
become quite familiar and tame.

Owing to one mischance or another, but principally
thanks to the mice, I have never succeeded in obtaining
any aviary-bred Cordons Bleus of my own rearing.
But given an enclosure from which the pernicious rodents
were altogether excluded, and in which no other birds
were kept, I feel certain that it would be as easy to
breed them as it is to multiply the well-known Zebra
Finch, if not, indeed, more so.

The nest, which is made of hay, bass-matting and
cocoanut fibre, is sometimes placed in a box, or in
a small cage, in the deserted toy-nest of a Weaver-bird,
or in any convenient nook or corner, but sometimes
it is built in a bush, and is then domed, or it may
be made on a shelf beneath some projecting ledge; it
is lined with small feathers, cotton-wool, or cow-hair,
though feathers are preferred.

The eggs, which are five or six in number, rarely
more than the latter and seldom less than the former,
are pure white and about the same size as those
of the European Regulus, or Golden-crested Wren.

THE CRIMSON-EARED WAXBILL, 53

Incubation lasts eleven or twelve days, and the young
on emerging from the nest have the legs and bill black,
they have likewise a dingier appearance than their
elders, but soon moult, put on the adult costume, and
are ready to become parents in their turn at the age
of from three to four months.

What their actual breeding season in Eastern Africa
may be I know not, but in confinement they keep on
nesting and laying all the year round: no sooner has
one brood been reared than the old birds make another
start and produce a second one, and sometimes, so
prolific are they, they do not even wait till the young
can feed themselves, but have two families to look after
at one and the same time, acting in this respect like
some members of the Parrot and Pigeon families.

The male is readily distinguished by the crimson
patch on his face, which, in my opinion at any rate,
is a sad disfigurement to him and imparts to an other-
wise charming little fellow a decidedly dissipated
appearance.

Look at the little hen, what a neat and trim and
altogether fascinating creature she is in her dainty suit
of dove colour faced with blue of the brightest shade;
she has no crimson patch to tell tales of her doings,
or of her whereabouts when unobserved by prying
eyes, and has nothing to fear on the score of inuendo
or open accusation of being no |idtter than she ought
to be.

54 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Although her breast is of a paler colour than the
same part in the male she is a hundred times hand-
somer than he is, and all owing to the absence of that
detective patch.

The young resemble their mother in this respect,
but the little cocks soon follow in their father's foot-
steps, and each of them gets to look as confirmed a
rake as the old fellow does in a wonderfully short time
after they have emerged from beneath the shelter ot
the maternal wing.

The song of the Crimson- eared Waxbill is sweet and
low, and the way the male dances and sings to the
female is extremely pretty and amusing, too. She also
sings a little when caged by herself, but I have never
noticed her doing so when a male was present.

The food is the same as that of all the Waxbills,
namely white millet as the staple diet, and a little
millet in the ear and Canary-seed for a change now
and then. They will also eat ants' eggs, especially if
fresh, and should be provided with some when they
have little ones to feed. The best green food is Canary-
grass sown in shallow pans and allowed to grow to
the height of two or three inches.

The scientific name is Estrclda phcenicotis.

CHAPTER VII.

I HIS is not exactly a handsome bird, for its figure is

squat and the disposition of the colours on its

small person is so abrupt as to give it an appearance

of stiffness or formality that to many eyes is distasteful.

It is about the size of an English Redpoll, but has
a larger head and a shorter tail; and is very often
called by the name of Black- headed Nun, especially
by the dealers. Its temperament may be said to be
phlegmatic and as usually seen in a small cage it seems
decidedly an indolent little creature.

As the name indicates, the head of this bird is jet
black, the feathers very smooth and indued with a
velvety lustre; the upper part of the neck and the
vent are the same colour, as are also the under tail cov-
erts. The rest of the plumage is of a bright chocolate
brown. The thick bill has a dark leaden-blue colour,
the legs and feet are a pale flesh tint. In outward

56 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

appearance the male and female exactly resemble each
other.

The Black-headed Nuns are very sociable and if a
dozen or more of them are kept together in the same
cage, they will all nestle closely side by side, as tightly
squeezed against each other as they can contrive to
be: nor are they by any means lively when thus
huddled together in a confined, space, but will sit for
a long time without moving, and then they only
descend from their perch in order to feed, and return
to it as soon as their appetite has been satisfied.

Like all the rest of the birds known by the singularly
inappropriate name of "Nun," the males sing in dumb-
show. That is to say, one of them will stand up on
its perch and go through a regular pantomime of
singing, ruffling his throat feathers, opening and shut-
ting his bill, and turning up his eyes, as if, for all
the world, he was making a prodigious effort and
pouring forth a perfect flood of melody, whereas not
a sound is audible to most people, though I have
met with some who said they could detect a faint
grasshopper-like chirping if the room was very still.

That this singing in dumb-show is audible to the
performer's companions is, I think, evident, from the
extreme attention they pay to it; then, as soon as one
has had his say, he sits down and another rises to his
feet, and goes through similar manoeuvres, until all the
members of the party have had their turn and given

THE BLACK-HEADED FINCH. 57

expression to their feelings, when with a croak of
congratulation at the success of the entertainment, or
of encouragement to the several performers, they fly off
to the seed-trough, and on their return begin all over
again. At first it is very amusing to watch them, but
the constant repetition of the performance grows monot-
onous in the end.

Occasionally one of these birds will develop a talent
for audible singing, especially if he is caged in the
company of a Canary or a Linnet, but, as a rule, the
'song" of the Black- headed Mannikin, to give the
bird yet another name by which he is frequently called,
is quite inaudible to the average human listener, or in
this case, spectator.

Not one of the Nuns which I have had in my pos-
session from time to time ever attempted to build, and
I cannot call to mind any instance in which I have
heard of their doing so in this country. They are
natives of China and may be described as fairly hardy.

In their wild or natural state they never sleep in
the open air, but always in some hole in a tree, or a
building, or some other place, and when kept in a cage
they should be provided with a box or a nest-basket,
or a roll of cork, or something of the kind, in which
to pass the night comfortably. Care must be taken to
place their sleeping apartment out of reach of mice,
which do much damage to birds by disturbing them
during the hours of darkness and causing them to rush

5 8 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

in a panic from their snug retreats to fall terrified on
the floor, or bang themselves into a state of uncon-
sciousness against the wires, perches, and other furniture
of the aviary.

As these birds are very quiet and move about very
little of their own accord, especially on the ground,
their claws, or nails, will often get so long that the
poor little creatures become entangled by them among
the perches, and would soon die from exhiustion con-
sequent on their vain attempts to escape, if their plight
were not discovered in time to rescue them from their
awkward and unpleasant position. It is therefore a
good plan to examine their feet occasionally and when
the nails are seen to be getting too long and curved
to cut them with a pair of sharp scissors, taking care
not to go too near the quick.

If, instead of fitting up the cage or aviary with
straight perches, branches of trees were used, the Nuns
would be more apt to fly about, and would, necessarily,
be healthier and less liable to the fits that carry so
many of them off prematurely in confinement.

If it is desired to breed these little birds, I think
the most likely plan to succeed would be to put a
dozen or more of them into a commodious aviary, or
a bright cheerful bird-room of sufficient size, and give
them no companions of any other species but their own.

All kinds of nesting boxes, little German wicker-
cages, cocoanut-fyusks and even the shell of the cocoanut

THE BLACK-HEADED FINCH. 59

itself, as well as hollow logs, and rolls of what is called
virgin cork should be disposed about the place, from
which mice should be rigorously excluded. Plenty of
building material would also be necessary, and in all
probability the desired result would be attained, that
is to say if the birds were not unduly disturbed by
fussy and curious interference on the part of the pro-
prietor.

The food is millet, white and spray, otherwise French,
and they will all eat ants' eggs and mealworms, or
gentles, although the live insects are by no means
indispensable, for Nuns will live in the house for twelve
or fourteen years without anything of the kind: but if
it is desired to get them to breed, no doubt a supply
of the delicacies in question would be conducive to
bringing about the desired result.

No green food is advisable other than a sod of
grass, for in a garden-aviary they will sometimes spend
a little time on the ground.

The scientific name is Munia sincnsis.

CHAPTER VIII.

I HIS bird is the counterpart of the last as regards

size and figure, but differs from it considerably in

the matter of colour, for its head and neck instead of

being velvety black are silvery grey, which in old

birds changes to pure white.

In its movements and habits, too, the White-headed
Nun, or Mannikin, as it is also frequently called,
exactly resembles the Black- headed Finch. It is a
native of the same country as the latter, and might,
indeed, be justly taken for a local variety of it, and
not for a separate species.

That is a point, however, that can only be indubitably
established by cross-pairing the two birds and seeing
whether the resulting offspring would be fruitful or
otherwise; but like their Black-headed relatives, none
of the Maja Finches I ever possessed have shown the
slightest inclination to breed, but pursued the even
tenour of their way to the end, eating, drinking, bath-

THE MAJA FINCH. 61

ing, sleeping, dressing each other's head feathers and
singing their inarticulate song.

I have seen a Japanese screen on which these
birds were depicted in a most life-like manner in the
act of making a raid upon a field of millet in the ear,
to which, I can readily believe, they would do no small
damage, for it is their favourite food, and, like their
connections with the dark headdress, they eat largely
for their size, and spoil a good deal more than they
actually consume.

It is a pity to compel them to sleep on a straight
perch, for to do so is absolutely foreign to their nature
and must, I imagine, be very distasteful to them.
They are quite hardy when provided with a snug corner
to roost in, and I have no doubt might be induced to
breed by paying a little attention to their not very
exacting requirements.

As both species are extremely cheap, say 3/- or 3/6
a couple, the experiment would not be a costly one,
even though it would be advisable to purchase a dozen
of the birds in order to secure a pair, for the sexes are
indistinguishable in outward appearance.

Dr. Russ states that the Maja Finch has bred in his
aviary, and that the young are of paler brown than their
parents, and have jet black bills. Incubation, according
to the same authority, lasts for thirteen days.

The scientific name is Munia maja.

CHAPTER IX.

or Parson

I His is an Australian species and was at one time
tolerably plentiful in the market, where at present
it is scarce and consequently dear. Independently of
its neat and pleasing appearance, quiet and harmless
disposition and pretty little song, it breeds freely in
the aviary, but the young deteriorate rapidly in size and
brilliancy of colouring, the brown of the body losing its
rich chesnut tone and becoming paler, while the black
throat has traces of white and the delicate lavender tint
of the head turns to a nondescript kind of grey.

In regard to stamina, too, the aviary-bred Parson
Finch seems to lose as much as it does in size and
colour, and many of them fall victims to the curious and
tiresome disease known as French Moult, a wretched
complaint akin to the rickets of the human subject,
and for which no cure has yet been discovered.

Probably, however, if the birds were kept in a large
garden aviary well planted with gum trees and other
Australian shrubs (in pots, of course) they would do

THE BANDED OR PARSON FINCH. 63

better than they do indoors, and might not degenerate
as happens in the case of house-reared Parsons, but
every aviarist has not the means or the accommodation
for carrying out such an experiment.

THE BANDED 01 PARSON FINCH.

These birds will either build a nest in a small bush,
in which case it is domed, or they will avail themselves
of a foundation, such as one of the small German
Canary cages made of wicker work, and fill it with

6 4 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

hay and blades of grass in the centre of which they
will make a depression which they line thickly with
small feathers, or, failing these, with cotton-wool or
cow-hair, and, as in the case of their relative the Zebra.
Finch, they will do better in the former than in the
latter situation.

Care should be taken not to supply them with any
material, such as wool, or long hair, that might get
twisted round their toes, and, by stopping the circulation,
cause the latter to wither and fall off, as I have seen
occur on one or two occasions with these as well as
with other birds.

As the nails grow quickly, they should be looked
after, and cut when requisite ; this, however, is necessary
rather in the house than where the birds are enjoying
comparative liberty outside.

The sexes closely resemble each other, but the female
is duller in colour than the male.

The scientific name is Pocphila cincta.

CHAPTER X.

3at>a

I HIS bird, I believe, is of Japanese creation, and, in
the opinion of many connoisseurs, an improvement
on the original as turned out from the great Laboratory
of Nature. Everyone to their taste, however: it is not
for me to initiate a controversy on the point, here or
elsewhere : this is a free country, or is supposed to
be one, and each aviarist must form his or her own
conclusion in the matter.

The White Bird, however, is a distinct variety and
not a mere albino, for, as a rule, it breeds true to
colour, which the latter does not. Occasionally, never-
theless, some parti-coloured individuals will make their
appearance in the nest of white parents, but are more
curious looking than pretty, and indicate a recent cross.

When in good condition, the White Java Sparrow is a
beautiful creature, for^the gloss that adorns the plumage
of the ordinary Blue is very apparent in the White
variety, while the pinky-red bill sets off the snowy tint

5

6 6 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

of the rest of the body and adds a finish to it that is
wanting in the person of a mere albino.

That this bird is not simply a "sport" is, I fancy,
evident, for it lacks the red eye that is so distinctive a
feature in cases of albinism ; and therefore, however it
may have originated, it would appear to be really a
distinct variety.

In regard to its food, and nesting arrangements, the
White Java Sparrow is identical with its Grey relative,
but it is decidedly more delicate than the latter and
cannot be safely left to winter out of doors in this
country — at least such is my experience; other fanciers
may have been more fortunate, but, if so, I am not
cognizant of the fact.

When seen apart, the sexes are not readily differen-
tiated from each other ; but if together, the larger size
of the male and his habit of dancing before, or rather
beside, and " singing" to the female, will enable him
to be identified without much difficulty.

The eggs are white and vary from four to six in num-
ber, and incubation lasts from sixteen to seventeen days.
When an ordinary Grey Java is paired with a White one,
the young will be mottled in various ways, but very rarely
will be found to be self-coloured.

No change of food is necessary while the young are
being reared and when these leave the nest they can
only be distinguished from their parents by the dark
colour of their legs and feet and bill; the sombre tint

THE WHITE JAVA SPARROW. 67

of these parts, however, soon gives place to the roseate
shade of the old birds, and then it is impossible to
distinguish between them, so that there is always the
danger to be guarded against of sending the latter away
instead of the former, and in order to guard against
the possibility of such a mischance, the better plan is
to separate the young birds from the parents before
they lose the distinguishing colour of their legs, feet
and bill.

The nest is merely an immense quantity of all kinds
of rubbish crammed into an absurdly large box, in the
centre of which the birds form a cup-like depression
which is snugly lined with feathers, among which the
eggs are deposited.

None of these birds that I have possessed at any
time even attempted to breed in a small box that one
might have thought would have been just the thing
for them, but no, they always chose one that was big
enough to accommodate a pair of Jackdaws or of
Starlings at the very least, and when such a thing was
not at their disposal they evinced their displeasure by
refusing to nest at all. Evidently they require plenty
of room, and will not make the best of circumstances
as many other birds will do.

In a cage the White Javas are decidedly dull and
uninteresting, but when they are enjoying comparative
freedom in a large garden-aviary, they are very active
and lively, continually on the move and chattering

68 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

away to each other as if they really felt exceedingly
happy and comfortable. When one of the party flies
to a particular spot all the rest follow, emitting a loud
twittering chirp as they take wing, and when they
have settled down a great bobbing of tails take place
amid renewed chattering that appears to be a mutual
congratulation upon the successful carrying out of their
purpose, and then one of them stands up and sings
a song, to which all the rest listen with profound
attention .

They are very fond of hunting about in the grass,
although what the object or objects they search for
can be I do not know, for I have never noticed that
they ate any of it, nor have I ever been able to detect
them in catching insects of any kind. They are patterns
of frugality and will live and thrive for years on a diet
of millet and canary-seed. Paddy rice, that is rice in
its husk they are supposed to be very fond of, but I
cannot say that I have remarked any partiality for it
on their part, at least in a dry state, but if it has been
soaked till soft they will then partake of it greedily;
but the rice of commerce they absolutely ignore — at
least all the Javas I have kept did, whether they
belonged to the White or to the common Grey type.

At one time the price of these birds was rather high,
namely from thirty to forty or fifty shillings a pair,
but now they can be bought for somewhere about
fifteen shillings the couple, and some, slightly marked

THE WHITE JA VA SPARR OW. 69

with grey, for considerably less. The latter, however,
are certainly cross-bred and cannot be relied upon to
throw a purely white progeny: nevertheless they will
rarely hatch a purely Grey bird, which proves that
there is more of the White than of the Blue blood in
them.

The scientific name is Padda oryzivora, var. alba.

CHAPTER XI.

Olive

I His is a fine bird, nearly as big as a Starling, and,
when in its summer dress, of a sulphury shade of
yellow, marked and streaked with many broad black
bars and lines; the female is much duller in appearance
than her mate, but otherwise there is a good deal of
resemblance between them.

They have long strong black bills, but nevertheless
I always found them to be perfectly harmless in a
mixed aviary where their many attempts at nidification
were frustrated by some impudent Budgerigars. On
one occasion, however, the male constructed a nest as
big as a man's head : I had thrown some stems of grass
into the aviary and the bird at once picked them up
although previously he had never shown any disposition
to build, or weave.

Evidently he had not before met with anything that
suited his purpose, but as soon as these straws were
introduced, he at once threw a couple of them over

THE OLIVE WEAVER. 71

a perch, knotted them cleverly together, and on this
slender foundation proceeded to erect a marvel of bird-
architecture that was the admiration of everyone who
saw it. Whether the hen would have made use of it,
had not the season been so far advanced, it is impossible
to say, but probably she might; however, she evidently
thought it was too late then, for although the cock
did everything in his power to induce her to go into
it, she would have nothing to say to the marvellous
nest and, consequently, was very much driven about
by her mate, and, I regret to say, maltreated.

The next year I sent the birds to the Show at the
Crystal Palace in the spring, and that seemed to have
upset them, for they made no attempt to build again,
although they had been supplied with similar material
to that which had tempted them the season before.

I cannot now recollect exactly how long they remained
jn my possession, but after a time, several years, the
male began to show signs of age and decrepitude; he
did not moult as usual in the autumn, and developed
an overgrowth of nail and bill, dying before the advent
of the following spring, apparently from the effects of
sheer old age.

As the hen remained in good health I tried for some
time to obtain her another mate, but eventually she,
too, after having been a widow for a year or two, began
to sink, finally dying of old age like her former partner.

They were fed entirely on seed, canary, millet, ant]

72 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

some green food now and then; they had plenty
of room to fly about in and grit for the picking up:
possibly, however, they required something of a more
stimulating nature to induce them to breed, and if I
ever had any more, I should feel inclined to allow them
ants' eggs, gentles and mealworms in addition to
their seed.

The song of the male is sweet, and fairly well sus-
tained, but is loud and mixed with some harsh, grating
notes that detract considerably from its merit. The
female, according to my experience, is a very silent bird.

Although the male of the pair to which I am now
referring used to moult in the autumn, I did not
observe that he changed much in regard to his colour,
though he may have done so slightly, and during the
winter had less of the brilliant yellow that during the
season of love and courtship decorated his shapely
form. His head was blacker in summer, becoming
brownish-black after the autumnal moult.

Scientific name, Hyphantornis capensis.

CHAPTER XII.

Cardinal.

I HIS is the smallest of the birds upon which has been
conferred the title of a Dignitary of the Roman
Church, and as it is least in size, so has it the most
insignificant appearance among its compeers. In bulk
it about equals a common Sparrow, but is of rather
slimmer build, and the red or crimson of its head is
shaded and to a great extent masked with brown, which
makes it much less conspicuous than its larger relatives,
to which it otherwise bears a general resemblance.

It is destitute of a crest, and, as its English name
indicates, the bill in its case has a yellowish tinge, but
is darker, almost black, at the tip.

The male is a fairly good songster, and can only
be distinguished from his mate by his ability in this
respect, for as regards size and appearance the sexes
are quite indistinguishable.

My experience with them is that they are perfectly
harmless in a mixed aviary even when in company

74 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

with the smallest and most defenceless of the Waxbills.
They are satisfied with a diet consisting of seed only,
but at the same time catch eagerly at any small fly
that comes within their reach, and spend a good deal
of their time on the ground among the grass.

Much less hardy than the larger Red-crested Grey
Cardinals, they must be taken indoors as soon as the
evenings begin to grow chilly towards the end of
September, for cold distresses them very much, as they
evince by their restlessness and huddled- up miserable-
looking appearance.

As they are natives of the Southern American Con-
tinent, their seasons are just the reverse of ours, and
during our fine weather they make no attempt to
breed, but pair and commence to make a nest when
the time has come for them to be removed from their
commodious out-door aviary into the house, where, as
a rule, they occupy a cage during the winter.

With respect to the pair of these birds that were in
my possession for a time, the inclination to perpetuate
their race must have been small, for change of scene
utterly put a stop to it, although they were much more
comfortably situated, as tar as temperature went, in
their new than in their former abode: it is true they
had lost the comparative freedom they enjoyed in the
garden- aviary, and perhaps that was the reason why,
in disgust, they gave up the idea of building a nest
and rearing a brood of young,

THE YELLOW-BILLED CARDINAL. 75

My Yellow-billed Cardinals never got very tame, but
to the last were timid and startled by the mere approach
of a human being to their dwelling, while the other
Cardinals and the Popes would come and fearlessly
take mealworms from between my fingers.

With the Red-crested Cardinals the Yellow-bills did
not get on at all, the former evidently refusing to
recognise the relationship between them, but the crest-
less Popes were better natured and did not interfere
with their smaller brethren, but of course they are of
nearer kin to the latter than to the former.

Very likely had I kept them until the following
season and then had turned them out in May, they
would have built a nest, but having had them suffi-
ciently long to study them, they had to make room
for others.

The scientific name is Paroaria capitata.

CHAPTER XIII.

Brazilian Su

I HIS bird is about the same size and shape as our
familiar friend " Bully" (a pet name of the English
Bullfinch), but differs from it in almost every other
respect, at kast when the latter wears his usual smart
attire, for his foreign prototype is habited in sable ot
the darkest hue, his only redeeming points of colour
being a narrow band of white across the wing, and a
lead-coloured bill which, by the bye, is thicker than
that of his European namesake.

The gentleman who was kind enough to present me
with the first specimen of this species that I had seen,
spoke strongly in favour of its vocal attainments, which,
he affirmed, surpassed those of every other kind of
bird whatsoever ; indeed, so eloquent did he wax in its
praise that he actually, like Silas Wegg, " broke into
poetry" on its merits. Naturally I was curious to see
such a prodigy, and one day the gentleman called on
me in person and presented me with the only "Bicudp,M

THE BRAZILIAN BULLFINCH. 77

in Europe. I am bound to confess that it was not
much to look at, for its plumage was frayed, scanty
on the head and neck, and dull everywhere.

My friend said the bird was extremely delicate, so
I placed it in a box-cage which I stood on the kitchen-
dresser, as the warmest place in the house, and took
care to cover it every night. The Bicudo was lively
enough but rather wild, it ate and drank well, but
made no sound, beyond an occasional "cheep, cheep",
which had nothing particularly musical about it, but
then, of course, the call-note of our own incomparable
Philomela is eminently harsh.

I waited in anxious expectation of the "outburst of
triumphant song" of which my friend had spoken, but
I waited in vain; the Black Bullfinch had evidently
made up his mind not to gratify my curiosity, which
it may have looked upon as a piece of unpardonable
impertinence that must be repressed at any cost, even
that of perpetual silence.

Presently, I noticed a decided change coming over
the bird; it had not had much to boast of in the way
of feathers when it arrived, but little by little what it
had fell out, until at last it lost them all and presented
the extraordinary spectacle of a plump naked bird,
active and lively but, of course, able only to hop and
run. Then, strange to say, for the first time since
it had been in my possession it was heard to warble!
Its tones were low and sweet, and more frequently

78 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

audible in the evening than at any other hour, but
only when the performer was quite hidden from view
behind a cloth that hung over one half of the cage in
order to conceal the by no means attractive looking
creature inside.

At last the cook rebelled ; someone had called to
visit her, it appeared, and having noticed the Bicudo,
had taken exce ^tion to its nude condition, and the
cage had to be taken away and placed somewhere else :
if so, where more appropriately than in my study?
True that apartment was not nearly as warm as the
kitchen, and the bird might take cold, perhaps die, in
it. Well, not much matter if it did ; it was by no means
"a thing of beauty ", and its presence could be well
dispensed with in the establishment.

But the Bicudo soon showed that it had no intention
of dying, for on going to feed it one morning I thought
its head and neck looked a little darker than usual
(for it had a very white skin), and on closer inspection
I discovered that the bird's feathers were, actually, just
beginning to grow!

Wonderful 1 In about three weeks more it was fully
clothed and able to fly about the cage quite strongly.,
Its song then became more frequent and loud er, but
to my ear, presented no extraordinary merit, and
certainly fell short of what I had been led to expect-
but I may have been looking for too much.

It had, evidently, been kept too warm, and that was

THE BRAZILIAN BULLFINCH. 79

the reason its feathers had all dropped out; when I
came to think of it, all its congeners from Brazil are
quite hardy, the Cardinals, Saffron Finches, and various
Conures and Parrots : Why then should the Bicudo be
more delicate than the others? Apparently it was not,
and I made up my mind to turn it out into the garden-
aviary, where I had no doubt it would do well, the
time being summer, and the weather warm and fine.
I did so, and the bird seemed to enjoy the change
immensely, commencing by taking a prolonged bath,
when he made himself so wet that he must have
thought he had lost his feathers again, for he was, at
first, quite unable to fly, or even to rise from the ground.
However, after a while he got on some sticks that were
low down and from that vantage point hopped to the
higher perches, where a few vigorous shakes and many
dabs at his feathers dried him thoroughly, and gave
him a glossy and smooth appearance I had never noticed
on him before.

Then he really sang, so that my Brazilian friend
was right after all and the Bicudo was a splendid per-
former— I am quite sorry I cannot find or remember
the poetry, in English, French and Portuguese, that the
bird's melody inspired my friend to write about him.

"After sorrow cometh joy", someone has said, (I am
a poor hand at remembering names and do not know
from whom I have borrowed the above quotation, but
that does not much matter, for the converse was true

8o FEATHERED FRIENDS.

in my case). I had turned the Bicudo out, as I have
related, and the aviary in which I placed his cage with
its door open, was a large one, some seventy feet long
or thereabouts. It was divided into two parts. I might
almost say three, for the first part had a small brick
house attached to it, entrance to which was effected
from the flight by an aperture similar to those in use
in dovecotes, and there my birds were accustomed for
the most part to roost; it was lighted by a window that
was made to open and shut from the outside and the
glass was protected by a piece of wire netting placed
inside.

The Bicudo, as I have said, was greatly delighted,
and I lefc him for the night with a very comfortable
feeling as to his future well-being, but next morning
when I went down to feed my birds, the brave Brazilian
Bullfinch was not anywhere to be seen. I searched for
him high and low, in the open portion of the aviary
and in the covered- in part, but without finding any
trace of him, and just as I was giving up the quest in
despair and deciding that he must, unperceived by me,
have darted out over my head as I entered, I heard his
well-known "cheep", and on looking round perceived
the truant clinging to the wires of the partition that
divided the aviary. But he was on the other side of
itl How in the world had he managed to get there?

An inspection of the partition revealed a weak place in
it, where some of the binding wire had given way and,

THE BRAZILIAN BULLFINCH. Si

as a natural consequence, some of the uprights had
become loose, and by a small amount of pressure could
be pushed to one side, and thus, no doubt, the Bicudo
gained access to the place where I found him, which
was the abode of my soft-billed birds, and which being
planted pretty thickly with shrubs had evidently attracted
the wanderer and induced him to search for some way
of getting into such a very desirable place of residence
as he would think it to be when compared with the
spot in which I had put him, for the Finches, but
especially the Budgerigars, would not let anything
grow there.

It was rather clever, I thought, of the Black Bullfinch
to find out that weak place in the partition and to
avail himself of it in the manner he had done; but he
found nothing to eat in the Eden to which he had
forced admission and when I saw him he was evidently
seeking a way back again to the seed-pans. I caught
him and returned him to his old quarters and made
good the breach in the partition. I never saw a bird
improve as he did after that, and I was very proud
of him indeed, but alasl my pride had a fall one day,
and a very grievous fall, too.

I have mentioned that in the brick house attached
to the Finches' aviary was a window that opened from
the outside and was protected by a piece of wire netting
nailed to the wall on the inside. This window I made
a point of shutting every night for fear of the cats,

6

82 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

which to my intense chagrin abounded in the vicinity
and often came over into my garden to stare at and
terrify the birds. One day I had occasion to go up to
town and did not return until late, but before starting
I said to "Someone", "Be sure and shut the aviary
window before dark," and "Someone" faithfully prom-
ised to do so, but forgot.

On my return home at, or after, midnight, it was
raining, and I did not think of going out to look if
the little window was fastened, nor did the idea occur
to me until after I had been some time in bed: then,
when I heard the wind howling and the rain beating
against my windowpanes, I said to myself that surely
"Someone" had closed it, and I turned round and went
to sleep : but oh ! my laziness ! my laziness ! it was
fated that I should rue it on the morrow.

In the morning when I went down, the first thing
I did was to go and look at the window— it had not
been shut! the wire guard, however, seemed to be all
right, if the birds were strangely silent, so I went in
and ate my breakfast without any misgiving. After
that, I proceeded as my custom was, to feed the birds,
and almost the first thing I saw on opening the aviary
door was the poor Bicudo lying dead and more than
half-denuded of feathers on the ground !

The aviary I perceived was almost tenantless, and
on looking round I discovered some more corpses and
a quantity of feathers : a few Budgerigars were the only

THE BRAZILIAN BULLFINCH. 83

surviving occupants. A cat must have got in and done
the damage! But where was the murderer? I instituted
a minute search: the culprit had fled, not indeed without
leaving too abundant traces of his visit, if his person
had disappeared. It was too bad I Oh "Someone!"
''Someone!" it was really too bad 1

Well, the poor Bicudo was gone! But why had not
the feline marauder eaten it, as he had done most of
the other victims he had slain? I found out afterwards.
The poor old fellow was too tough for a starving cat
to demolish, and so the iissassin had left his corpse, as
well as that of a venerable canary that had been hatched
and had lived all his life of 8 or 9 years in the aviary.

How did I find out that these poor birds, and especially
the Bicudo, were too tough for a hungry cat to devour ?
In this way: I had just acquired a tame Raven and
it was to fetch him home that I had gone on that
eventful morning when I, confidingly, had left the closing
of the window to "Someone" — I gave "Grippa" the
two carcases for his (no, her) breakfast, and she
managed to dispose of that of the Canary, but only
after several re-iterated attempts, but altogether failed
to entomb that of the Brazilian Bullfinch in her
"capacious maw", although she did her best to get
rid of it, but in vain; it was really too tough, and
so the poor old fellow was interred in the garden and
his place was left vacant, as his memory is lamented,
to this day.

84 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

There is a moral attached to my story, which I may
be excused for giving; it is this: Never delegate to
anybody what should be done by yourself, for if you
do, you will be sorry when it is too late.

Another moral : Should my reader chance to become
possessed of a Bicudo, do not keep it too warm, for
it is not delicate, but, on the contrary, quite as robust
and hardy as any of its fellow country birds. I fed
mine on canary, hemp and millet.

Scientific name, Melopyrrha nigra.

CHAPTER XIV.

I think I have already mentioned more than once that
there is a bird-shop in Rye Lane where I have picked
up some bargains now and then. Well, one day the man
that keeps it brought me a bird I had never seen before,
which he said he had bought of a sailor together with
a lot of common Java Sparrows. It was a small bird,
just about the size of a House Sparrow and not unlike
our familiar friend in point of shape and colour. On
the back it was chesnut-brown, greyish white on the
breast and belly, and the brown wings were marked
by a transverse band of yellowish brown not unlike
that on the same part of Passer domeslicus, so that
altogether I concluded the rara avis in question to be
neither more nor less than a Sparrow.

The bill, however, as the man pointed out, was longer,
narrower, more pointed and of a deeper black colour
than that of our friend of the house-tops, and more-

86 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

over, he asserted that the nondescript had a very clear
and musical song.

Indeed the common Sparrow sings, too, after a
fashion, of course; watch him on a fine day in spring
when his homely spouse is incubating her oval treasures
in some convenient nook near by, and see if he does
not value himself and his melody a little, as with
ruffled plumes he pours forth a series of discordant
shrieks and squeals : certainly he does, and many musi-
cians are just as much justified in thinking they can
sing as our old friend the Sparrow.

Well, to bring my introduction to a close. I bought
the anonymous bird for four shillings, and for a while
kept it by itself in a cage indoors. It certainly had a
musical call-note, loud and clear, but I never heard it
attempt to sing, though it would repeat its note a few
times in succession, which, perhaps, was what the dealer
meant when he praised its musical abilities, so I turned
it out, into the soft-billed birds' aviary, as I found it
would eat ants' eggs and mealworms as fast as an
ladigo Bird or a Nonpareil. It was shy and retiring
and generally kept itself well out of sight among the
bushes, or in the covered-in portion of the aviary, so
that I seldom saw it, and was only occasionaly reminded
of its existence by its deep, flute-like note.

One day, I noticed some straws projecting from a
box that was hung up in case some of the inmates
might like to sleep under cover, or to breed if they

THE WHATISIT. 87

felt so disposed, and on taking it down and opening
the lid, I found that it contained a very snug nest
made of hay and lined with feathers, among which lay
five eggs not much unlike those of the domestic Sparrow,
only rounder. Whose could they be? I watched for
a long time, but no bird went near the box, and so I
withdrew lest they should take cold and spoil. Some
time afterwards on going suddenly into the aviary, what
should I see pop out of the nest-box in question but
the mysterious bird that for want of a better name I
had called after "Georgie Hackett" the Whatisit.

So she was a hen, and that was her nest, and those
were her eggs and she was a mere Sparrow after all.
I was in hopes she might have paired with some of
the other birds, and might have a brood of mules, but
no, after she had been sitting for three weeks or per-
haps a month, I took them away and found that they
were clear. Then I introduced a Java Sparrow, a Saffron
Finch (also a Sparrow) and a House Sparrow, hoping
that my nondescript might pair with one or other of
them, but she never did, though I kept her for several
years and each season she nested and laid two or
three lots of eggs.

Hoping to identify the species, I showed the bird
to a number of fanciers, and even sent her to the
Crystal Palace Show, but she remained unknown to
the last: for one day she found out a weak place in
the aviary and escaped, as did others of the inmate' ,

88 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

and I never saw her again. I visited the British Museum
and South Kensington, but could find nothing like her
at either place, whether figured in books, or stuffed,
so for want of a name I have called her Passer anonymus.

CHAPTER XV.

or Bramble ^Fi

I HIS bird is first cousin at least to our Chaffinch and
visits us only in the winter, its home being within
the Arctic circle, where it breeds, retiring South from
stress of weather, and availing itself of the first indi-
cations of spring to reiurn to its native haunts. It is
said to have bred occasionally in the north of Scotland,
as well as in aviaries, where it is asserted to have
produced a fertile progeny with the Chaffinch. Without
stopping to consider the probability or otherwise of that
report, I will merely say that those I have kept at
different times never evinced the least disposition to
nest in confinement.

It is a pretty bird, but not as brilliant as the Chaf-
finch; the hen, I think, being handsomer than the cock,
which has a great deal of black about his head and
neck : both sexes have a crest that they are able to
raise and depress at pleasure, but they have no song
worth speaking of and are quiet and shy, though I

90 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

have read somewhere that in an aviary they are quar-
relsome with other birds: all I can say is that such is
not at all my experience.

They are as fond of flies and other small insects as
the Chaffinch, but make a sad bungle of eating a
mealworm. I found them decidedly liable to a kind
of skin disease which I have called "leprosy", for
want of a better name, that principally attacks the
head and face, beginning round the beak; the feathers
fall out, and the skin becomes hard and dry, and
covered with yellowish white scales. It is very dis-
figuring of course but does not appear to affect the
birds' health, and is, I should say, brought on by the
heating nature of their diet.

In the Zoological Gardens Catalogue the Brambling
is classed with the true Finches, which, I think, is a
pity, as its habits approximate it to the Buntings, but
it and the Chaffinch, together with the Nonpareil and
Indigo Bird, might well constitute a family apart.

The accepted scientific name (quite a misnomer in
my estimation) is Fringilla montifringilla.

CHAPTER XVI.

Siskin.

I His pretty little northern Finch makes about the nicest
pet I have ever come across. Tamer and more
confiding in disposition than almost any other little
bird, it combines intelligence with docility, and can be
taught a number of tricks with very little trouble, and
especially to fly out and return to its cage, which it
will do sometimes of its own accord without any train-
ing. It is very hardy, too, and frugal in its diet, but it
cannot stand artificial heat, which soon disorganises the
liver and brings about a premature ending of its days.
In appearance (black, green and yellow harmoniously
combined) it is very handsome, and the male can be
readily distinguished from his mate by his greater
brilliancy, by his superior size, and bolder and more
masculine bearing. Although the nest has been occa-
sionally found in Scotland and even in the north of
England, the Siskin does not, as a rule, breed in this
country.

92 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

When it does, it builds, as a rule, in a fir tree ot
some kind, and makes an inartistic, not to say rude,
nest of grass and roots, sparsely lined with hair. The
eggs, four or five in number, are not unlike those of
the Canary, with which bird the male Siskin pairs
readily in confinement and produces mules which usually
differ but little from him in appearance, though a few
are mottled, but they are generally bigger than their
male parent.

The Siskin hen will also sometimes build in a cage
and even rear a brood amid the uncongenial surround-
ings; insect-food, however, would seem to be essential
to success in such a case, and ants'eggs are recommended.
For my part I have not tried to get these birds to nest,
not considering that the game was worth the candle,
but others may be of a different opinion, and if so, I
have been advised that they should be treated like
Canaries— that is to say, as Canaries usually are.

As the Siskin is a very active and lively little creature,
it should never be kept in a small cage, in which it
is very apt to get too fat and to die from apoplexy,
or from disease of the liver. If, however, none other is
available, it should be encouraged to fly about the room
as much as possible, and if a few seeds of the fir or
of the arbor vitce can be obtained, it will go anywhere
and do anything to get them.

Next to the seeds of the various coniferae the Siskin
loves those of the alder; it is also very fond of

THE SISKIN. 93

sunflower seeds, and of hemp, but the latter is of too
fattening a nature to be allowed ad libitum, or even in
any quantity: canary and summer-rape seed are the best
staple diet, but if it is desired that a pair should breed,
they must be offered a large variety of food, including,
of course, their favourite aliment the seeds of various
kinds of pine and fir.

THE SISKIN.

I have found that fatty degeneration of the liver and
apoplexy, the latter very often, indeed I might say
generally, resulting indirectly from the former, are the
most usual diseases of the captive Siskin, and are more
easily prevented than cured. As I have given the
treatment in full in another place I do not intend to
repeat the directions here.

94 FEATHERED 'FRIENDS.

One gentleman who was rather successful in breeding
Siskins in the house attributes his good fortune in this
respect to the use of a nest built by a Chaffinch placed
in an open wire basket made to hook on to the wires
of the cage, which the hen re-lined according to her
own fancy. She laid five eggs, and hatched three
young ones one day, another the next, and another
on the following day. For the first ten days the little
ones were fed entirely on gentles in the pupa or chrysalis
state, when the old birds began to make use of seed.
The young left the nest fully feathered at fifteen days
old, and soon afterwards began to feed themselves on
soaked seed, which my informant adds should not be
too suddenly withdrawn.

The scientific name is Chrysomitris spinus.

CHAPTER XVII.

Ortolan.

/ALTHOUGH not as brilliantly plumaged as the Yellow-
hammer, this is one of the handsomest, at least
of the European, Buntings; but they are not interesting
as cage-birds and are, moreover, I fancy, somewhat
delicate. True, I did not keep my pair very long, but
nevertheless, they were in my possession a sufficient
length of time to prove that they were very susceptible
to cold, and pined when the supply of insect-food ran
short. A Frenchman of my acquaintance had made
me a present of the only two I ever had, and I believe
they were male and female, for one was smaller and
duller in colour than the other. Neither attempted to
sing while I had them, and only occasionally uttered
the note that is said by Morris to be incessantly repeated,
and is certainly monotonous. Bechstein, on the other
hand, describes the "song" as full and clear, but if so,
I have never been privileged to hear it.

The Ortolan is a very rare visitor to these islands,

96 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

that is, voluntarily, for it is imported in very consider-
able numbers to figure as an entremets on the table of
epicures.

It is somewhat a difficult bird to describe, as it
presents no strong contrasts of colour. The head and
a band across the throat are greenish grey; the back
and tail, reddish brown; the throat, pale yellow, with
a shade of green; the lower breast and belly, rufous
fawn ; and the vent and under tail coverts, greyish white.
The beak and legs and feet are reddish brown. Other
Buntings, including even the ordinary Yellow-hammer,
are often caught with and sold for Ortolans.

The female of my pair, which I fed on seed, bread-
and-milk and mealworms, got out of the cage one day
and Pew away, upon which I released the male, and he
also spread his wings and with a joyful cry disap-
peared across the Common to a little wood opposite,
where I hope he was joined by his partner and with
her succeeded in reaching their native land once more —
but I doubt it.

The scientific name is Embcriza hortulana.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Starling.
(ADDITIONAL.)

IN ''Birds I have Kept" I had a little to say about
this handsome and exceedingly clever and useful bird,
but not much, for my experience with it in captivity
had not then been an extended one. Since that time,
however, I have had the opportunity of making the
acquaintance of another member of the family, and
concerning him, or I should say her, I wish to make
a few remarks.

I had long entertained a prejudice against caging
the Starling, though I really cannot say exactly why,
but when "Jack" came into my possession, I found
that I had made a mistake and that it was a very
delightful pet. An occasional correspondent had written
to me one day offering me a young Starling that had
been brought up by him from the nest, and also its
cage, a wicker one — that decided me and I replied,

7

98 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

saying that I was much obliged and would have great
pleasure in accepting his kind offer, or something to
that effect, and in due course the bird and cage arrived.
The latter was not much, but of course no one should
look a gift horse in the mouth, and I did not, but the
bird was very charming. It was perfectly tame and
familiar and whistled very prettily; but there was one
great drawback; it wanted, or rather its cage wanted,
a great deal, a very great deal of looking after, and
after a while I felt bound to turn "Jack" out into the
garden-aviary, where he seemed to enjoy himself and
soon got quite strong on the wing, whereas when he
first came to me he would not fly a yard, probably
from disuse of his wings, or rather from never having
been allowed to exercise them.

When I used to feed him of a morning, I always
called him "Jack, Jack", and from whatever corner he
was hidden he would instantly emerge with a shrill
cry and, after a time, a repetition of his own name,
and subsequently of several short sentences with which
I was accustomed to greet him. Bread and milk, on
which I had been advised to feed him, did not seem
to agree with the bird at all, passing through him
practically undigested, and, at last, giving rise to diar-
rhoea: raw meat he ate greedily, but it used to make
the evacuations smell very badly, and insects I found
to be the best diet, for on a course of mealworms and
gentles he got so strong and so bright and shining as

THE STARLING. 99

to his plumage that it was quite a pleasure to look
at him.

Whenever "Jack" caught sight of me in the garden,
or even heard my voice, he would dash about the
aviary calling lustily, and when I went in would fly
on my head, creep all over me, and allow me no peace
till I had given him his usual treat of mealworms. Fruit
of all kinds and green peas were also favourite morsels
of his, and I was reluctantly forced to admit that he
might, lacking other food, do a little damage in a
garden. On the other hand there is no doubt he does
an immensity of good there, where few insects are more
destructive than the ugly, legless grub of the apparently
harmless fly popularly known as the " daddy longlegs",
which is nevertheless a most pernicious creature, but
the Starlings catch it very cleverly, driving their long
bills into the maggot's burrow and invariably drawing
it out in triumph.

Mealworms I found were a somewhat costly diet*
and I had to look about for a substitute, which I was
not long in finding in the imported German ants' eggs.
"Jack" would rapidly pick up any quantity of these,
and dry and worthless as they looked, they agreed
with him remarkably well, as also did the gentles
which I bred in the covered-in portion of the aviary
in a large earthenware crock with a lid smaller than
itself which rested on the bran and chaff that I had
put into it, so as to leave about an inch of the

ioo FEATHERED FRIENDS.

"padding" visible all round. It was very funny to
see "Jack" perched on the edge of this crock, rooting
with his long bill among the chaff for any unlucky
gentle that was desirous of rising in the world, and
when one appeared, or was felt, how quickly it vanished
again 1

What with high living and plenty of exercise "Jack"
got so impudent that it was impossible to go into the
aviary without being attacked by him — or I should say
her, for about this time a handsome male Starling,
wild, used to come down and talk to "Jack" through
the wires, and there was no difficulty, when the two
were side by side, in determining that the tame bird
was a female, for the black of her plumage was not
nearly as sheeny as that of the stranger, and she had
more white spots.

Well, one day as I was going in to feed the birds,
what should "Jack" do but dart out over my head
and away with loud notes of triumph over the house
and out of sight. Naturally, I set her down for lost.
Next day, however, or perhaps it was the day after,
one of the maids came to tell me that "Jack" was on the
top of the aviary trying to get in. I went to the window,
and looked, and there was the truant without doubt,
searching for an entrance to her former dwelling-place.

Arming myself with some mealworms, I went out
cautiously into the garden, and approached the returned
prodigal, with my usual call of "Jack, Jack", and the

THE STARLING. 101

Starling responded by flapping her wings and answering
as of old. I held out a mealworm which she took and
ate with considerable appetite and while she was dis-
posing of a second one I caught her by a rapid move-
ment of my left hand, and, in spite of her remonstrances,
consigned her once more to " durance vile". She did
not like it, I think, for she flew up and down foj some
time, but finally settled down on the edge of the
crock where the gentles were kept and had a good feed

Of course, after that I took some pains when going
into the aviary to guard against the Starling getting
out again, and was making inquiries for a tame mate
for her, when one day off she flew once more and that
time for good — at least I never saw her again to
my knowledge, though she may have been one of
several that used to come on the grass every day
during the ensuing winter, to feed on the varied scraps
that were placed there for their special benefit.

I have no doubt, could I have left the door of the
aviary open, that "Jack" would soon have got into
the habit of going out and returning of her own accord,
and would, perhaps, have brought her handsome male
acquaintance with her, and have set up housekeeping
in the vicinity of the gentle-crock, but on account of
the other birds I could not do so, and as she resented
being shut in against her will she decided not to return
after getting out for the second time, which was ungrateful
on her part, and somewhat foolish, too.

io2 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Since losing "Jack", I have heard of Starlings having
bred in an aviary, and make no doubt that a tame
pair would do so and perhaps have an albino brood
which would be valuable, as these "sports" are readily
saleable at a remunerative figure, as much as £ 10, but
frequently £ 5 or £6, being paid for one of them. Albino
Starlings, Sparrows, and Blackbirds seem to have been
tolerably plentiful during the summer of 1893, and
their occurrence in more than the usual proportion
may have been due to the long continuance of abnor-
mally hot and dry weather that happened that year.

"Jack" never disagreed or interfered with any of the
seed-eating birds that inhabited the aviary, but I could
not keep a soft-billed bird with her: she nearly killed
a Nightingale, and bullied a Thrush to such an extent
that had I not removed him, I feel sure he would have
been killed; of the Finches, Doves, and Parrakeets,
however, she never took the slightest notice, which I
fancy was due to their food being different from hers,
but she evidently looked upon the gentle-crock, the
mealworm tub, and the pot in which I kept the ants7
eggs as her own especial property, and resented any
approach to them as an encroachment on her rights.

The scientific name of the Starling is Sturnus vulgaris.

CHAPTER XIX.

Carger Kill

I His bird, which enjoys an almost world- wide reputa-
tion as the prince of mimics among the feathered
tribes, is the size of our Jackdaw, but plumper in body
and has a shorter tail ; yet I cannot help thinking that
its merits are somewhat overrated. At least one I had
in my possession was not a brilliant subject, and
others that I have seen by no means came up to the
standard that I had understood they usually attained
to. Possibly the one I had may not have been a typical
specimen, for he suffered from a sebaceous tumour on
his head, which did not, however, seem to affect either
his health or appetite, but as he afterwards died from
the effect of a recurrence of the complaint in other
parts of his body, it may well be that his spirits were
more or less affected by it.

In other ways it is not an encouraging kind of bird
to have, requiring a large cage, and the most scrupulous
care and attention to keep it sweet and clean, for the

104 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Mynah is a gross feeder and its diet of a very miscel-
laneous kind, viz., rice, potato, carrot, meat, fruit ot
all sorts, egg, and, in a word, pretty well everything
that comes to table. An appetite so accommodating
might be thought an advantage, but evidently the bird
does not digest half of what it swallows, and I am now
speaking not only of the one I kept for a while, but
of others that have come under my observation from
time to time, both before and since, and that is what
makes the creature so objectionable in the house.

It is supposed to be related to the Starling, and its
short tail together with the metallic reflections of its
plumage lend colour to the notion, but I far and away
prefer our native bird, as a linguist, whether a whistler,
or an inmate of the dwelling, while it has the further
advantage over the Mynah of being absolutely hardy
and requiring only ordinary care to preserve it in health.

The scientific name of the Mynah is Gracula intermedia.

CHAPTER XX.

«WOULD y°u care *° ^ave Grip?" wrote a friend to
me one day, " for if you would, I shall have much
pleasure in sending her to you."

Should I accept the offer, or should I decline? The
bird in question had a history. She was not exactly
spiteful, but you had to take care of your heels when
she was in the way. She was not, strictly speaking,
very handsome either, for she had plucked all the
glossy black feathers from her breast, which was then
only covered with grey down. Notwithstanding these
decided drawbacks she was a very fine specimen of
the race to which she belonged, namely the Scandina-
vian, and was considerably larger than any other
Raven I had seen. Then I had never owned one of
these birds, and decided to accept the kind offer made
me, and at an early date found myself a visitor at
my friend's house and contemplating, in his yard,
the " ancient, grim and stately Raven" that was soon

io6 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

to be made my very own, that is as far as one can be
aid to have a proprietary interest in a fellow creature.

While I stood looking at her, "Grip" was hopping
about, very busy, collecting a number of small stones
which she arranged in rows along the steps, and when
she had completed a line, she knocked them all down
again, gave utterance to a funny little croak, like a
chuckle, and recommenced.

"That is her favourite amusement," remarked my
friend's wife.

"Yes," replied my friend, "she will spend hours
at that game, and sometimes she will substitute straws
and little bits of stick for the stones."

It was very curious and suggestive to watch her
antics, which she would interrupt now and then to
chase a fine pair of White Jackdaws, a Magpie, or a
Jay that might approach her too nearly; but the time
had arrived for her to take her departure from her
old home, so my friend took her up in his arms (she
was perfectly tame and gentle with him, as, indeed,
were all his many birds) and popped her into a box
that had been prepared for her reception some time
before my appearance on the scene; then he fastened
down the lid of it, and beyond poking out her bill
through the ventilator, "Grip" offered no resistance to
her incarceration. However, her bill (a most formidable
nstrument whether for offence or defence) was got in
at last, and the lid was securely fastened down with

THE RAVEN.

107

nails — it was a good-sized box — and I popped it under
my arm, bade adieu to my kind host and hostess and
made the best of my way to the railway station,
preferring to take the bird home myself, to trusting

THE RAVEN.

her to the uncovenanted mercies of carriers or railway-
porters.

In the train, I placed the box up in the hat-rack,
and taking a newspaper from my pocket began to read.

io8 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Presently I might have exclaimed with Edgar Allan
Poe, "Surely that is something tapping 1" for "Rat,
tat, tat, tat, tatl" came very distinctly from the hat-
rack. The other occupants of the carriage looked up,
and then glanced at each other, and one lady, evidently
of a nervous temperament, gave a slight start, and
shrieked in a subdued key. "Oh my I what is that?"
but "Grip" did not reply, while I of course took no
notice, but continued to read my paper as if no sound
had reached my ear.

Presently, however, the bird recommenced knocking,
and someone exclaimed. "It's a boy in the next
compartment," an explanation that appeared to satisfy
my fellow-travellers, for they made no further remark,
although the "tapping" was continued, at intervals,
until the train reached Victoria, where, taking possession
of my box, I got out to change carnages, reaching
home in due course, and not, on the whole, sorry to
be rid, I do not mean of "Grip", but of her travelling
conveyance, which was decidedly heavy as well as in-
convenient to carry under one's arm from its size, for
I had to walk some distance from the station to my
house.

At home, at last, I carried my new acquisition into
the wash-house and opened the box, when "Grip"
immediately hopped out with an interrogative croak,
flapped her wings, and perched on the mangle, where
she again shook herself and looked round with an air

THE RAVEN. 109

of surprise at her new surroundings. She had had her
supper, but what about her breakfast in the morning?

Well, I have already described elsewhere how that was
furnished and I must not repeat myself, especially as
the reminiscence is a painful one.

I had intended allowing the bird the run of the garden,
and to let her sleep where she was (in the wash-house,
so I opened the door, and out she stalked, for one of
her wings had been clipped, and I knew that she
could not fly away. Recollecting then how fond she
was of a ladder, I brought out a pair of wooden steps
and placed them leaning against the side of the house,
and these she immediately mounted, croaking and flap-
ping her wings vigorously the while.

I left her then and went indoors, but on coming out
again in an hour or so, to see how she was getting on,
I found that "Grippa", as I had re-named the Raven,
had in the interval done more damage to the shrubs and
flowers than a couple of rabbits or even a goat could
possibly have done in the same time, and I saw that
it would be impossible to allow the bird her liberty,
which was unfortunate, as I had counted upon that to
wean her from her deplorable habit of self-mutilation.

There was no help for it, the Raven must be shut
up in an old summer-house that had been converted
into an aviary and had a small run attached to it: it
was then tenanted by a few White Fantail Pigeons,
which, of course, I transferred to other quarters, for

1 1 o PEA THERED FRIENDS.

"Grippa" could only be let out when I or someone else
was by to watch her.

She did not object to the transfer, and as I had
arranged various perches for her convenience in the
summer-house she soon gained the highest of them by
hopping up to it from the lowest, and when she had
mounted as high as she could she turned round to
have a look at me, croaking at the same time in order
to remind me that some hours had elapsed since she
had had her breakfast.

I went and fetched her some scraps of meat, which
she caught very cleverly in her bill as I threw them
at her from the open door of her new abode, and after
a while whenever she saw me coming she would spread
out her wings and tail and ruffle the feathers of her
head and neck, dance in the most absurdly grotesque
fashion on her perch, and, generally, comport herself
in such an idiotic manner, that I used to say to her:
"You are an ugly old brute!"

She soon caught up this expression, and would
repeat it to all and sundry who went to have a peep
at her. As far as the members of the family were
concerned, that did not matter, for they knew what it
meant, and if she said it before a stranger in my
presence I could explain; but unfortunately one day
an elderly lady, of not the most angelic appearance,
which was by no means her fault, but her misfortune,
went alone to have a peep at the wonderful bird of

THE RAVEN. in

which she had heard an account that had greatly
excited her curiosity.

No doubt she was greeted by the "grim, ungainly,
ghastly fowl" in the usual manner for she presently
returned and remarked to a member of the family:
"I am surprised the doctor should keep such a horrid,
vulgar old scarecrow as thatl" The shaft had evidently
struck home.

"Grippa" had another trick: she used to cough like
an unfortunate afflicted with consumption, or at least
a severe attack of bronchitis, and the effect was curious,
not to say amusing enough, when it was first heard,
but the continual repetition of the lugubrious sounds
became terribly monotonous and wearisome after a time,
especially when the bird began, as she always did
during the summer, about 2 o'clock in the morning,
and kept up the performance, at frequent intervals,
through the day, and far into the night.

I was not surprised when my next door neighbours
complained. As long as they thought it was a human
being, they put up with the annoyance without a
murmur, but when they found out that it proceeded
from a Raven that had not even the excuse of being
ill, they did complain, and that was one of the reasons
that led me to part with "Grippa", though not, I must
confess, with any poignant feelings of regret.

She had many accomplishments, such as whistling
for the dog, calling him by his name "Jumbo", and

1 1 2 FEA T HER ED FRIENDS.

also calling "Jack, Jack" (the Starling); she could say
a number of words, too, very plainly, and frequently
picked up new sayings ; but she was not to be trusted.

On one occasion I was in her house feeding her,
and she suddenly pecked me on the back of the hand,
so severely as to break the skin and draw blood, which
was rather a serious thing from a creature of her kind,
but fortunately no harm resulted: another time when
I had let her out in the garden, she quietly walked
up behind one of my boys who was sitting down
reading, and gave him a bite in the leg.

The above and other similar offences were forgiven
in consideration of her many comical ways, but one
day when a servant lad was cleaning out the house,
which had to be done every morning, she suddenly
hopped down off her perch on to his back as he was
stooping down below and bit him sharply on the
back of his neck, nearly frightening the boy into a fit,
so that he could not be induced to go into the summer-
house again. But there! if I were to recount all her
delinquencies I should never have done.

I had read somewhere that a Raven when carrying
off an egg, is in the habit of "transfixing it with his
powerful bill", but I doubted the fact, so I gave one
to "Grippa" one day in order to see what she would
do. She simply picked it up between her mandibles
as she would have done any other morsel, flew up
with it to her perch, where she steadied it between her

THE RAVEN. 113

feet, pecked a hole in the shell, and leisurely sucked
out the contents: no "transfixing" for "Grippa", she
knew a great deal better than to commit so foolish a
mistake.

Another time I threw her an egg as she sat facing
me on her perch and she caught it deftly in her beak
without cracking the shell, when she proceeded to deal
with it exactly as she had done with the one she had
picked up off the floor of her den.

When supplied with more food than she could dis-
pose of at one meal "Grippa" was in the habit of
covering over the remainder in reserve for another
occasion, and this led to my being witness of a rather
comical scene. There was a very big lean rat in the
garden (how he got there was a mystery) and he lived
under the Raven's house, in the floor of which he had
contrived to gnaw a hole through which he would pop
up and steal her leavings.

I did not interfere with the rodent, for I thought
"Grippa" might, perhaps, catch him some day, but he
was far too quick and wary for her, or she was too
slow, I cannot say which. Once, however, I happened
to see her pack away a bone or a bit of meat in a
corner and cover it with a scrap of paper which she
patted down on and carefully tucked round her deposit,
then when she had hidden it, she remounted her perch,
and the rat, popping his head out of the hole, carried
off the morsel which the bird had hidden close to it.

8

1 1 4 PEA THERED FRIENDS.

After a little while " Grippa, " as her custom was on
such occasions, hopped down to ascertain that her
treasure was safe, and when she found it gone anything
more droll than her look of astonishment I never wit-
nessed. She could not make it out at all, and evidently
thought she had mistaken the place, for she went and
looked all round her den, of course without success, and
at last came back to the place where she had left her
bone, looked about with a very odd expression, gave
up the search, hopping on to her perch, and then began
to cough as if she had not many hours to live.

Finally I set a trap for the rat and caught the old
vagabond, when I consigned him to a watery grave
and then gave his carcass to " Grippa", who was
extremely partial to mice ; but she could not make any
impression on the tough hide of the rat and hid it
away, presumably to wait until decomposition had
made it softer. Day by day she tried it, but without
effect, and at last I had to have it removed and buried,
for there is nothing more offensive than a dead rat,
except it be a Canary that has been fed on stale hard-
boiled egg and died in consequence — the smell in that
case breaks the record for unpleasant odours, as I have
often found to my disgust when making post-mortems
for correspondents.

Poor old " Grippa 1" I tried to get a mate for her,
for a pair of tame Ravens will breed freely in captivity,
I have read, but I was not successful, and at last I

THE RAVEN. 115

had to part with her for the reasons already given.
I have no doubt she is yet alive, for these birds
survive to a very great age, and are very easy to cater
for, everything being fish that comes to their net. I
fed "Grippa" chiefly on dead birds, mice and bits of
meat; bones she was fond of picking and she would
eat cooked potatoes and cabbage, or any kind of scraps
from the table. She was also partial to snails (hoddinods)
and to fish of any kind. In fact I never knew her to
refuse anything that was offered to her with the excep-
tion of my poor old Bicudo and that rat.

The scientific name of the Raven is Corvus cora.

CHAPTER xxt.

or CQolucccm (£

I HIS is an uncommonly fine bird and a very intelligent
one: true the proverb "Handsome is that handsome
does" will not always hold good in his case, for he
can be awfully noisy when he chooses, and that is
almost continually. Still, given a quiet specimen of
the race, it is a splendid creature, imposing as to size,
quaint as to appearance and lovely as to plumage,
when the bird is in good condition, which is usually
the case with him. In size he about equals a Raven,
though, of course, his appearance is very different from
that of "Grip". He has a great partiality for imitating
the cackle of a laying hen, often leading the unaccus-
tomed housewife, who chances to hear him for the first
time, to run out to the roost only to be disappointed
in her search for eggs.

He measures about twenty inches in length from
beak to end of tail, and is stout in proportion, not to
say of portly build. In repose he sits on his perch

THE ROSE-CHESTED OR MOLUCCAN COCKATOO.

THE MOL UCCAN CO CKA TOO. 1 1 9

with his neck retracted and his bill almost hidden in his
feathers, which he puffs out round his face till he looks
something like a snowy Owl, though he lacks the
magnificent eyes of those rangers of the night, his
being comparatively small and either black or reddish-
brown ; the latter colour distinguishing the females, and
the former the males of the species. The general hue
of the plumage is creamy white, but it is suffused,
particularly on the breast, with a delicate pale rose-red
tinge; the crest, which has a backward inclination, is
large, most of the plumes composing it being six
inches in length, the upper ones are white, and the
rest tinged with a reddish- orange colour pervaded with
a shade of rose. This crest is raised when the creature
is excited, and then the beautiful primrose tint of the
side feathers of the tail and those of the wings can
also be seen. At such times the Moluccan appears
almost twice as big as he really is and his black beak
comes out in strong contrast to the general white of
his plumage. As the venerable Bechstein has well
observed, "this beautiful bird has a noble air" — he has,
and deserves the title, bestowed on him by someone,
of King, or Emperor, of all the Cockatoos. He seems
to be a favourite with Dr. Russ, who writes of him as
follows: "Der rothgehaubte oder Moluckenkakadu ge-
hort zu den schonsten unter alien", terms of praise
that I agree with; but Mr. Gedney (the pioneer of
foreign cage-bird literature in this country) is no friend

120 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

of his, and appears never to have got over the feeling
of enmity engendered in him against all the race by
one errant individual who belonged to the captain, and
disturbed the middy's repose by a series of terrific
"gur — rahs" audible, we are told, a mile from the ship.
One of these birds I once had was a magnificent
creature, and certainly had a very powerful voice, but
fortunately he did not exercise it to its utmost extent
very often, though when he did call out every, one
had to run from the room. He was very tame and
loved to have his poll scratched; he would coo and
chuckle while undergoing the operation in a tone that
was perfectly ravishing. He did not speak much; only
a few words now and then, the principal of which were
" Pretty Cocky", which he would utter in a variety of
tones, sometimes, simply as the mere statement of a
fact, in a moderate key ; or he would whisper them in
a scarcely audible voice, as if confiding an important
secret to his interviewer, and now and then he would
trumpet them forth in stentorian tones so that the
whole house might hear, and tremble. His chief per-
formance, however, was to imitate a hen that had just
laid an egg, which he did to the life, but in a con-
siderably more powerful voice than " Biddy " herself
possessed.

I did not keep him very long, for in a house of
ordinary dimensions, some of the inhabitants of which
were in the full possession of their sense of hearing,

THE MO LUC CAN COCKATOO. 121

his full and clear tones were occasionally taken ex-
ception to.

His principal diet was boiled maize, which was cooked
fresh for him every day, but he would also eat hemp-
seed, and was rather fond of fruit, especially grapes,
the sight of which used to set him off dancing and
whispering " Pretty Cocky", but if the dainty was
withheld, he screamed, and got it.

The scientific name is Cacatua Moluccensis.

CHAPTER XXII.

I HIS bird is nearly as large as the Moluccan : from
which it is readily distinguished by the yellow
colour of the hinder crest feathers, and the largish
circle of bluish coloured naked skin round the eye : the
eye itself, in the individual I am describing, was black,
from which I infer that it was a male.

I did not exactly own this bird, but took care of it
for a time for a friend. It was long enough, however,
in my custody to show me that it was a very lovable
creature, extremely tame and gentle, but no linguist:
at least I never heard it utter a word, but it could
cackle like a hen, and occasionally did so, though
not in so distressingly powerful a voice as its friend
the Moluccan. I also heard it try to imitate the
clarion notes of <; Chanticleer the Bold," but it failed
miserably, I must say, and did not repeat the attempt.

Afterwards its upper mandible grew to an enormous
length, curling downwards towards the chin, and the
lower mandible broadened out spoonwise, giving the
bird an extraordinary appearance and interfering with
its feeding. I cut and pared the over-growth, but have
heard no more of the subsequent history of Blue- Eye.

The scientific name is Cacatua ophthalnrica.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Cemon--cresfed C

Mf LTHOUGH I have seen thousands of these birds flying
about wild in Australia, and have heard their
shrill outcries high up in the air when their forms
were invisible from the ground, it was not until com-
paratively recent years that I had one of them in the
house. It was a young bird, perfectly tame, and was
given to me by an acquaintance. It had never been
kept in a cage, but was allowed to range about the
premises, indoors and out, with one wing clipped. It
had a cage, but only used it to sit on its top in the
day, and sleep in at night. It was so very tame, that
when it moulted I did not think it was worth while
cutting its wing again, as doing so certainly detracted
from the bird's appearance, so one day it wandered out
into the garden and flew away, never to return.

I had inquiries made, but heard nothing more about
poor "Cocky", which I expect was caught and kept
by someone, for I think if he had been left to himself
he would have returned. I say he because the iris was
black; the female has a reddish-brown one.

Scientific name: Cacatua galerita.

CH AFTER XXIV.

I HIS is a nice bird, about the size of the Rosy
Cockatoo: the crest, which is of a deep sulphur
or brimstone colour, is inclined forwards like that of
the latter species : the general colour of the plumage is
white, with a yellow tinge on the under side of the
wing and tail feathers. The bill, which is of compar-
atively large size, is black, but the white powder so
largely secreted by all the Cockatoos, and especially
by this one, gives it a grey appearance. The eye of
the male is black, and that of the female brown.

The one I had was a nice quiet bird, not much of
a talker, but she could whistle fairly well: she lived
on bird-seed, biscuit and fruit, had nuts occasionally,
and wood always to bite and play with. Water of
course. Somehow she contrived to get very dirty as
to her plumage, so she had to be occasionally bathed,
for she would not voluntarily "tub".

One day she fell ill, and surprised the family by

TffE LESSEE SULPHUR- CRESTED CO CKA TO O. 1 2 5

laying a white egg about the size of a pigeon's : directly
she had got rid of it, she became as lively as ever,
though apparently at death's door the moment previously.
Some time afterwards poor "Polly Cocko" showed
symptoms of the same kind, but we were not alarmed,
kept her warm, gave her a little oil, and nursed her
up; but she gradually got worse, and although she
managed to lay the egg, she did not rally as she had
done on the former occasion, but, in spite of every
care and attention gradually grew weaker and died, to
the great regret of a large circle of friends and acquaint-
ances to whom she had endeared herself by her gentle
and quiet demeanour.

Other members of the species that I have had under
observation from time to time have varied a good deal
in character as well as in attainments, from which I
infer that it is decidedly rash to form a judgment of a
race from limited observations of a few individuals
belonging to it: which is exactly what many people
are fond of doing, hence the many "chameleon" stories
one hears and reads of with respect to such and such
a bird or beast.

A propos of chameleons, I once heard a visitor at
the "Zoo" enquire what "Kahmah lions"! were and
he looked vexed with me for laughing.

The scientific name of the Lesser Sulphur-crested
Cockatoo is Cacatua sulphurca.

CHAPTER XXV.

1 HIS is not a pretty bird, but it is a very nice one.
In appearance it reminds me of the Slenderbill, but
its beak does not attain to the same preposterous
dimensions as that of the latter. It has no crest to
speak of — a mere apology for one in fact— but it is
remarkably fond of displaying it, and having it rubbed
and patted. Round the eye is a triangular patch of
naked corrugated skin, of a yellowish-greyish white
colour, to which it owes its name : the beak is greyish
white, and the eye black or brown, according to the sex.

This bird is a native of Western Australia, and is
sufficiently common there, but is not found in any
other part of the great island- continent. It is not often
imported, which is strange, for it is very hardy, and
the most intelligent of all the Cockatoos. One member
of the species, that I saw but did not possess, could,
its owner assured me, and I have no reason to doubt
his word, speak over three hundred words and sentences
in English, French and Dutch.

THE BARE-EYED COCKATOO. 127

My Bare-eye was not such an accomplished bird as
that by a long way; but it was not without its merits,
too; for instance, during the short time it was with me
it caught up from the Moluccan the chant of the hen
in which that maestro used so to delight, and rendered
it with considerable effect: also such sentences as "Who
are you?" "What do you want?" " Good morning",
and so on, and would, I feel sure, have made an excel-
lent talker and mimic, but I had to part with it, as I
had to do with the rest of my Cockatoos, on account
of the noise, which an invalid neighbour complained
of: so that I sighed for "a home in some vast wilder-
ness", where I could keep as many as, and what kind
of birds, I pleased, but such being, fortunately, or unfor-
tunately, not forthcoming at the time, the "Cockies"
had to go.

This species feeds on grain of all kinds and is quite
hardy; I believe a pair would breed in an outdoor
aviary, though of course they would not develop into
talkers there, but it might be worth somebody's while
to try and get a few aviary-bred Bare-eyes.

The scientific name is Cacatua gymnopis.

CHAPTER XXVI.

l$esfern

I His noble bird, like the last, is a native of West
Australia, where it replaces the Slenderbill (Lie metis
nasicus) of the eastern parts of that country. It is
nearly as large as a Moluccan but is shorter and stouter.
Like the Bare-eye it has not much crest, and like that
clever bird it makes the most of what it has.

The sample, I mean the individual, I possessed was
a fine male and a good talker for a Cockatoo, but
unfortunately he had picked up some very vulgar ex-
pressions, and made some exceedingly disagreeable
noises, which forced me to give him away to the "Zoo",
where I thought his objectionable remarks would
not be noticed amid the din of the Parrot-house: but
perhaps that may have been the reason why I did not
see him the next time I paid a visit there, nor could
I learn anything about him from the civil attendant.
So that I am quite in the dark as to his ultimate his-
tory, and was not encouraged to add again to the

collection in Regent's Park.

The scientific name is Licmetis pastinator.

CHAPTER XXVII.

I HERE had been so much controversy about this
handsome bird that I determined to obtain a pair
of them at the earliest opportunity, and before long
was fortunate enough to procure two very fine specimens
in perfect plumage and condition from the late Mr.
Anton Jamrach, whose untimely death all aviarists have
so much reason to deplore.

They were, indeed, a splendid pair of birds, so tame
and fearless, but as fierce and as cruel as hawks, as
far as other birds were concerned, which was the
reason why I was forced to get rid of them, for I would
not keep them in a cage, nor did I choose to part
with the rest of my collection on their account and
for their special benefit.

The species is too well known now to need de-
scription, but I may remark that the male is consider-
ably larger than the female, to whom he is most
devoted, dancing and singing to her, combing her head
for her and feeding her incessantly.

9

130 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

I found these handsome birds to be perfectly hardy
and kept them out of doors during an exceptionally
severe winter, when on more than one occasion I have
actually seen them break a thin film of ice on their
water-pan in order to bathe.

These birds have frequently bred in confinement,
sometimes in a hollow log like the rest of the Parrot
race (with one certain and a few doubtful exceptions),
and sometimes on the ground behind a brick, or a
piece of board. My pair had begun to think about
nesting, when I had to send them away, for which I
was sorry, but they had already murdered a Red-rump
and a White-headed Love-bird, and seriously injured
my old Cockateel, ''The Chaplain", which last was an
unpardonable offence and led to their immediate
banishment.

In a state of nature these beautiful birds feed on
the nectar of tfre flowers of their native land, a diet
for the immortals, but they eke it out with many flies,
of which they partake as freely as they do of honey :
in this country the dealers will tell you that the birds
will live on seed, and so they may lor a time, but the
result, after a few weeks or months, is death in con-
vulsions, caused by indigestion. It stands to reason
that it must be so. But when they are dieted in a
manner more nearly approaching that they have been
accustomed to, they will live for a long time, witness
a pair in the Parrot-house at the "Zoo", where they

S WAINS ON'S L ORIREET. 1 3 1

have been since the year 1880, or a matter of sixteen
years : this pair, as well as some others that are their
juniors, have been fed on rice boiled in well-sweetened
milk, which they have given to them fresh several
times a day : the keeper also allows them a mealworm
now and then, and there is also seed in their cage,
but they do not appear to touch it. Fruit they will
suck greedily if sweet, such as grapes, and they have
some occasionally.

When I bought my pair, Mr. Anton Jamrach told me
that it was all nonsense trying to keep them on a
diet of seeds, even when they had been brought over
to this country on it, and I accordingly fed mine after
the mode adopted in the Parrot-house, and I must say
I never possessed a handsomer or a healthier couple
of birds.

It was as good as a play to watch the antics of the
male when he was paying court to the female : the
way he pranced and capered round her, the attitudes
he would fall into, and the extraordinary noises to which
he would give utterance, were most mirth-provoking;
but he was dreadfully, furiously jealous, not only ot
other Parrots and Parrakeets, but also of any and every
kind of bird, great or small, even of a great big foolish
Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) who had no eyes,
even for his own wife, and had certainly never bestowed
a thought on the fair Swainsonia. But the life he
led that poor Ring Dove, until I found it out just

132 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

in time to save the latter bird's life, was something
too terrible.

The Blue Mountain Lories, as the Swainsons are
also called, make excellent parents, I have been told,
but I did not keep them long enough to put them to
the proof in that direction. It is said they will bring
up three or four broods in the season, accommodating
themselves to our summer, instead of stupidly adhering
to their own division of the seasons as so many of
their fellow country Parrakeets and other birds are in
the habit of doing.

The young ones, I have been further informed, issue
from their birth-place resembling the old ones in every
respect save size and the brilliancy of their colouring,
for which reason it would decidedly be as well to
mark the young birds, while yet in the nest, with a
ring on one of their legs, as pigeon fanciers habitually
do with the juvenile inmates of the dovecote, but in
the case of the Swainsons, or any kind of Parrakeet,
the ring would have to be of metal : it is very easy to
slip it over the front toes of the young birds, and then
by holding the hind toes up against the shank the
ring will slip on the leg without any difficulty, and
cannot be removed by the bird itself.

These Parrakeets, or Lories, are not very frequently
imported, because their management is very much
misunderstood, and yet it is simple enough and the
birds are exceedingly desirable on account of their

SWAINSOWS LORIKEET. 133

hardiness and docility, as well as the readiness with
which they will adapt themselves to a life in captivity,
where they will breed quite freely. The only drawback
is their ferocity. Should one of a pair fall ill, the other
will quickly turn upon it and kill it, unless the sufferer
is quickly removed somewhere out of the reach of
the unkind partner. But given plenty of room, adequate
shelter, and no company but their own, these birds
are really never sick or sorry, and they are well worth
keeping by amateurs who have the requisite accom-
modation at their disposal.

The habitat of the Swainson Lorikeets is in Eastern
and North-eastern Australia, where they are of sufficiently
common occurrence.

The scientific name is Trichoglossiis Swainsonii.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

I HIS is neither as pretty nor as large a bird as the
preceding, but is blessed with a much more amiable
disposition. I had a pair of them once for a little
while, and can give them an excellent character as
far as my experience with them went. Certainly they
never made any attempt to nest, and that is the crucial
time for testing their temper, so that it is possible they
might, in the end, have turned out to be as disagreeable
as their more brilliantly attired relations, for the Scaly-
breast is not conspicuously handsome.

His general colour is vivid grass-green, but the
breast- feathers, or, to speak more correctly, some of
them, are bordered with a bright band of rich Canary-
yellow, a circumstance from which these birds derive
their specific name, for these yellow markings give
a somewhat scaly appearance to that portion of their
body: the under wing-coverts are red, and the flights

THE SCALY-BREASTED LORIKEET. 137

black; the bill is orange. The female has a general
resemblance to her mate, but she has fewer spots.

As these birds are natives of Tasmania and the
southern parts of Australia, they are presumably quite
hardy, but I have not tested their capacity for resisting
our rigorous winters. I have little or no doubtr
however, that they would prove to be at least as hardy
as their relatives the Swainsons, with whom they possess
not a few points in common, that is to say, in the
matter of rapidity of movement, and the possession of
a decidedly musical voice, which is more than can be
said for the great majority of their congeners.

I fed my pair mainly with Canary-seed, to which
Mr. Anton Jamrach told me they had been accustomed;
but I fancy it is extremely probable that a prolonged
diet of seeds would have told upon their digestive
system and given rise to dangerous complications, so
that had I kept them permanently I should have felt
disposed to have placed at their disposal a bill of fare
similar to the one I had provided for the Blue Mountains,
upon which the latter have done well, not only in
my aviary, but in others.

All the Lorikeets have short tarsi, and are of much
more strictly arboreal habit than the Broadtails (Platy-
cerci] for instance; they are all extremely active on
the wing, and fly with immense velocity in a perfectly
straight line for a long distance, so that if they are
kept in a cage it should be as large a one as possible :

138 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

in an aviary, however, or a bird-room, they would, no
doubt, succeed better, as they certainly would show to
far greater advantage.

I have seen them in flocks of from twenty to thirty
in number clinging to the flowering branches of the
.gum-trees in their native country, and a very pretty
sight they presented. I also saw an aboriginal hurl
his boomerang at some of them, but he missed his
aim! Whether it was that semi-civilisation had impaired
his power it is impossible to say, but the whole flock
darted off with the rapidity of a flash of lightning,
screaming loudly as they went, and poor " Corrinwarra "
picked up his weapon with a decided scowl on his not
over handsome face, which, however, brightened up a
good deal at sight of an eleemosynary sixpence, without
which, he informed me in very good English, he must
have gone supperless to bed.

I forget now for what reason I parted with my
Scaly-breasts, but probably it was for want of room,
or suitable accommodation; at all events as soon as
my chief object of having them under observation for
a time in order to study their habits and get their
portraits drawn by a distinguished artist whose spe-
ciality is birds, I passed them on to somebody else;
but I have a distinct recollection of their handsome
presence and quiet, unobtrusive manners, so that should
another opportunity come in my way of acquiring
a second couple I shall certainly avail myself of it

THE SCAL Y-BREASTED L ORIKEET. 1 3 9

and give them a more extended trial than I was able
to do last time.

I feel sure they would breed, for the climate of their
principal habitat (Tasmania) very nearly resembles our
own, or at least that of our Southern counties, and
they ought to do very well out of doors all the year
round.

In the matter of feeding I would recommend a mixed
diet of seed, fruit, and rice and milk boiled and well
sweetened, also a few ants' eggs and mealworms thrown
in occasionally. Groundsel flowers are very acceptable
to all the Trichoglossi, or Brush-tongues, and the
blossoms of the various cruciferous plants, such as the
cabbage, are also useful, for the nimble tongues of the
birds extract the honey from them as readily as does
the sucker of the bee.

The scientific name of the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
is Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus.

CHAPTER XXIX.

/JINCE I kept the individuals belonging to this species

that are mentioned in "another place," I have

had some further experience with others of the race,

which now occupies a somewhat lower place in my

estimation than it did.

I was presented with a Ring-neck that was supposed
to be a young male, but which, as I soon found, was
a female, and I had some thought of buying her a mate,
when a correspondent proposed to exchange one for
some other bird I had, and I accepted the offer, as
I generally do, with many thanks.

The new-comer was an undoubted cock, but small;
he was very tame and could say a few words as well
as whistle prettily, but the female was one of the wildest
and most vicious Parrakeets that I had ever come
across. I did not care to keep my new acquaint-
ance in the house, and so I turned him out into the
aviary where the female had already been lodged for
some time. The moment the latter caught sight of

THE RING-NECKED PARRAKEET.

THE RING-NECKED PARRAKEET. 143.

the new-comer, she "went for him" with a vengeance,
but whether owing to the sexual instinct, or not, she
suddenly checked herself and, instead of attacking the
other bird, began to chatter to him: the little male
replied, and the two were soon on friendly terms with
each other.

At first he was unable to fly, and could only crawl
about among the branches, which seemed to excite or
irritate the female, who kept on continually scolding or
jeering at him: so after a while he made an attempt
to use his wings, but failing to hit the perch at which
he aimed, he "came a cropper" on the ground, and
seemed to be very much ashamed of himself for his
clumsiness, while "she positively laughed (in her fashion)
at his mishap.

This failure to fly properly seemed to chagrin the
poor fellow, and he followed it up by many attempts
to use his wings, and after a time succeeded. I then
perceived that the couple were looking about for a
place to nest in, and one day I found the hen half-
way into a cocoanut husk that was not big enough to
hold her and had been placed where it was for the
accommodation of a pair of Budgerigars, who had not
made the expected use of it.

Seeing that Madam Ring-neck could not possibly get
into the husk, I got a small barrel for her, which I
fixed up among some branches ; I had not the senser
however, to place it on its side, but put it standing

144 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

up on end, with a hole cut out of the top of one of
the staves so that the birds could get in and out of it.
The lid was movable, and revolved on a small pivot.
The hen speedily took possession of the barrel, awkwardly
placed for her as it was, and from her frequent and
long visits to it I concluded that she would soon lay,
or had, perhaps, already done so. Profiting by her
temporary absence at the seed-box one day, I peeped
in and saw no less than four roundish white eggs lying
close together among the sawdust which I had put in
the barrel, and which the Parrakeet had not removed.

Incubation had apparently set in, and the male took
no part in it, indeed he seldom went near his mate,
but was nevertheless on the watch and savagely repulsed
any bird that ventured near. When the hen came out
to stretch her wings he fed her, and I, naturally, awaited
the result of the hatching with a good deal of interest.

One day, however, on entering the aviary I found
a small unfledged Parrakeet lying, sadly mutilated, on
the ground near the barrel, and on picking it up found
that it was too big to be a Budgerigar, and could only
be a young Ring-neck, and that its unnatural parents
must have killed it and mutilated the remains, from
which the legs, wings and bill had been eaten or torn
away.

On the second morning I found another young one
in the same condition, and on the next a third 1 So
I turned the old bird out of the barrel and on looking

THE RING-NECKED PARRAKEET. 145

in found the fourth egg ready to hatch out, and
transferred it to the nest of an unmated Barbary Dove
in an adjoining aviary where she was sitting on two
barren eggs of her own which I then and there took
away, substituting that of the Parrakeet, which was
much about the same size, for them.

Seeing that Doves and Parrakeets both feed their
young in the same manner, that is to say by taking
their beaks into their own mouths and regurgitating
food on which the little ones feed themselves, I thought
that in all probability the Dove might adopt the young
Ring-neck and bring it up as one of her own offspring :
but next morning on visiting the aviary, I saw the
poor little thing on the ground under the Barbary's
nest. It had simply been thrown out and was not
mutilated, although quite cold and as nearly as possible
dead from exposure; so I picked it up and again put
it under the Dove, standing by to watch what she
would do. As long as the infant Ring- neck kept quiet
the Dove took no notice, but as soon as, revived by
her warmth, it began to move slightly, she at once put
her head down under her breast, took the poor little
creature up in her bill and dropped it over the side
of the box in which she had made her nest.

I replaced the unlucky Parrakeet, and again the Dove
turned it out : evidently she knew that it did not belong
to her, though she had never seen a young one of
her own kind ; but she would have nothing to do with

10

146 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

the stranger, so as a last resource I carried it into
the house and thought to bring it up by hand.

There was no difficulty as far as feeding it was
concerned, so I placed it among some cotton-wool in
a little basket near the fire, and there seemed every
likelihood of its doing well. Next day being Sunday,
I took the birdling into the kitchen for the cook to
look after while we went to church, and she, good
simple soul 1 to ensure its being kept warm, placed it
and its basket in the oven, with the result that when
we returned home we found that the poor little creature
was baked 1

The Ring-necks did not go to nest again that yearr
for soon after the sad catastrophe of the young ones,
which I attributed to inexperience on the mother's
part, they began to moult rapidly, but I hoped that
in the following summer they might try again and
possibly make up for their shortcomings by producing
and r aring another brood, or perhaps two. The cock
bird, who had been so tame, became as vicious as his
mate had been, and she, strange to say, grew much
more docile, but between them they persecuted the
other inhabitants of the aviary to such an extent that I
had to take them away and put the pair of Ringnecks
in a place by themselves, where they finished their
moult and looked handsomer and healthier than ever.

Winter set in severely, but they did not seem to
mind the cold a bit, and frequently roosted in the

THE RING-NECKED PARRAKEET. 147

open air from choice. Once, however, I heard a great
commotion in their enclosure, but took no notice as
they had a habit of flying about and screaming before
settling down for the night; but next morning I found
the hen dead, hanging to the wires by one of her feet,
which had got fixed in them, and no doubt the violent
exertions she made to free herself brought on the fit
of apoplexy to which her death was due.

I was very sorry, but it was a pure accident, and
nothing more could be said or done about it. I
thought of buying another hen, and after a time got
a reputed one, but the bird proved to be a young
male, which I gave away, and the old one was sent
to the show at the Crystal Palace, where somebody
bought it. Such, at least I fancy, was its history, but
I have had so many of these birds at different times,
I cannot be sure.

I ascertained the following facts about them: the
male is quite two years old, sometimes three, before
he acquires the characteristic ring round his neck, and
is in breeding condition; the eggs are four in number,
(for other hens laid in my aviary, and always had four
eggs, neither more nor less), incubation lasts eighteen
days and commences with the first egg, the young
hatching out on successive mornings, and lastly,
although these birds are natives of India they are
quite hardy and absolutely indifferent to the cold of
our severest winter out of doors, so that it would be

148 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

quite easy to acclimatize them in this country ; whether
it would be desirable to do so, is another question,
for they are very destructive among timber, and par-
ticularly so in orchards and cornfields.

In a wood bordering on Peckham Rye Common
some of these birds, escaped from cages, no doubt,
took up their abode every year almost, and surprised
the residents of the neighbourhood by making incursions
into the adjoining gardens. What they lived on is not
so clear, but probably on the buds of the trees, and
the young shoots, and seeds they could find about;
but they appeared to thrive, for several that were caught
by the keeper at different times were in splendid
condition.

It would seem, however, that these truants were
not fond of providing for themselves, for they used to
come down and feed with the poultry, and it was
while so doing that they were secured and lost their
liberty for the second time, at least, in their lives.
However, when the days were growing shorter, and
the nights longer, was the time when they were usually
caught, so it may be that the remembrance of former
comfortable quarters and plenty of good food without
the trouble of seeking it, may have influenced them in
their decision to return to civilised life.
The scientific name is Palceornis torquatus.

CHAPTER XXX.

I HIS pretty bird belongs to the same sub-family as

the last, namely that of the Palaeornithinaet but it

is considerably smaller and nicer also, at least in the

estimation of a good many fanciers, with whom I

range myself.

The first specimens of the species that I possessed
I obtained from Mr. Anton Jamrach, and they were in
very poor condition, that is to say had lost their tails,
and had very few feathers of any kind on their bodies :
they were, however, very lively, and I got them for a
''song", at a time when Blossom-heads were much
dearer than they are at present.

They appeared to be male and female, and I put
their cage out in the garden-aviary, where I left them
for some time to grow- accustomed to the place before
I gave them their full liberty. As soon as I thought
they were sufficiently familiar with their new sur-
roundings, I opened their door and allowed them to
come out, and they both commenced to clamber up the

150 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

wire front, which was annoying, for there were many
cats about which might easily catch and kill the birds
in such a position: I therefore had to catch and cage
the silly things up again, until they had acquired at least
a certain amount of use in their wings, and in order
to facilitate matters in this connection, I removed some
of the stumps of the primaries, which were quite
withered up and came out almost as soon as I touched
them, and in the course of two or three weeks the
birds were able to fly about and had, moreover, begun
to moult regularly.

So far so good: I released them, and they exercised
their wings at once and seemed highly delighted.
Evidently, I thought, they were a pair, for one of them
had the regulation plum-colour on his head and neck,
and the black colour, or torque, while the other one
had a lavender-grey neck and head, and no ring. I
gave them the choice of two or three small barrels,
but they never even looked into any of them. Grad-
ually the days grew shorter and the nights longer,
but the pair of Blossom-heads did not appear to mind,
so I let them remain in the aviary through the winter,
and the cold did not affect them in the least.

Surely, I thought, they will nest when the fine
weather arrives ; but they did not : then the male began
to exhibit many signs of age and infirmity, so that I
had to take him into the house, where I soon saw
that he had passed through many summers and winters

THE BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET. 151

in his time and had had a considerable experience of
life before his transportation, poor old fellow! He
never moulted again and after a time his plumage
became ragged and he himself as disreputable looking
an object as when he first passed under my care.

He lived for several more years, however, and by
degrees his nails and bill grew to such enormous
length that they had to be cut to keep him from
involuntarily committing suicide by hanging. Then he
lost his hearing completely, and ultimately became
blind, but notwithstanding he had quite a good
appetite and was able to find his food and water as
readily as he did when he had the use of his several
faculties. In this sad condition he lasted for several
years more, presenting such a woful appearance that
he was nicknamed "Misery", a designation that was
singularly appropriate in his case, for he looked the
veriest picture of it. I do not think he suffered any
pain, for when roused he would move about actively
and his food and water were acceptable to him to the last.

I should not have mourned for his loss, it may well
be supposed, and one day it occurred to me to try
an experiment with the poor old creature. I had always
understood that parsley was the prussic acid, so to
speak, of the Parrot race, and I gave a piece of it to
"Misery", who took the leaf from me gratefully and
ate it greedily, but did not seem to be "a ha'porth the
worse!" Another fallacy exploded I

152 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The supposed hen remained outside all the second
winter and in the following spring moulted into a cock I
so that the bird must have been at least three years
old before it assumed the adult plumage. It was then
sent to the Bird Show at the Crystal Palace, where
it took the first prize in the Class for Ring-necked
Parrakeets, and was claimed at a price more than four
times the amount I had paid for the two birds.

On several subsequent occasions I have had these
Parrakeets in my possession, and have always found
them docile and quiet, but not gifted with a great
amount of intelligence; no one, however, can deny their
personal beauty, which is considerable: in addition to
that they are perfectly hardy and very easy to feed,
for they prefer hemp-seed and Canary-seed to anything
else as their staple food ; they are very fond of a morsel
of cake or of fruit, or of a piece of sugar now and
then, and enjoy them all, holding the delicacy up in
one foot, and nibbling at it carefully all round, after
the manner of the large Parrots.

I have heard a pretty story about two of these birds,
one of which had the misfortune to lose a foot. It
contrived, nevertheless, to get about the aviary very
well with the help of its bill, but came to a complete
standstill in the matter of feeding, having to stoop to
the level of a common Sparrow when it wanted to
eat, which for a well-bred Parrakeet was intolerable.
Its friend and companion agreed with the lame one

THE BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET. 153

that such humiliation was not to be endured, and when
any special tit-bit was offered to them, the two-legged
one would hold the dainty up in one of his own feet
and offer it to the cripple, nor till the latter had had
as much as it wanted would the sound bird touch a bit.

The Blossom-heads have nested freely in many aviariesr
and would, no doubt, have done so in mine, had I been
fortunate enough to have had a pair of them at any time.

The scientific name is Paloeornis cyanocephalus.

CHAPTER XXXI.

I HIS is an Australian species without very much to

commend it to the notice of amateurs, for it is not
distinguished for intelligence, and all that can be said
in its favour is that as regards personal appearance it
will bear comparison with some more gifted birds.

The pair I had came, as did most of my Parrots,
from A. H. Jamrach, and remarkably fine specimens
of their race they were, but I found them dull, not
quarrelsome, or interfering with other birds, but extremely
apathetic, and I did not keep them long — did not,
perhaps, give them a fair trial, but one is so apt to
take likes and dislikes at first sight.

These Parrakeets, why I know not, are generally
known in "the trade" by the name of Rock-peplers,
and the male is a much handsomer creature than the
female, which indeed bears a general but faded
resemblance to her mate. The plumage is difficult to
describe, and as Mr. A. F. Lydon, the eminent delineator
of bird-life, has drawn a good picture of one in " Parrots
in Captivity," it is unnecessary to make the attempt.

The scientific name is Polytelis melanura.

CHAPTER XXXII.

HecUit>inged

I HIS is a decidedly handsome bird and, apparently, a

quiet one, but the warning: "Trust her notl" is

quite as applicable in its case as it can have been in

that of Longfellow's damsel of whom he bids the swains

"Beware!"

When I had my first pair, they looked such sweet,
pretty, innocent young creatures that I was afraid to
trust them in the large aviary in which I kept my
Ring-necks and other reprobates of that class, so I
turned them out into another enclosure that was inhab-
ited by Pekin Robins and similar inoffensive species.
The time was evening, and the Red-wings (Crimson-
wings they are also frequently termed) seemed quite
happy and contented; but in the morning! — tell it not
in Gath, or for that matter in Askelon, or anywhere
else, — in the morning, when I went to see how they
were getting on, I found the whole place in an uproar,
and all my small birds hiding themselves where they
could find a cover, while the quantity of feathers that

156 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

were strewn about showed only too plainly what game
the Blood-wings (another of their names and most
appropriate in this case) had been up to: it was "hare
and hounds", evidently, with feathers (those of their
defenceless companions) in lieu of shreds of paper.

But that was not all : I had a good-sized blue-gum
tree growing in the aviary in a large pot and the
Parrakeets had punished it most severely; but I put
that down to their delight at once more beholding one
of the common objects of the woodlands wild in which
they had first seen the light of day; they had caressed
it, a little too demonstratively, perhaps, and had meant
no harm.

But, knives and scissors 1 there was a big clump of
English box in the aviary, too, as well as the Eucalyptus,
and that, for the moment, I could not find at all! But
presently I noticed a litter of leaves and twigs on the
ground, and on looking more closely saw the bare
skeleton of the box-tree from which those wretches of
Blood-wings, in the course of a very few hours, had
removed every trace of vegetation, leaving nothing but
the bare stumps of the branches of what, only the
evening before, had been a handsome shrub of consid-
erable size.

Needless to say my butterfly-net was promptly brought
into requisition, and the culprits transferred to the other
aviary, there to take their chance with the miscellaneous
collection it contained; but they were quite able to

THE RED-WINGED PARRAKEET. 157

take their own part, as I soon found, and against
all comers.

They are handsome creatures, these Blood- or Red- or
Crimson-wings, as they are indifferently named, and
may be briefly described as of a grass-green body
colour, including the head, breast, neck, belly, and
upper and lower tail-coverts: the back and mantle are
very dark green, the rump is light blue, and the upper
and middle wing-coverts are deep crimson.

Such is the plumage of the male in full adult con-
dition, and the female is like him, except as regards
the red on the wings, which she almost entirely lacks.
The young resemble their mother, and it is impossible
to say of a given specimen if it is a hen, or a young
cock in immature plumage.

Anton Jamrach rarely made a mistake when picking
out a pair for me, but on this occasion he did, for the
one he thought was the female moulted into full male
plumage about six months afterwards in my aviary.

I kept them for some time after the adventure I
have described, and then I had to get rid of them.
Subsequently a lady sent me a very fine male, which,
unfortunately, had fallen into the bad habit of plucking
himself, and had made his neck and breast perfectly
bare, so that he looked like one of those bare-necked
chickens known, I believe, by the name of Vulture-
Fowl, of which specimens were shown at the Crystal
Palace Poultry Show a few years since.

158 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

I turned the feather-picker into the aviary along-
with some Cockateels and a hen Ring-necked Parrakeet,
with the latter of which he at once struck up a lasting
friendship, or perhaps I should say that he fell in love
with her at first sight, for she was a very handsome
bird and was in splendid condition ; but she would not
take any notice of the "Vulture," who soon began to
feel ashamed of himself, and allowed his feathers to
grow, so that in three months, or thereabouts, from the
date of his arrival he had regained his natural handsome
appearance and then he and the Ring-neck made a
match of it, though not without a good deal of coy
resistance on the lady's part at first.

They took possession of a suitable barrel and before
long I could see that the hen had laid, but how many
eggs she had it was impossible to guess, for I did not
like to disturb her; one day, however, I caught her
off her nest, and took advantage of her absence to peep
into the barrel, then suspended in its proper way on
the side, and in it I saw four white eggs, exactly
resembling those that had been laid by the other hen
I have mentioned as having killed her chicks. These
eggs the bird sat on for the usual time, when they
were thrown out of the barrel, and on examination I
found that they were all clear.

After an interval the Ring-neck laid four more eggs^
but the result was the same, although the Crimson-
wing was most attentive to her in every respect; nor

THE RED-WINGED PARRAKEET. 159

did a third batch prove to be more successful, so I
removed the barrel in order to prevent her laying again,
as I thought that so many eggs (twelve in about two
months) would exhaust her strength, and soon after-
wards I sent them both away, but subsequently learned
that the following summer they paired and nested
again with precisely the same result.

Scientific name: Aprosmiclus erythropterus.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

King

I His fine bird, which is about a third larger than the
last, is like it a native of New South Wales and
Southern Queensland, where it is becoming rare on
account of the persecution it undergoes at the hands
of the farmers, to whose crops of maize and other
cereals it is but fair to say it does considerable damage ;
not so much by reason of what it eats, as of what it
wilfully destroys, for when it has bitten off an ear of
corn, it merely picks out one kernel and letting the
rest fall to the ground, presently gathers another stalk
which it treats in exactly the same way, and so until
its appetite is satisfied.

Happily the King Parrakeet, and his consort the
Queen, are not large feeders, but supposing each of
them to dispose of twenty grains of wheat for a meal,
that would mean, owing to their unthrifty habits, no
less than forty ears of corn destroyed, and if that loss
to the farmer is multiplied by ten or twelve heads, of
which a flock of these birds generally consists, it will

THE KING PARRAKEET. 161

be seen that an immense amount of destruction is caused
to the unfortunate agriculturist, whose wrath, under the
circumstances, is excusable and can well be imagined.

However, instead of shooting these extremely fine
birds and either leaving their carcasses to the flies, or
throwing them to his dogs to play with, if the farmer
were to take them alive and dispose of them to the
dealers, he would readily obtain at least five shillings
apiece for his captives, which sell at prices ranging
from twenty to thirty shillings each in this country,
and find ready purchasers even at the higher figure.

At different times I have possessed examples of this
Parrakeet, and extremely nice birds I have always
tound them to be, but they are somewhat delicate and
require special care and attention in order to preserve
them in good health for any length of time, for it
treated with neglect, or fed inappropriately, they are
very subject to two incurable complaints. One of these
is ophthalmia, and the other atrophy, or wasting — as
the disease is popularly called, "going light," the
result ot chronic indigestion.

Naturally the King and Queen Parrakeets feed on
unripe corn and other seeds, and are incapable, in many
instances, of assimilating dry hard seed; but unless
they are too far gone, a course of boiled maize, or soaked
wheat, and oats, will quickly bring them round again.
They require an abundant supply of small gravel and
are very partial to bathing; they drink freely.

ii

1 62 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The male is a magnificent creature. His principal
colour is crimson with a tinge of scarlet on his head,
neck and breast: the remainder of his body is a dark
sage-green, except the tail, which is very dark blue,
the rump, which is a lighter shade of the same colour,
and a patch on the middle of each shoulder of verditer-
green, which last is usually spoken of as the "butterfly
spot". The bill is orange-red.

The female is all green, with a shade of red on the
breast; she has no wing mark, and her tail is rather
green than blue: in both sexes the under surface of
the tail feathers is black. The young resemble their
mother.

The male is possessed of a nice voice, and will learn
to whistle uncommonly well, also to repeat a number
of words and short sentences very distinctly, but in
somewhat a low tone. He will soon get to be very
tame if treated kindly, will dance at command, turn a
somersault round his perch, flap his wings, "shake
hands," and do other little tricks, but his forte is whistling,
and there is no doubt that if as much pains were taken
with him as is the case with the Bullfinch and the Canary
he would far and away surpass both birds as a per-
former, and would bring a price in the market that
would make it worth the while of the Sydney farmers
not only not to molest, but actually to protect him.

There is an allied species known as the Red-shining
Parrakeet, from the Islands in the Pacific, that

THE KING PARRAKEET. 163

bears a strong likeness to the King; it is, however,
rather smaller and has a black instead of an orange-
red bill; nor has it any "butterfly" mark on the wing.
With the female of this species I am not acquainted ;
it is, however, of very infrequent occurrence.

The King Parrakeet has bred freely in several aviaries
to my knowledge, usually in a hollow log, but once
on a shelf behind a piece of virgin cork ; it is fairly
hardy when correctly treated and altogether makes a
very desirable pet.

Scientific name, Aprosmictus scapulatus.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Kinging D^arf Parrot.

I HIS bird is called a Parrakeet in the Catalogue of
the London Zoological Society, which seems to me
to be quite a mistake, seeing that the word "Parrakeet"
is usually applied to those members of the Parrot
family with long tails, in contradistinction to the
Parrots proper whose tails are short, square, or slightly
rounded in a few cases.

It might be thought that these little birds, essentially
arboreal as they are in their habits, and feeding on
the nectar of the blossoms and the luscious juices of
the fruits in their native wilds, would be incapable of
existing in a cage: but not so; not only do they endure
very well in confinement, but thrive in a state of captivity,
providing anyone has the patience to keep them.

I confess that a very short acquaintance with and
experience of their peculiarities was enough for me.

A correspondent had written, describing a pair of
birds in his possession, to ask if I could tell him what
they were, and I fancy he sent me a rough coloured

THE CEYLONESE HANGING PARROT. 165

sketch of one of them. Whether or not, I had no difficulty
in identifying the species, and sent him the information
for which he was seeking. They were green birds, he
said, with yellowish-brown heads and backs, and they
had a habit of hanging, not only along the top of their
cage, but from the perch, in which extraordinary position
they also passed the night 1 They had bills of the same
shape as a Parrot and ate bread and milk, sweetened,
and fruit, and were especially fond of grapes. Then
my correspondent proceeded to describe in forcible terms
some peculiar habits of the creatures and wound up by
saying that no cage would be large enough, and that
they ought to be kept in a field!

I thought he exaggerated, perhaps, and as he was
good enough to make me an offer of them I accepted
with many thanks and in due course received the birds
in a large home-made cage — a box it was, with a wire
top and front. Afraid my new acquisitions were not
comfortable in such a contrivance, I transferred them
to another residence, and hung a piece of calico over
half of it in order to afford the birds a shelter or screen,
for they were somewhat shy and easily startled.

Having provided for their comfort, I left them for
the night with a plentiful supply of bread and milk
and some grapes, so as not to keep them waiting for
their breakfast in the morning.

When I came downstairs, the room was in a state
I shall not attempt to describe, and the managers of

1 66 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

the household frantic 1 No wonder either, for although
I had partly guessed how it would be, remembering
the Swainsons' efforts in the same direction, I had
taken the precaution to lay down a newspaper in
front of the Pigmies' cage. But goodness gracious 1
I should have covered the whole of the floor.

How such a small creature, or a pair of such small
creatures, for they are not bigger than a full-grown
Cock-Sparrow, could contrive to accomplish what they
did, was to me inexplicable. Before long, however, I
found out the modus operandi, which consisted in clinging
on to the front bars of the cage and — well, the room
was just over fourteen feet in width, and the wall
opposite the cage had been defiled!

What was to be done? The first thing, naturally,
was to closely cover the cage round with newspapers;
but then, what a life for the birds, sinners against
decorum and cleanliness though they were I Why, oh
why had they not been left to adorn their natal woods r
But it was no use asking such a question then; they
were not in their native forest, revelling among the
"spicy breezes" of Ceylon, but in my breakfast-room
— worse luck! as an Irishman would say — and the
odours that "paraded" the establishment were, as the
cook declared, anything but spicy.

"Wring their necks 1" one suggested.

"Send them back", advised another.

"Let them fly away", said a third.

THE CEYLONESE HANGING PARROT. 167

But all of these excellent recommendations were
inadmissible: there the birds were, and there they
must remain until I could, legitimately and without
prejudice to others or to the creatures themselves, get
rid of them.

It was a pity, too, for they were very funny, and
so extremely lively, and the male had such a nice little
warbling song : but that Yankee at Eden who terrified
poor Martin Chuzzlewit lest he should miss his aim
was nothing to them, so I wrote a good friend of mine
who keeps and has kept all sorts and conditions of
birds, and asked him if he would like to have them ; and
anxiously awaited his reply. In due course of post it
came — he would.

"Wish him joyl" exclaimed the various members
of my household with wonderful heartiness and una-
nimity, and the Ceylonese Hanging Dwarf or Pigmy
Parrots were dispatched on their travels once more.

My friend, as I have said, has kept almost every
kind of bird that can be named, except, perhaps, an
Ostrich and a Golden Eagle, or, until then a Hanging
Pigmy Parrot— but even for him, good, easy-going
fellow that he is, they soon proved themselves to be
just a trifle too much, and he parted with them; to
whom I know not, nor has their subsequent fate trans-
pired.

At one time I thought of presenting them to the
"Zoo", but having been rather untortunate as regards

1 68 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

the reception accorded to other birds of mine that went
there, I changed my intention and disposed of them
as I have related.

I have often wondered what became of the creatures
in the end, but suspect they must have fallen victims
to the vengeance of some orderly housewife, or domestic
who was unable to appreciate their idiosyncrasy, and
would make no allowance for their "funny little ways."

The scientific name of the Ceylonese Dwarf Hanging
Parrot is Loriculus asiaticus.

CHAPTER XXXV.

I HIS bird is as nice as the last is objectionable.
It is found in Tasmania, the islands in Bass's Straits,
and the southern parts of Victoria, but it is not a
common species anywhere. In size it is a little less,
and especially more slender, than the Cockateel, which
it resembles a good deal in its habits, not only of
running swiftly and feeding on the ground, but of nesting
very freely in captivity, for which it seems to be par-
ticularly well adapted, for it is cleanly, readily tamedr
easy to feed, and very apt to nest; nor is it noisy,
if it has hitherto shown no aptitude for learning to
whistle or speak.

The general colour is green above and yellow on
the under surface, the bill is black, and there is a blue
mask on the front of the head, under the eye is a small
patch of yellow, the flights and middle tail feathers
are blue, so are the shoulders, but there the blue is of
a lighter shade. The point of the shoulder is dull red,
the vent orange, and the legs grey.

170 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

These birds are extremely prolific, producing, at least
in the aviary, from five to seven young to a brood,
of which there are usually three during the season,
the first in April or May, and the last in September
or even in October. The hens, however, are rather
subject to egg-binding, which is the greatest drawback
in keeping them. As they lay so many eggs they
must be freely supplied with lime, and the best way
to administer it is in the form of the crushed shells
of the eggs used in the house. I have known this
simple plan relieve many cases, but of course if the
retention has lasted so long that inflammation has set
in there is little or no hope of recovery, and in their
case, as in many others, prevention is better than cure.

Canary and millet seed with oats is the right food
for these pretty birds, the female of which differs from
her mate by having less blue on the face, and in being
a trifle smaller; but the latter point is so slight as
only to be detected by comparison.

There are several species of Parrakeets very closely
allied to the Turquoisine, the principal of which is the
Elegant, which has only a narrow band of blue across
the nostrils and no red mark on the shoulders, while
its belly and the under side of the tail are of a much
deeper shade of orange than the same parts in the
Turquoisine, for the female of which it is sometimes
sold, but it is a distinct species, for the young of the
cross with it and the latter are intermediate in appear-

THE TURQUOISINE.

171

ance between the parents, but larger than either of
them and sterile.

None of the Turquoisines that from time to time
have been in my possession have bred, but I know of

THE TURQUOISINE.

more than one aviary in which they have done so very
freely indeed, and that for years. It is a pity the bird
should be so rarely imported, but as it inhabits sparsely

172 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

peopled and barren parts of Australia that is not so-
much to be wondered at.

As a rule it nests in holes in dead branches, but
Gould relates that he found the eggs on the ground,
among loose stones on one of the islands in Bass's
Straits, where there was no tree of any size, only
dwarf " tea-tree " scrub. So much for the Turquoisine's
adaptability to circumstances.

The seeds of the different kinds of eucalyptus, as well
as of the native grasses, form the food of these and
many other Parrakeets in their native "bush", and it
seems a pity that the former cannot be imported in
bulk, as it would be a useful addition to the dietary
of the Australian inhabitants of our aviaries; but perhaps
we shall see it advertised by and by.

There is one other point about the Turquoisine that
may be briefly adverted to, namely, that it is of a mild
and peaceful disposition, and although not as social as
some of its congeners, it rarely quarrels or interferes
with its companions, whether of its own or other species.

The scientific name is Euphema pulchella.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

I His charming and little known species is but very
slightly larger than the Budgerigar, to which it
bears a considerable general likeness, as far as regards
the arrangement of its plumage, for in the matter ot
colouration it is very different. For example, its forehead
is bright turquoise blue, and the top, back and sides
of its neck, as well as the back and wings, are a bright
greyish-brown, every feather having a narrow wavy
edging of a darker shade, exactly as in the case ot
the more familiar Warbling Grass-Parrakeet, while the
breast and all the lower parts of the body, instead ol
being green, as in the latter, are a very charming shade
of salmon-red, every feather, however, being edged with
a lighter tint of the same hue, unlike the Budgerigar
in this respect, which displays no wavy lines in the
same position. The middle tail feathers have white
tips, and the long under-tail-coverts are bluish grey
with white rounded ends. Proceeding backwards from
the eye, but with a downward tendency, is a narrow

174 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

streak of white ; the bill is dark horn colour, and the
legs and feet are grey, with a fleshy tint: the eyes
are grey.

This Parrakeet is a native of the central and possibly
of the northern parts of Australia, and has, conse-
quently, not very often been imported : so rarely, indeed,
has it reached our shores that only three examples of
the species have found their way into the menagery
of the London Zoological Society.

I think I am correct in stating that the last and
largest consignment of these birds ever received in
Europe were those I saw at the establishment of the
late Anton Jamrach about twelve or thirteen years ago.
They were all in splendid condition on arrival and out
of the total number, some twenty or twenty-five, as
nearly as I can recollect, I had my choice of a pair,
the female being easily distinguished from her mate
by the almost total absence of blue from her forehead,
and the paler colour of the salmon-red covering of her
breast and under parts.

I never saw a finer lot of birds, and yet I have
reason to believe that twelve months afterwards, if not,
indeed, long before, not one of them remained alive.
I carried my pair home in triumph, but had paid such
a long price for them that I kept that item of infor-
mation carefully locked up in my own breast, for I
really felt ashamed to avow it.

In the breakfast-room I had a large cage, that many

B O URKES PARRAKEET. 1 7 5

would have called an aviary, in which I kept a number
of Waxbills of different kinds, and in this I placed the
Bourkes. The cage was what is termed a waggon-shaped
one, that is it had square ends and an arched top,
over which there was a green baize cover in order to
shelter the Waxbills in the evening when the gas was
alight. Directly the Parrakeets were released, they
caused no little commotion among the established
inmates, but flew up to the perches under the cover
and did not show themselves again for some time,
though we could hear them calling to each other every
few minutes.

After a while the hen ventured down, ate some
Canary-seed, picked up a few grains of grit off the
floor and took a drink of water; then she was joined
by her mate and they explored the premises together,
seeming to make themselves quite at home and taking
not the slightest notice of the Waxbills, which, by that
time, had recovered from their alarm and were going
about their business in their usual fussy and conse-
quential way.

We stood, almost breathless, at a distance watching
"the new birds", but need have taken no such pre-
caution, for they were not in the least shy, and when they
had taken as much seed as they wanted, they sprinkled
a few drops of water over their backs, by way, no
doubt, of giving themselves a bath, and retired "up-
stairs" (under the baize cover), in order to plume

i ;6 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

themselves and digest their dinner, for at first we could hear
them shaking themselves vigorously, and then all was still.

I have often wished since that I had left them there,
but they appeared to be so very affectionate together
and so ready to adapt themselves to circumstances,
that I thought if I were to put them into a bird-room
I had at the top of the house, perhaps they would
settle down and breed as some Blue-winged Love-
birds and several other species of Parrakeets had
done. But no, they did not thrive in the bird-room at
all; the window was not a large one, and possibly they
had not enough light — at any rate they moped and
did not get on at all.

As the weather was very fine just then, and I had
a nice aviary in the garden, well planted with shrubs
and turfed, I decided to transfer the Bourkes thither
and see how they would get on.

I caught them without any difficulty, carried them
downstairs in a small cage, and turned them out, as
I had decided, into the garden aviary, where the gum-
tree seemed to possess a great attraction for them,
and, for a time, all went on very well.

Suddenly, however, a fearful and wonderful thing
happened and that, too, so unaccountably, that to this
hour I have no idea of the cause of it : one day when
I went to look at the birds, I found that the poor
cock Bourke had lost the whole of his bill 1 both upper
and lower mandibles had fallen offl

BOURKES PARRAKEET. 177

There was no bird in the aviary that could possibly
have done it, and his little mate was certainly not
guilty, for anything like her devotion to him was never
seen. Of course without a bill he could no longer pick
up food for himself, and so she fed him with unremit-
ting attention. For a time, particularly as he did not
look ill, I was in hopes the lost mandibles might be
renewed, but I soon perceived that the bird was getting
thinner and weaker by degrees, and when he died a little
later on he was merely a frame, nor did a post-
mortem examination of the remains throw any light on
the cause of the misfortune.

The hen seemed to feel her loss acutely, for she
became very restless, "called" incessantly, and would
scarcely feed, so that, notwithstanding the high price,
I made up my mind to go to East India Dock Road
once more and buy another bird to replace the departed ;
but Mr. Jamrach had sold them all, and I was com-
pelled to return home as I had gone, that is as far as
Bourkes were concerned, for I believe I seldom saw
my friend Anton without carrying away something in
the shape of a bird, or birds, from his establishment.

Altogether my short experience with these pretty
Parrakeets very much impressed me in their favour, in
spite of my bad luck with them, for the hen languished
after the death of her mate and died in about three
months from the date of my buying the pair, and
about the same number of weeks after her loss, for

12

178 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

which she was inconsolable : I had introduced a
fine cock Budgerigar to her, but she would have nothing
to say to him, nor, I must admit, did he evince any
great desire to form a better acquaintance with her.

The time of year was favourable, and the birds were
to all appearance healthy, so that I am utterly at a
loss to account for their premature death, no less than
I am to offer any plausible explanation of the accident
that befell the male.

Scientific name: Euphema bourkii.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

or PeacVfaced

I HIS is an African species, from the Gold Coast and
thereabouts: at first sight it seems to bear a
striking resemblance to the well-known Red-faced Love-
bird, which is one of the oldest inmates of the foreign-
bird aviary ; but on a closer inspection, there will be
found to be several points of difference.

To begin with, the Peach-face is decidedly the larger
of the two, and the mask that covers his face is of a
delicate peach-bloom tint that is much prettier than
the fiery- red one that marks the more familiar bird.
Point number two, it is extremely doubtful whether
the Red-face has ever been bred in confinement, but
the Peach-face nests freely in cage and aviary, and has
been reproduced to the fourth generation at least, it
not further, and that, too, without any apparent
deterioration, which is unusual among cage-birds of
foreign (exotic) origin, not even excepting the entirely
hardy Cockateel. Thirdly, the Red-face is a stolid,
quiet, undemonstrative bird, but the Peach-face is noisy,

i8o FEATHERED FRIENDS.

self-assertive, and I might almost say quarrelsome and
aggressive; but when all has been said and done, he
is a very charming little creature, and the great difficulty
with regard to breeding is to secure a real pair, for
there is so little outward difference between the sexes,
that even the most experienced fancier, professional or
amateur, is apt to make a mistake. In the case of the
Red-faced Love-bird, the male can be readily distinguished,
not by the extent or depth of colour on his face, which
is a sign of age, and not a differentiating mark of sex,
but by the deep black hue of his under wing-coverts, those
of the hen, at any age, being yellowish green. It may
be that the same distinguishing feature exists in the
case of the Peach-face, but if so I am not aware of it.
The bill of the latter is greenish white in colour : that
of the Red-face, on the contrary, is orange.

My "pair," for which I paid a long price, for they
were much dearer then than they are now, turned out
to be two hens, and yet they used to feed each other,
and act so that I believed them to be male and female.
They made a nest, for these curious dwarf Parrots
really do make a comfortable nest for the reception of
their eggs and young 'ones, in a hole of some kind, it
is true, and that in the funniest way.

When the hen has decided upon a suitable site for
her future dwelling, she goes to some tree with soft
bark that will strip off easily, such as a willow, and
with her powerful mandibles will peel away several

THE R OS Y- OR PEA CH-FA CED L O VEBIRD. 1 8 1

strips of two or three inches long and about a quarter
of an inch wide, which she carries to her nest-hole,
not in her bill as nearly all other birds do, but thrust
in, lengthwise, among the long feathers that grow on
the lower part of her back, and nearly overlap her
tail ; and when she has collected as many of these
scraps as she thinks constitute a load, she flies off with
them to the place of her choice and, bustling in, disposes,
according to her fancy, of such as have not fallen off
during her flight. The pieces that she loses by the
way she never notices again, but proceeds at once to
strip off some more, until the nest-hole is lined as far
as she deems it necessary.

When both my birds began to carry bits of bark,
etc., on their backs into the nest, it was likely that
both were hens, but when twelve eggs had been found
in it, and all clear, there could no longer be any doubt
about their sex, and the question arose, should one
of them be got rid of, or should males be obtained
for them both?

They were such strong, healthy birds, that it was
decided to adopt the latter alternative, but, as it
happened, there were no Peach-faces in the market
just then, and one or two amateurs who had some for
sale privately were uncertain as to the sex of their
birds, which they would not guarantee, so the first
project fell through and instead of buying more, I sold
the two I had and have not since replaced them.

1 82 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

One other point of difference I remember exists
between this bird and the Red-face : the latter is delicate
and will soon succumb to a moderate amount of cold,
whereas the Peach-face is comparatively hardy and,
providing it has a comfortable place to sleep in, can
be wintered here with safety out of doors, which is
rather curious as both species come from almost the
same part of Africa.

A friend of mine tried to obtain mules between a
hen Peach-face and a cock Red-face, and at one time
there seemed a probability that he might succeed, but
he did not, though I do not remember exactly why.

The scientific name is Agapornis roseicollis.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Pennant's

I HIS is a fine handsome bird, not quite as large as
the King Parrakeet, but much more brilliantly
coloured. At the same time I cannot say that I am
very greatly enamoured of it, for although it will
whistle fairly well, and even learn to say a few words,
I do not think it is particularly intelligent, and every
specimen of the species I have had to do with has,
sooner or later, developed an unfortunate habit of
feather-biting, and this of course soon destroys its
appearance, which, after all, constitutes the bird's chief
attraction.

I have tried it indoors, out-of-doors, in cage and
aviary, and do not, on the whole, feel inclined to have
anything to say to it again, for although undeniably
handsome, I might even say magnificent, looking at
the creature's plumage only, it has nothing else to
recommend it, especially as it chatters incessantly in

184 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

a shrill and monotonous way that is peculiarly aggra-
vating. It is, therefore, unnecessary to describe it,
especially as an illustration is given ; moreover, it is
well known.

Scientific name: Platycercus pennantii.

PENNANT'S PARRAKEET.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

(JcUlaicle

IF there is not much to be said in favour of the Pennant,
there is still less to be urged in recommendation of
its near relative the Adelaide Parrakeet, which bears
the same relationship to it that the Palliceps does to
the Rosella, and it must by no means be confounded
with Edwards' Parrakeet, which is a distinct species,
but is nevertheless occasionally called the Adelaide.

Some years ago Jamrach (A. H.) had a large con-
signment of Adelaide Parrakeets, of which I acquired
a couple, although I had no great admiration for them,
for they seemed to me to be merely a kind of " washed-
out" or faded Pennant, so I had them for the sake
of saying I had had them rather than for any other
reason, but I did not keep them long, especially as
they soon began to strip off their feathers.

Some time afterwards I bought a pair of so-called
Pennants through an advertisement; they were said to
be moulting, and when they arrived, I found them
mere Adelaides and confirmed self-multilators with

1 88 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

scarcely a couple of dozen feathers between them !
Nevertheless I kept them for a few months, and
grotesque-looking objects they were, covered with grey
down only; when winter came, like the ant in Lafon-
taine's fable, they succumbed to the cold, although
kept in a comfortable bird-room indoors with many
other more delicate species that, happily, were not
troubled with their infirmity.

Other amateurs have similar complaints to make, and
my advice to such as have not tried this or the last
species is simply, "Don't."

A flock of Pennants, or of Adelaides — and they go
about in little companies of from 15 to 20, flashing
by in the full glare of an Australian noon, when the
sun is scorching overhead, and the locusts are shrieking
themselves hoarse and everything else deaf — is a sight
to be seen and to be remembered, but it is better, I
think, to leave them there amid their gorgeous, sub-
tropical surroundings, than to import them into this
"cold and cheerless land, where gum-trees languish
and mimosas fade, and fern-trees droop their feathery
fronds and die", unless, perhaps, they were to be lodged
in a hothouse, where I am strongly of opinion that
"the game would not pay for the candle".

The scientific name of the Adelaide Broadtail is
Platycercus adelaidse.

CHAPTER XL.

I His is a very different kind of bird from the last,
not as showy, perhaps, but immensely more desirable
as a pet in every respect.

It is a native of Western Australia and sufficiently
common there, but not often imported. It is said to
be delicate and difficult to preserve in confinement,
and to a certain extent this is true, but once it has
become acclimatised and used to the new surroundings
and conditions of life to which the inhabitants of Britain
have to conform, the Pileated Parrakeet is not one to
look behind it.

It is quite correct that the various specimens that
have made their appearance at the Regent's Park
Gardens from time to time did not stay there
very long, but that is not much to go by. I know a
lady who possessed one of these birds for fifteen years
and then it succumbed to old age and nothing more,
and I had, or preserved, in perfect health and condition
another for nearly as long, when I was obliged to get

190 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

rid of it, but " for no fault", as ladies say of their
cooks in the advertisements in the Times, and during
all that time, sufficient to test the endurance of any
bird, it enjoyed the most robust health, and remained
in "the pink of condition", moulting regularly and
easily every year.

My specimen was a female, and a remarkably quiet
bird, but vivacious nevertheless, which sounds somewhat
paradoxical, but what I mean is that it never screamed or
made disagreeable noises, though it was lively and active,
and extremely fond of carpentry, for which reason, to
save the perches in its cage, a piece of soft wood was
always kept fixed up, on a level with the topmost
perch, across one corner of its abode, and when it was
not eating, bathing or sleeping, Pilate, as we called the
bird, shortly, for Pileated, v/as busily engaged in making
minute chips of the piece of timber in question.

When let out of "his" cage — we always used the
masculine pronouns when speaking of Pilate, although
really the bird was a female — "he" would take a
rapid flight several times round the room and would
then alight on the top of an old-fashioned mirror that
stood over the mantelpiece, the top of which, by
degrees, was converted into splinters, until at last
the paramount authority in the dwelling rose in arms
and decreed that such devastation should no longer be
permitted.

Poor Pilate was accordingly condemned to banish-

THE PILEATED PARRA&EET. 191

ment to the garden-aviary, but appeared to be so
supremely miserable there that the sentence of trans-
portation had to be speedily revoked, and the bird and
cage were reinstated in their former place, the over-mantel
being left to take its chance ; and, indeed, for my part
I was strongly of opinion that the gradual absorption,
or disintegration, rather, of the fantastic adornments (?)
that had surmounted it in the earlier stages of its
existence, was an advantage to it and not a disfigure-
ment: but tastes differ, of course, and in this case it
was agreed that they should continue to do so.

As years passed over his head, Pilate became some-
what troubled with what the French term embonpoint,
not corpulency exactly, but what may be termed com-
fortableness, which stands about half-way between the
Gallic term and the Teutonic - wohlbeleibtheit, a com-
pound expression that is much too long for general
use, seeing that the term of human life is limited.
Ay, Pilate grew decidedly "comfortable" as years
passed on, and latterly when he was let out for exercise
he would "puff and blow like a grampus", as they say
at sea, where a little imagination goes a long way, and
does duty for a great deal of the same quality of the
mind on shore.

Once I purchased a young companion for Pilate,
the best-looking specimen out of a consignment of ten
or a dozen head that Jamrach once wrote me word he
had just received from Perth, W.A. ; when they reached

192 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

his place, he informed me, it was impossible to conceive
anything more horrible than the picture they presented,
poor things 1 so I suspect he obtained them cheaply.
However, Anton was not the man to let grass grow
under his feet, or to sit down and cry for spilled milk,
so he turned to and by the aid of plenty of soap and
warm water soon made the birds as presentable
as was, under the circumstances, possible: but they
had been shamefully neglected during the voyage and
the best in their case was bad.

When I saw the poor creatures, I was not impressed,
but Jamrach picked out the best-looking one of the
lot and I took it home with me, thinking that Pilate
would be charmed to meet a young fellow country-
bird of his again ; but he was not, indeed he treated it
with profound indifference and refused to recognize the
stranger as a kinsman.

My new acquisition, however, did not live very long
to trouble anyone, and the four guineas I had paid
for it were lost to me and my heirs for ever, but I
did not regret them: I had made my speculation, it
had failed, and there was an end of it.

Pilate was an exceedingly frugal bird and lived
mainly on Canary seed, of which he consumed a fair
quantity; he was very partial, however, to fruit, and
was particularly fond of grapes, which he would hold
up cleverly in one foot, and suck until every drop of
juice had been abstracted, from which I inferred, as

THE PILEATED PARRAKEET. 193

well as from the fact that he would also suck any
flower that was given to him, that in his native country
he and his fellows subsist, at least partially, on the
nectar of the blossoms of the trees and shrubs indigenous
to those parts.

Pilate was a very clean bird, and took great care
of his plumage, bathing regularly every morning in
his cup as soon as it was filled afresh, and of course
emptying it, by splashing it all about as well as over
himself, but when it was refilled he never soiled it a
second time.

One of his most remarkable peculiarities was the
care with which his dung was always deposited in the
same place. This may have been an idiosyncrasy, but
if a habit of the race it is certainly a very curious one.

As the species is seldom met with I will describe
it in full, premising that the specific name Pileatus
has been bestowed upon it in consequence of the cap
of deep crimson that covers the top of the head. The
cheeks are yellow with a greenish tinge; the wings
and wing-coverts as well as the back of the neck, the
back and the two long central tail-feathers are rather
dark green ; the rump is yellowish-green in the female
and orange-red in the male ; the breast and belly are of
a delicate shade of lavender with a slight purple tinge ;
the vent is red and the inner tail-feathers are lilac
with white tips, and much paler on the under than
on the upper surface. The bill is light horn-colour,

13

1 94 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

and the legs and feet are grey. The tarsi are short,
indicating arboreal habits.

Take it for all in all, 1 have never come across
a bird that I prefer to the one under consideration,
namely the Pileated or Crimson" Capped Parrakeet,
commonly described as Platycercus pileatus, though a
better name for it is Porphyrocephalus spurius, for it
differs in many respects from the typical Platycerd.

CHAPTER XLI.

Reel-fronted

I HIS is another very nice bird, which I am sorry to
hear is becoming rather scarce in its own country,
and is, consequently, but seldom imported now. Like
the rest of the Parrots and Parrakeets that have their
home in the " Southern Britain", this species is mainly
terrestrial in its habits, hence its tarsi are long and it
hops and runs on the ground with much grace and
agility, but it is an indifferent percher. It has a curious
trick of scratching with its feet on the ground after
the manner of the Gallinacese.

The general colour of the plumage is bright grass-
green, but the flights are dark blue and there is a
narrow band of vivid scarlet across the forehead just
beyond the insertion of the upper mandible. In size it
about equals the Rosella, but its tail is longer and
more pointed.

There is so very little difference in outward appear-
rance between the sexes, that it is difficult to pick out
a pair from among a number of these birds ; however,

196 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

the female is rather the larger of the two and has a
slightly narrower red frontlet.

When I went to purchase a pair in East India Dock
Road, there were quite a number of them together in
a large cage in the back yard, and I left it to the im-
porter to pick me out a male and female, if he could.
When he had secured the birds, he said, with his
usual frankness: "I have done my best; I think they
are a pair, but I cannot guarantee them."

Well, I took them home and turned them into a
compartment of my large garden aviary, where they
passed the remainder of the summer and the following
winter, which was a severe one, if my memory serves
me rightly; but they suffered no inconvenience from
the cold, and never took the slightest notice of each
other. In the early part of the following summer the
Parrakeets were transferred to a friend, in whose aviary
they at once paired and brought up a brood successfully.

This first attempt of theirs was soon followed by
another, and yet another with equally brilliant results,
so that I was forced to the conclusion either that my
aviary did not come up to the birds' ideas of the fit-
ness of things, or that I had been unduly hasty in
assuming that they would not breed in confinement.

Moral, for aviarists under similar circumstances :
Patience.

My pair were extremely fond of oats, which they
preferred to any other kind of grain, and [this partiality

THE RED-FRONTED PARRAKEET.

197

of theirs, I believe, is the cause of, and excuse for, the
war of extermination that is being waged against them
by the colonists in New Zealand.

The call of this species is sufficiently loud, but it

THE RED-FRONTED NEW^ZEALAND PARRAKEET.

is sweet and not by any means unpleasing to listen
to, and although my pair continued to be "as wild as
hawks" while I had them, I have heard of others that

198 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

have been perfectly tame, and were even taught to
speak a few words.

In a cage, however, I cannot fancy that such a
lively active bir*d could be entirely happy and con-
tented, and were I again to be possessed of some of
them, I should do as I did with the others, namely,
turn them out into as large an aviary as possible,
where their swift flight, and quick movements on the
ground, no less than the curious Sparrow-like way in
which they jump, or hop, among the branches of the
trees, is extremely interesting and amusing.

The scientific name of the Red-fronted New Zealand
Parrakeet is Cyanorhamphus novae zelandia.

CHAPTER XLII.

Golcien--rieacUcl
of Nero

I HIS pretty little bird, which is about the same size
as the Turquoisine, is also a native of our Anti-
podean Islands, and is even less common than the
preceding, for which reason it is of very rare occur-
rence in this country, so that the chance of acquiring
one of them by exchange was immediately taken ad-
vantage of.

When the bird arrived it looked too small almost
to be lodged in an ordinary Parrot cage, but as I had
no other place for it just then, there it had to go ; but
the bars did not confine it long, for it immediately
stepped between them as easily as it would have done
through a six-foot doorway, and careered wildly round
and round the room until it had quite exhausted itself,
when it dropped down helpless in a corner.

Before I could secure the truant, "Cetewayo," a big
black tom-cat of ours, which I did not know was
present, had seized the poor bird in his powerful jaws
and although it was promptly rescued, the poor little

200 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

thing had received such injuries in the back and sides,
that I felt sure it must die.

I placed it in an ordinary Canary breeding-cage in
a quiet corner, well supplied with food and water, and
left it, thinking it would be dead before morning. But
no, in spite of the formidable hurt it had received, the
bird made a rapid and complete recovery, and in three
weeks from the time of the scuffle, during which it
had lost the whole of its long tail, it reproduced
another, and was as well and "perky" as ever.

It was an exceedingly pretty, inoffensive little crea-
ture, green as to its general colour, but with a narrow
band of red on its forehead, succeeded by a wider
one of a golden yellow that reached to the middle of
the top of the head. The eyes were reddish-brown,
and the bill pale lead-colour; the long tarsi and the
toes were bluish-slate-grey. The breast and the rest of
the under parts were yellowish-green and the shoul-
ders blue.

It had a very sweet voice, but ultimately came to
an untimely end, poor thing, owing to its long claws
becoming entangled in the nest of a Weaver-bird,
where it died before its sad predicament was discovered.

Scientific name, Cyanorhamphus auriceps.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Parrot.

I His, of course, is the Parrot of Parrots, of which I
have had so much to say elsewhere that a few
words will suffice to dispose of it in the present place.
That the Grey Parrot is phenomenally clever or ca-
pable I question very much; it varies a great deal,
and although some individuals are very accurate
mimics and evince a large capacity for the imitation not
only of human speech, but of other sounds, and even
of the actions of persons and animals, such birds are
above the average and not by any means to be taken
as typical members of their race, which includes a
large proportion of mere inconsequent chatterers and
screamers.

Strange to say, I only became possessed of a Grey
Parrot a few years ago, when a friend brought me one
from the Gold Coast, the history of which I have re-
lated in full already, and must not touch upon here,
nor can I refer, even incidentally, to the other individuals
of the same species which I have since possessed or

204 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

had under personal observation; but must confine my
remarks to matters that are altogether new in this
connection.

One of these birds, however, that had been personally
imported by an acquaintance of mine was distressingly
wild, and one of the most ear-piercing screamers that
I think I have ever come across, so much so indeed
that the person who had charge of it, and who had
never failed before to tame the wildest Parrot, could
do nothing with it.

One day a friend of mine asked me, as I was in
the way of hearing of such things, if I could tell him
where his wife could rely on getting a good Grey
Parrot that would not die in two or three weeks after
being purchased.

I replied that I could, but it was very savage, and an
awful screamer, although it had been nearly a year in
this country.

My friend was not deterred by this account of the
Parrot's shortcomings: all he wanted to be sure of was
that it was healthy, which I could safely guarantee,
so he bought the creature for a couple of guineas and
took it home to his wife, who could tame anything,
he declared.

A month or two afterwards I met him again and
inquired how the Parrot was getting on.

It was quite well, my friend said, but such a brute 1
they often wished it was at the bottom of the Red

THE GREY PARROT.

THE GREY PARROT. 207

Sea 1 but it was in beautiful condition and they were
not without hope of subduing it in the course of time,
at least his wife was.

"Do you really think she will be able to tame it?"
I asked, knowing the creature's idiosyncrasy so well.

"Oh! yesl" he replied confidently, "if she don't, it
will be the first time she has ever failed 1" and
doubtless he knew.

A year or so passed and we met again. "How
about the Parrot?" was one of my inquiries.

It was a perfect success : as tame as a Dove, and as
for talking ! there never was such a bird. It could say
and do everything.

This was gratifying intelligence, seeing that I had
recommended my friend to buy it, and it was encour-
aging, too, for people who owned unruly Parrots. So
I made some inquiries about the method adopted to
secure such a desirable end, but was met by generalities
— "She has a way with her, you know," meaning his
wife, and I remained as wise as before.

The secret, however, I imagine, may be summed up
in two words, namely, Patience and Perseverance.

One moment; pray do not buy Grey Parrots, or
even a Grey Parrot, O gentle and kind-hearted Reader,
for such are almost certain to be already smitten with
a dire disease, and will almost certainly die. We used
to read of 80,000 of these birds passing through the
hands of the dealers in a single town, but how many

208 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

of them were alive twelve months after their arrival?
I have made many inquiries, and have failed to hear
of even a single bird that survived for more than six
weeks, and the researches of a distinguished bacteri-
ologist have conclusively proved that this appalling
mortality is due to the presence in the blood of the
birds of incalculable myriads of a microbe whose
multiplication is encouraged, if not, indeed, initiated,
by crowding and insanitary surroundings.

The infection is most persistent, too, and it stands
to reason that the places to which these poor moribund
creatures are brought on arrival must be centres of
contagion, and even healthy birds put there will con-
tract the disease and quickly die like the others.

As there is, and can be, no doubt that the importers
have the remedy in their own hands and, by refusing
to buy birds that are brought over in an insanitary
manner, can stamp out the disease, it can only be
concluded that they do not choose to do so, for the
deplorable mortality goes on, and the Grey Parrot race
is really threatened with extinction.

One ingenious dealer has said that the cause of
death is powdered glass given to the birds by
the negroes before embarkation, but that is simply
nonsense and the merest excuse.

What is wanted is a licensing system and adequate
supervision by a competent staff of sanitary inspectors,
for the ship-fever can be stamped out, if it cannot be

THE GRE Y PARRO T. 209

cured once it has been unfortunately acquired, and it
ought to be put a stop to for the sake of our boasted
humanity, which, it is much to be feared, does not
penetrate very far beneath the epidermis of a good
many people who lay claim to its possession.

All bird-shops should be periodically inspected,
and all bird-dealers required to take out a license.

The scientific name of the Grey Parrot is Psittacus
'erithacus.

CHAPTER XLIV.

Senegal Parrot.

I HIS is a smaller bird than the Grey Parrot, and
comes from almost the same part of Africa as the
latter, with which, of course, it bears no comparison in
regard to docility and capability for learning to talk,
or in the matter of personal appearance. It is hardier,
but occasionally falls a victim to the deadly ship-fever
(shop-fever, too) that carries off so many unhappy Greys.

The top and back of the head and the upper part
of the neck are jet black ; the face and throat are
black dashed with grey; the breast, back and wings,
with the exception of the flights which are black, are
green; the belly, vent, and under tail-coverts are yellowish-
orange; the under surface of the short square tail is
black, and the bill is of the same colour; the eye is
grey and the feet and legs lead-colour.

It is not a difficult bird to keep, but the sexes are
much alike, and it is therefore difficult to secure a
pair; otherwise, as these Parrots are quite hardy and
breed freely in captivity, they would probably be more
frequently kept than they are. However, I found them
uninteresting in the house and soon sent them away.

The scientific name is Pazocephalus senegalus.

CHAPTER XLV.

Half-moon (£onure.

[HIS is a pretty little South American species, very
hardy, and extremely engaging; it is not very
frequently imported and is sometimes confounded with
the Sun Parrakeet, from which, however, it differs
immensely in appearance ; for whereas the latter is
clothed in a plumage of various shades of yellow and
orange and has no green about it except a little on
the wings and tail, the Half-moon is nearly altogether
of that colour, but has an orange-yellow frontlet of a
crescentic shape to which it owes its English name.

I had a pair of them for some time, but wanting
room for something of more importance, they had to
go. The female is a little smaller than the male, and
her "crescent" is of a paler tinge than that of her
mate.

Some of these birds that I have seen could talk very
prettily, as well as whistle, so that on the whole I am
inclined to think favourably of them, although I did
not give mine an extended trial.

Instances of their breeding successfully in confinement
are on record.

The scientific name is Conurus aureus.

CHAPTER XLVI.

seeing these birds for the first time would
feel inclined, as I was, to think they were perfect
little angels; and so they are, but not angels of light
by any means. On the contrary, I should say that if
birds ever did, they hailed from quite a different place
from the cherubim and seraphim, for they are perfect
demons, most wantonly and horribly cruel and ferocious.

It was in this way: my friend Jamrach once received
a large consignment of them, of which I had the pick.
He declined to say if they were a pair, but they
proved to be so, for he had a kind of intuitive sense
that always led him, or nearly always, to select a male
and female. Well, I brought them away, and put
them out in the aviary, where they seemed to make
themselves perfectly at home at once.

They were not at all shy, but, like all the Conures,
extremely noisy, which did not matter as far as my
own household was concerned, for we could not hear
them indoors, and my immediate neighbours at that
time were long-suffering people who did not complain
unnecessarily.

Very well, matters went on pretty comfortably until

THE WHITE-EARED CONURE. 213

the spring, though I occasionally picked up a dead
bird in the enclosure, or found one there with a broken
leg or wing. I blamed the Budgerigars or the Ring-
necks for this, however, and never once suspected the
pretty little Conures, who seemed to be always engaged
in caressing and feeding each other, taking little or no
notice of anything else.

No doubt: sweet innocent little creatures I Well,
spring came at last, and with it my Cockateels' fancy
turned to housekeeping, so they cleaned out a barrel,
and laid their usual complement of eggs, upon which they
sat until hatched in due season ; two little ones making
their appearance on the eighteenth day, and the remaining
three on as many successive days afterwards.

When the youngest member of the little family was
about two days old, I heard an awful commotion in
the aviary and thinking that a cat must have invaded,
or was contemplating an invasion of its privacy,
I seized a stick and calling the dog rushed hastily to
the rescue, but there was no feline foe about the
premises.

The old Cockateels, however, kept on flying about
screaming in a distracted manner and a fearful row
was proceeding from the covered-in house where the
barrel containing the young ones was suspended. I
opened the door, and the first things I saw were the
two eldest of the baby Cockateels lying dead upon the
floor, while a tremendous noise and skirmishing were

2 1 4 FEA T HER ED FRIENDS.

going on inside the barrel. I put my hand in and was
severely bitten, but I pulled out the culprit, the Conure
I always thought was the male of the pair, when the
other attempted to escape, but I barred her passage
and caught her, too, though not without receiving
another sharp bite.

I felt so angry with the wretches that I had a good
mind to end their murderous career by then and there
dashing them on the ground, but I refrained and carried
them indoors, where I put them into a disused cage
that had at one time been occupied by a couple of
Canaries and then I returned to the scene of the
massacre.

The two young Cockateels were quite dead, and on
examining the others, I discovered that one of them
had nearly the whole of its bill gnawed off, another
had lost all the toes on one of its feet, and all three
were bleeding from a number of wounds scattered
impartially over the whole of their poor little fat naked
bodies.

I put the sufferers back into their barrel, and in time
they recovered, but were always cripples, for the beak
and toes were not replaced. How the one managed
to eat with the stumps of her mandibles, and the other
to perch without any toes on one foot was a marvel.

It was wanton wickedness on the part of the Conures
that made them attack the poor little Cockateels, for
there were several other precisely similar barrels in

THE WHITE- EARED CONURE. 215

the aviary, and all were unoccupied ; but nothing would
serve the spiteful White- ears but to attack and oust
the offspring of the most harmless of Parrakeets, my
favourite Cockateels.

I soon disposed of the Conures after that, and when
a friend afterwards sent me a couple of dozen of the
fiends to mind for him, I promptly returned them, and
I fear offended him by so doing, but I could not help
it, for I did not want a repetition of the tragedy.

All the same, as I have since thought, I acted a
little hastily, for I could have put the Conures into
another compartment by themselves, but it was too
late when the idea occurred to me, and what had been
done could not be undone.

In size the White-eared Conure is about half as big
again as a Budgerigar, consequently the young Cockateel
victims were actually as large as, if not larger than,
their assailants, and how the latter managed to lift the
fat heavy squabs out of the barrel and throw them
down on the floor, has always been a puzzle to me.

These wicked, spiteful little Parrakeets (the White-
ears) are extremely pretty, so that Mr. Lydon's portrait
of one of them in "Parrots in Captivity" does them
no more than justice. The head to the top of the
neck is brownish-grey; the upper half of the cheeks,
chestnut-brown ; and the ear-coverts white. The throat
and breast are grey with white lacing to each feather;
the point of the shoulder is red; the wings and back,

216 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

green ; but the flights are blue. Across the centre of
the breast is a green band, and the belly and vent are
scarlet; the thighs are green, and the tail, reddish-
brown, darker on the upper than on the under surface.
The bill is dark horn-colour, with a black tip to the
upper mandible; the eye is brown, and the legs and
feet grey.

When they have room to disport themselves these
birds are exceedingly vivacious, but in a cage they are
dull and sleepy.

The scientific name of the White-eared Conure is
Conurus leucotis.

CHAPTER XL VII.

I HIS curious bird, which is also known by the name
of Monk and Quaker Parrakeet, and to the Germans
by that of ''The Young Widow, on account of its
sprightly manner," as Dr. Karl Russ somewhat unfeel-
ingly remarks, is without doubt the most interesting
member of the great Parrot Family, and for this
reason: it is the only one of them that builds itself a
nest of sticks in a tree.

Of course, a good deal of speculation might be
indulged in here, and attempts might be made, more
or less successfully, to account for its departure from
the established custom of the race; or possibly for the
extreme "conservatism" that has caused it to cling to
the original mode of Parrot nidification common at one
time to them all — for every question that can be
debated has two sides, although our good friends the
Evolutionists will only admit of one. But this is
scarcely the place for such a controversy; enough if,

2i8 FEATHERED FRIENDS,

the question having been mooted, the discussion shal
be carried on elsewhere.

It is a plump bird, of the Conure type, but made
into a separate genus along with one or two others.
Green is the colour of the upper surface, excepting
that of the flights, which are blue, but the lower parts
are a light dove-grey. It has a curious habit of puffing
out its cheek feathers so as almost entirely to hide
the light horn-coloured bill. It is chiefly arboreal,
and its penetrating voice is heard almost unceasingly
from dawn to dusk. Out of doors this is of less con-
sequence, but in the house it prompts to murder of
the offender.

Yet the Quaker Parrakeet is capable of learning to
talk very prettily, and will become exceedingly tame
and confiding, so that its shrill cries are really a
misfortune, for it never quite renounces them. It is
perfectly hardy, being a native of the southern parts
of South America, though it is commonly spoken of
as the Monte Video Parrot or, more correctly, Parrakeet.

An individual of this species that I kept in my
aviary for a considerable time took possession of a
small flat box that was fastened up about eight or
nine inches below the wire roof and that had been
intended for the use of a pair of Turtledoves : this she,
or he, for the sex of that particular bird was never
satisfactorily determined, proceeded to convert into
a nest by improvising a roof over, and sides around

THE GREY-BREASTED PARRAKEET. 219

it, interlacing the twigs with which she had been sup-
plied as cleverly as any trained basket-maker could
possibly have done, while the bottom of the box was
also filled up level with the sides by a variety of bits
of stick twisted together in the most intricate and
extraordinary manner. The original opening into this
piece of basketry faced the east, but the Quaker
apparently found that it admitted too much air, or
cold, and deliberately closed it, substituting for it one
that looked towards the south.

Naturally, when this elaborate piece of workmanship
was finished, I looked for some use being made of it,
perhaps even the laying of a few eggs, barren of course,
but interesting as specimens nevertheless ; but nothing
of the kind ever made its appearance, and the bird did
not even sleep in it, though many hours of daylight
were spent there and she kept on adding to and taking
from the structure without apparent rhyme or reason.

Eventually when I got rid of the bird, the nest was
taken down and its component parts, less the box
itself, were found enough to twice fill a good-sized
bucket.

The Quaker is not uncommon in the market, but,
curiously enough, while I had the nest-builder in my
possession I could not meet with a mate for her, though
I inquired in every direction, even at the "Zoo," where
they had three, but not one to part with either for
cash or in exchange.

220 . FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The lady from whom I acquired my bird gave as
her reason for parting with it that she was afraid it
would corrupt her old Grey Parrot and teach it to
scream, which the Young Widow was well qualified
to do. I forget now how long, exactly, I kept the
creature, but a matter of two or three years, I think,
during which it lived in the outdoor aviary without
ailing; and there, I thought, it did not scream
as much as it had done during the first few days of
our acquaintance, when I had tried to keep it indoors ;
or it may be that its yells were not so noticeable in
the open air as they certainly were in the house.

The scientific name of the Grey-breasted, Monk, or
Quaker Parrakeet is Bolborhynchus monachus.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

£ineolafed

I HIS little bird (it is not much bigger than a Budger-
igar) is rather curious than pretty. The general
colour is malachite-green, plentifully laced with black,
so that the head and back seem to be wholly of that
colour.

It is a native of South America and very seldom
imported. For the specimen that I have possessed, I
am indebted to the kindness of an occasional corre-
spondent who had bought it at Bournemouth along
with its companion, of which last I subsequently made
a /. m., but do not now remember the cause of death.
When acknowledging the receipt of my report of the
case, the lady was good enough to make me an offer
of the survivor, the male evidently, for it was much
darker than the female I had dissected. I accepted,
gratefully, and in due course the bird arrived, none the
worse for its long journey from the North of Ireland,
and, as I had been advised to "keep it warm," I

222 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

placed it, in the first instance, in the kitchen, where,
I soon found, it was not at all in its place.

At first, I was not sure of the bird's identity, as
I had never seen one of the kind before, either preserved
in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington
(where, by the bye, the authorities seem bent on
revolutionizing avian nomenclature, and establishing
one of their own, though on what principle, or lack
of principle, I cannot guess) or elsewhere ; but from
its appearance, and a comparison with the description
given by Russ, I soon came to the conclusion that the
bird was the Lineolated Parrakeet, readily dintinguished,
as Dr. Russ remarks in his great work " Die Papageien,"
from all other Parrots and Parrakeets by the deep
black of its back and head and neck, and its green
wings.

I then referred to the "List" of the London Zoolog-
ical Society and found that the name occurred there,
but I have a recollection, not quite distinct though,
that the birds so denominated in that place were
quite different from my Parrakeet, and were rather a
small variety, or local race, of the Quaker, and not at
all the bird we are now considering, which I have
certainly never met with in the Parrot House during
a tolerably lengthened acquaintance with that Chamber
of Horrors, as a recent writer has, not altogether
inappropriately perhaps, named that feathered Pande-
monium.

THE LINEOLATED PARRAKEET. 223

Be that as it may, my new acquisition was quiet,
generally speaking, but nevertheless it had a particu-
larly aggravating shriek at times, that reminded me
not a little of my old Nest-builder, although of course
it did not possess the ear-piercing intensity that
characterised the note of that performer, which was no
more than might have been expected considering the
disparity in point of size between the two birds.

Ultimately I gave the Lineolated one away to an
acquaintance who was anxious to exhibit something
out of the common at the first show of the United
Kingdom Foreign Cage-bird Society, which was about
to be held at Preston.

Whether the bird was so shown, and whether or not
it was awarded a prize, are points in its history that
have escaped my recollection.

It was a tame, gentle little creature, living entirely
on Canary and millet seed, although once or twice
when I offered it some fruit it held it up in one foot
aud sucked the juice daintily, but rejected the pulp.

Scientific name: Bolborhynchus lineolatus.

CHAPTER XLIX.

(Jmazon Parrot.

I HIS is a splendid creature, about the size of a Grey
Parrot, and one of the most intelligent birds I
have ever met with: an opinion that is not solely
based on my acquaintance with the specimen I had
the privilege of owning for a time, but on several
more that, from time to time, have been brought under
my notice.

As I have already related "The Butcher's" history
pretty fully in another place, I must not enter into it
too minutely here, but may briefly say that I picked
him up for a trifle at a local bird-shop where I heard
him shouting, but not in an unpleasantly loud voice,
the words, "Buy, buy: buy, buy, buy!" in emulation
of the butcher next door : hence the name that was
bestowed upon him when I brought him home.

"The Butcher's" repertoire, as I soon discovered,
was more varied than select, and he very frequently
blurted out the most objectionable of the expressions
he had acquired at the most inconvenient seasons.

THE FESTIVE AMAZON PARROT. 225

For example, if he anathematized his eyes and limbs
when there was no one present but ourselves, well, it
did not much matter; but when he repeated the remark
with the substitution of "your" for "my" in presence
of the Vicar, oh dear! it was shocking 1 and the dear
man very pardonably exclaimed : " What a dreadful bird I "

But, after all, poor "Butcher" had no idea of what
he was saying, or took it for granted, perhaps, that
whatever he heard proceeding from the lips of a
superior human being must be all right: how was he
to discriminate between a Minister of the Gospel and
an infuriated carter whose vehicle had stuck fast in
the slough of Rye Lane?

How indeed? but my reverend friend was not
unreasonable, and ultimately smiled and forgave "the
Butcher" for his reprehensible, language in considera-
tion of the marvellously life-like manner in which he
uttered the mysterious words: "It's just like a rabbit 1"
an expression he had only heard once and whereby
hangs a tale, not to speak of a tail, the particulars of
which have already been made public.

The general colour of the Festive Amazon is green :
his bill is light horn- colour, and just above it is a
narrow band of red immediately succeeded by one of
light green, and that by another of a lilac shade which
reaches to the middle of the head. The cheeks are
brilliant verditer green; the flights, blue; and the rump
(or lower back) red.

15

226 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

It is quite hardy, and the one I had was exceed-
ingly gentle and tame ; more, it never screamed, which
was, indeed, a blessing. As regards food, it preferred
hempseed, but would eat maize, Canary-seed, monkey-
nuts and oats: biscuit and fruit, of course, that goes
without saying. Sometimes it was allowed a morsel
of cake, or of boiled potato, and would eat them, as
I suspect it would have done anything else that was
offered to it.

I kept this bird a considerable time and then it had
to go, to make room for others, for I had not un
limited space at command, and when I bought a new
bird, one of the old ones had, necessarily, to give way
to it. However, as he fully deserved, "the Butcher"
found a comfortable home, but he changed his name,
I was given to understand, and was ever afterwards
known as "the Doctor"!

The scientific name of this eminent favourite of mine
and of everyone else's who has had the pleasure of
his acquaintance is Chrysotis f estiva.

CHAPTER L.

Parrot.

I HIS is my Prince of Parrots, and without exception
the very nicest bird that I have ever been privileged
to have the custody of for a time. Others may have
been more accomplished or have been adorned with more
brilliant colours, but not one was so tame and gentle
(with me at all events, if not with everyone), so full
of tricks and fun, as this one.

Not but that Nature has been prodigal of gifts to
it, in the shape of adornment, for it is really a hand-
some bird, if the tints of the plumage are not gaudy
or glaring. In size it about equals the last two, and
I consider it a marvel of our Great Mother's taste in
the combination of colours.

The top of the head is creamy white; the occiput,
cheeks, and ear-coverts, are whitish-grey, with a
white line running down the centre of each feather ;
instead of being rounded like those of most birds in
the same part of the body, the head- covering of this
bird is acuminated, each plume ending in a narrow

228 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

point. The breast is of a deep vinous-red with a
purple subtint running through the red, and every
feather is edged with blue. The same arrangement
prevails with regard to the long nuchal feathers which
the Hawk-head has the power of raising at will into a
kind of Elizabethan ruff round its neck. The back,
wings and under tail-coverts are an exceedingly rich
and brilliant green, but the flights are black, as are
also the side feathers of the tail and the whole of its
under surface. The prominent naked space round the
eye is lead colour, but the iris is brown, and a merry-
looking, twinkling, intelligent eye it isl The legs and
feet are dark grey, and the nails black.

To give a complete history of these remarkable
birds (for I have been fortunate enough to possess two
of them at the same time) would simply mean to give
them a whole volume to themselves, and just at present
I have many pressing claims upon the space at my
disposal, not to speak of the time requisite for such
an undertaking. I may, however, remark here that the
females of the Hawk-headed Parrots have none of the
creamy white on their heads, but are covered or capped
with grey, the feathers being extremely short and
inserted closely together into the scalp: in other
respects the sexes are outwardly indistinguishable.

These birds, which really have a very accipitrine
appearance, are extremely gentle, playful, amusing and
lovable, but they have an innate sense of fun and

THE HAWK-HEADED PARROT.

229

humour and delight in teazing a person who shows
fear of them. For instance, "Pinto," my female
Hawk-head (so named in honour of the Brazilian

HAWK-HEADED PARROTS,

gentleman who made me a present of her) would ruffle
up all her feathers, hiss, and run round the table in
apparently a frantic endeavour to reach an old lady

230 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

who sometimes called to pay my wife a visit, and had
in some way or other offended the Parrot — probably
by making some remark reflecting on its personal
appearance, for Pinto had lost the tip 4of her upper
mandible in some unexplained manner, and the lower
one had, consequently, grown out beyond it, making
a projecting, shovel-like excrescence that did not add
to the poor creature's attractive appearance, and being
a female, the bird was, naturally, a little sensitive on
that score.

But it was only make-believe, for Pinto would not
have injured a hair of the old lady's head, had the
two happened to come into mutual contact a hundred
times a day: on the contrary, they would have made
up their little difference at once, and have been fast
friends ever afterwards. But our acquaintance was
timid and Pinto enjoyed giving her a fright and seeing
her run away. Such a huge creature running from
such a diminutive one was an exquisite joke, the fun
of which was keenly appreciated by the Hawk-head.

In the same way "Joey" (the male of my pair) had
his likes and dislikes, and among the latter was my
youngest son Charles, who had teased the bird
over and over again, and especially delighted in
poking the Hawk-head with a stick, when the Parrot
would swing from his top perch by one foot, spread
out his wings and tail, ruffle all his feathers, and scream
" Murder 1 au secoursl", a confusion of tongues to

THE HA WK-HEADED PARROT. 23 i

which he was partial, and would then look, exactly
like an animated bundle of coloured rags.

Charley had been warned, but without effect, and
one day "Joey" happened to be out of his cage when
the boy entered the room, whereupon the Parrot, deter-
mined to wipe out old scores, and charmed to find an
opportunity for doing so, flew at him and after him
into the passage, whither the boy had fled shrieking,
and was just in time to bury his head in the cook's
apron, she having emerged from her kitchen to see
what was the matter.

"Joey" was bent on having his revenge, and mis-
took his enemy, or made a wide shot, and seized on
the cook's bare arm, nearly carrying away a piece of
it! The good woman, however, who was very partial
to the bird, took it in excellent part, and merely
remarked as she bound up her injured limb: "It's
better it should ' be my arm than Master Charley's
face, and I know he (Joey) didn't mean it."

The Parrot was really very fond of the cook and
tried, by kissing and caressing her and chattering to
her in his most tender tones, to show her that it was
all a terrible mistake and that nothing was farther from
his intention than to hurt her.

The scientific name of the Hawk-headed Parrot is
Deroptyus accipitrinus.

CHAPTER LI.

Ringdove.

\AjHO has rambled 'on a bright spring morning
through the leafy dales and glens of this in
many respects highly favoured island of ours, and has
not paused for a moment to listen to the vibrating
sounds, repeated at brief intervals, that descended from
the tree tops all around, as if a legion of invisible
sprites (for not a bird is visible) were calling to each
other in sport, " Coo, coo-coo, coo-coo-coo, coo," or
maybe, when the note is every now and then inflected
more deeply than usual, in anger or perhaps in defiance
of each other?

And who, a fortnight or three weeks later, when
taking his walks abroad in a copse, or plantation of
larch, beech, chestnut, or even of fir or oak, has failed
to notice, here and there, a slight platform of sticks,
carelessly laid on some horizontal branch at a varying
height of from 15 to 30 feet from the ground, be-
tween the interstices of which a couple of white eggs,

THE RINGDOVE. 233

or the breast of the sitting bird, or perhaps the callow
young have been distinctly visible from below ?

The sounds and nest alluded to are those of the
Ringdove, or Wood Pigeon, a native bird that is
known by a variety of local names, among which are
Queest, Woodquest, Cushat and Wood Dove.

THE RINGDOVE.

As it is a truly handsome and most presentable
looking creature, the Ringdove attracted my notice
very early indeed in my bird-keeping career, but for a
long time my desire to include it in my collection
remained ungratified, though every winter I used to
see it hung up in the poulterers' shops in considerable
numbers, some of which I even occasionally helped to

234 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

reduce, and found them excellent eating, save on the
rare occasion when I chanced to engage a veteran
whose pectorals defied mastication, even after a pro-
longed course of stewing.

At last — what an infinite world of meaning is con-
densed into those simple words! — at last, I saw an
advertisement offering a pair that were said to have
been hand- reared, for the very modest sum of half-a-
crown. I wrote to the address given, and in due course
received the birds, which were all and indeed more
than all my fancy had painted them, for they were in
magnificent condition, but, unfortunately, rather wild.

I turned them out at once into my aviary, which
was a decidedly unwise thing to do, and they presently
began to dash themselves about until they made their
handsome foreheads bleed by knocking them against
the roof, and that although I had immediately run
away and left them alone to settle down and recover
from their alarm.

After a while they grew calmer, but not, as I
afterwards found out, until they had completely exhausted
themselves by their silly and unreasoning antics.

There was plenty of food scattered about, and
presently some one who was on the watch at a dis-
tance in a window saw them alight on the ground and
drink, their exertions having no doubt made them feel
thirsty; then they hurriedly picked up a few grains of
corn and directly afterwards recommenced their mad

THE RINGD OVE. 235

flight up and down the aviary, greatly to the conster-
nation of the rest of the inhabitants, which until then
had never seen anything so big with feathers on, except the
chickens in another enclosure further down the garden,
and with which they had never been in actual contact.

After some time the watcher at the window saw the
Doves settle themselves down again and compose their
weary wings to rest on a perch, but the first time
anyone went near them, off they were again, flapping
wildly round and round until they dropped from sheer
exhaustion: and so this unpleasant state of affairs
continued for several days, by which time the silly
Doves had quite disfigured their heads, and I very
heartily wished them back again whence they had come.

By degrees, however, they got a little, a very little,
tamer and instead of rushing wildly about when I
entered the aviary of a morning to feed them, would
take refuge in the covered-in portion of the enclosure,
where they would remain, hiding, until the coast was
clear again.

They were very handsome birds, I must say, and
much larger than any of the domestic Pigeons, except
the Runt, and perhaps some of the bigger breeds of
Pouters. They measured one foot five or six inches in
length and were stout in proportion, with small finely-
shaped heads, long straight bills, and bright eyes that
sparkled like beads of jet.

The female could scarcely be distinguished from her

236 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

mate except when the two were together in the spring,
when the male developed two little protuberances on the
base of his upper mandible, which lasted during the
season and gradually decreased in size as the months
wore on, disappearing in winter, when only a very
trifling difference in size enabled me to tell which was
which, and then only when the two birds were sitting
or standing side by side, for apart it was impossible
to differentiate them.

Notwithstanding the above evidence that the male,
at all events, was not quite insensible to the genial
influence of the season, my Wood Pigeons never made
the least attempt to build a nest, though I kept them
for two or three years, nor did I ever hear them
"coo", or make any sound except a slight hissing
kind of grunt when they were disturbed.

They were very peaceable and never interfered with
any of their companions, although some of the latter
were extremely unkind to them. A rascal of a Bengal
Parrakeet, for instance, led them a sad life, darting at
them savagely and hanging on by his beak to its long
tail whenever one of them made its appearance in the
outside aviary to feed, so that at last nothing but the
direst pangs of hunger would force them to come out
and face the tyrant, and the hen Dove became so
weak that she was unable to rise from the ground.

Fortunately I discovered the hardships to which they
were subjected in time to save their lives, and banished

THE RINGDOVE.

237

the Bengalese savage, when the Doves came out again
to eat and bask in the sun; then they got so tame
that they would actually sit on the perch and let me
stand close to the wire and look at them for a couple
of minutes before they flew away. It is just possible
that they might, in time, have become quite familiar,
but I parted with them to an amateur and am ignorant
of their subsequent history.

As I have said, they were very handsome birds,
their necks glistened in the sun with all the colours
of the rainbow, and their entire plumage was covered
with the kind of "bloom" one sees on plums and
Java Sparrows and some other things: this became
them, and added much to the general attractiveness of
their appearance.

The bill was of a pale orange colour, but the cere
almost white; the iris reddish-yellow, and the bare skin
round the eyes blue. The top of the head and the
back of the neck were greyish blue, and the sides of
the latter part reflected metallic tints of green and
purple on either side of the broad patches of creamy-
white that partly encircled the neck. This band, or
"ring", consisted of fourteen feathers on either side
and presented a conspicuous mark that is not to be
seen on any other kind of Dove. The throat was a
brownish-purple fading into light greyish-blue on the
breast and sides; the back was bluish-grey tinged with
brown at the upper part and a light greyish-blue below.

238 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The wings are large for the size of the bird, and
are moved by relatively enormous muscles, so that the
flight is extremely powerful and capable of being
sustained for a considerable length of time: the meas-
urement across the extended pinions is about two feet
four inches from tip to tip of the flight feathers. The
wing-coverts, lesser and greater, are dark bluish-grey,
but the first four or five of them on either side are
white and form a spot that is more discernible when
the birds are flying than when at rest. The primaries
are greyish-black, with a narrow white margin on the
outer aspect of each; the tertiaries are a dark bluish-
grey, and the tail, which is long and broad, consists,
when perfect, of twelve feathers slightly rounded at the
tips ; the central pair are bluish-grey with darker ends,
and the remainder are of a duller shade at the base,
lighter in the middle, changing into black at the
extremities. The under surface of the tail is greyish-
black, traversed about the centre by a band of bluish-
grey. The legs and feet are purplish-red and the nails
dark brown.

Although there are instances recorded of these birds
becoming quite tame and familiar with their owners,
even to the extent of eating from the hand and alighting
on the shoulder of the person who fed them, neither
the pair to which I have been referring, nor others of
the same species that I subsequently had were ever
even moderately tame, though possibly they might

THE RINGDOVE. 239

have grown so had I paid them more attention, for,
if the truth must be told, after having actually kept
them and carefully observed their habits, my partiality
for the Ring Dove decreased, until at last I was glad
to give them all away.

The Cushat, Woodquest, Ringdove, or Wood Pigeon^
as the bird is indifferently named, feeds principally
when roaming at will through its native woods on
beech-mast, acorns, and any seeds it can find lying
about, and it is only in seasons of dearth that it does
harm to the farmer's crops by levying a light toll that
might well be granted the birds in consideration of
the good they do at other seasons.

Occasionally they will build in gardens, even close
to a house, but only when the experience of generations
has taught them that they will not be molested. In
captivity, however, they will seldom breed, or even
pair, and although a single male will occasionally form
an alliance with a female of one of the domestic
varieties of Pigeon, the union is invariably unfruitful;
one or two instances to the contrary given, circum-
stantially, by continental authorities are explainable
by the fact of the supposed "White Pigeon" being an
albino specimen of the Ringdove.

In Paris these birds have taken up their abode among
the trees in the public gardens, as they have in other
cities and in our own St. James's Park, where a few
summers ago I counted thirty head of them, some quite

240 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

young, walking about with the utmost unconcern on
the grass or on the footpath; one of them, indeed,
was so unconcerned I had to push it out of my way
with my foot.

I am unable to positively assert as the result of
personal observation that these Doves divide the task
of incubation and that of feeding the young, but judging
from the habits, in both respects, of all the other
members of the Columbine Family I should say they
do, and that Mr. Morris was absolutely correct when
he asserted that such was the case, in opposition to,
or contradiction of, someone who denied the fact.

At first the young Ringdoves are covered with a pale
primrose coloured fluff or down, and have their eyes
closed, the eye-ball being covered by a skin or film
that falls off in the course of a few days. When full
grown they bear a general resemblance to their parents,
but are duller in colour and lack the iridescent tints
that so marvellously add to the decoration of the
latter : they are fully grown when three months old
and are then much esteemed as delicacies for the table.

Reverting to the dietary of these birds, I am able to
affirm that they, at least occasionally, eat snails, for I
have seen the molluscs (and not very small ones either)
taken from the crop of some of these birds that had
been shot in the autumn ; but I have no knowledge
that they "occasionally partake of a diet of worms"
as Mr. Morris declared they are in the habit of doing.

THE RINGDOVE. 241

I find, on reference to the Reports of the London
Zoological Society, that the Ringdove has bred in their
gardens, but the place in which the birds were confined
is of large extent and contains trees, on one of which
the nest was built, and it would, I fancy, be quite
hopeless to expect them to nest in any ordinary garden
aviary.

On the whole the Ringdove is a much nicer bird
when flying about at liberty in its native plantations and
woods than when confined, and for the reasons indicated
in the foregoing paragraphs, I cannot recommend
any amateur to try to domesticate it.

A word of protest against the practice of giving the
accepted name of this species, " Ringdove," to the
semi-reclaimed Barbary Turtle, may fitly close an
article on the bird whose scientific designation is
Columba palumbus.

16

CHAPTER LIT.

Triangular-spotted Pigeon.

I HIS is a large handsome species with which, however,

I have not had a great deal to do, but what I have

seen of it has impressed me favourably, and I should

not be sorry were an opportunity of renewing our

acquaintance to present itself.

It is a native of Western Africa and sufficiently
common there, but it is not very frequently imported.
The specimen of the species that I had in my posses-
sion some few years ago was a male; his general
colour was dark greyish-blue, deeper on the upper
than on the lower surface of the body, and on the
sides he had a number of small white spots of the
shape that has given to him his usual English name.

In size he equalled a Homer and somewhat re-
sembled it in shape; his wings were strongly developed
and no doubt he was naturally a strong flyer, but one
of the pinions had been injured in some way and my
bird could not rise from the ground.

I never heard him "coo," but he used to give

THE TRIANGULAR-SPOTTED PIGEON. 243

utterance to a series of little peevish grunts when
anyone approached him, and at the same time he
would try to strike the intruder with his sound wing.

Altogether he bore a greater resemblance in voice
and manners to the members of the genus Columba
than he did to the Turtles, and at the "Zoo" he is
considered to be the Ethiopian representative of the
former.

I have not heard of any instance of the bird being
bred in this country, but see no reason why it should
not, as it feeds on corn and seed like ordinary
Pigeons, but evinces a marked preference for the small
round yellow maize, of which it will consume a very
appreciable quantity in 24 hours; so that it is not at
all difficult to comprehend the enmity of the Guinean
agriculturist, which has led to a considerable diminu-
tion of the bird's numbers in its native land.

I think it also probable that the Triangular- spotted
Pigeon will partake of fruit as well as corn, for, like
the frugivorous section of its congeners, it develops a
pair of protuberances on its upper mandible during the
breeding season.

The scientific name is Columba guinea.

CHAPTER LIII.

I HIS pretty and diminutive species is, notwithstanding
its English name, found on the Eastern and
Western coasts of Africa as well as in the Cape Colony,
specimens having been brought from Djedda in Arabia
as well as from Namaqualand and all intermediate
parts to Table Bay.

In size it about equals an English Skylark, though
its long tail and slim body make it look larger. It is
one of the prettiest and most attractive of the smaller
Doves; that is to say, the female is, for the male is
decidedly disfigured by the black mask that covers his
head and face. The little hen's dress, however, is
simply perfection, combining as it does in small com-
pass so many delicate shades of grey, and at the same
time she is quite free from the black face-marks that
distinguish the cock and utterly spoil his appearance;
which is a pity, for he is a very charming little fellow,
and is devotedly attached to his spouse.

How these miniature Doves conduct themselves in

THE CAPE DOVE. 245

their native country I cannot pretend to say, for I
have never been there, but in an aviary in our own
island, nothing could be better behaved than they are.
Not that the Cape Dove cannot hold its own, in a
general way, for it mostly can; but, as far as I have
been able to determine it never interferes either with
other Doves or with the members of its own particular
family circle, although the latter may be an extended one.

These birds appear to pair for life, and are devotedly
attached to each other, spending much of their time
in mutual feeding and endearments.

The nest, at least in an aviary, is a very slight affair
indeed, consisting of a few sprays of heather or tufts
of grass loosely piled together on any convenient spot,
such as the deserted nest of one of the larger kinds of
Doves, an agglomeration of sticks laid by the owner
among the boughs of a "Christmas-tree," on a flat
palm-like branch, or on the lid of a fruit or other
basket, the preference being usually given to the last-
named situation, probably as affording a surer foundation
for the nest than any of the other natural or artificial
arrangements of twigs, &c., already mentioned.

As happens with most of the members of the family,
the Cape Dove, also known by the names of Masked
and Harlequin Dove, lays two white eggs about the
size of those of a Lark, but rounder, and the young
are, usually, male and female, which mate together
when adult, and pass the remainder of their lives in

246 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

close companionship, without any degeneration taking
place among the offspring in consequence of in-breeding.

In our changeable climate, the nesting plans of this
little Dove are not altogether a success, at least not
after a certain point, for at first they appear to be car-
ried on smoothly enough, but just at the moment when
success seems to be about to crown the efforts of the
parents, misfortune steps to the front and failure and
disappointment ensue.

The tiny couples pair, build their inartistic nest, lay
their two eggs, upon which they each take a turn with
praisewortly assiduity after the manner of their race,
and when the young are hatched, which occurs on or
about the seventeenth day of incubation, attend to
them with laudable care and attention, and all goes on
as merrily as the proverbial marriage ball. Well fed,
well nursed, and, generally speaking, well looked after,
the young ones thrive apace, and by and by begin to
sprout their feathers. Then comes the crucial time, not
only for the expectant aviarist, but for the birds them-
selves, for the old as well as for the young.

As long as the latter are quite little and helpless,
featherless and blind, the devotion of the parents to
them is exemplarly, and they brood them continuously;
but as soon as they get big enough to wriggle about
on their natal platform, and to exchange their baby
covering of yellowish down for quills that look like
bristles, they either tumble off the flat nest, and are

THE CAPE DOVE. 247

killed by the fall, or die from cold before their mis-
fortune has been discovered; or, if they escape such a
calamity and live to reach the age when the parental
instinct warns the old birds to cease brooding them at
night, they succumb to the chilling effects of the night
air on the very first occasion of their being left to
sleep alone, and it is only during exceptionally warm
weather that they are fully reared, that is to say, when
located out of doors in this country.

Should any person feel impelled to inquire, Why in
such a case has it never been attempted to breed them
in the house ? I can only reply that possibly it might
be done, though, as far as my experience with them
goes, both personally and by report from trustworthly
sources, the Harlequin Dove has not made the slightest
attempt to nest when confined in a cage even of consid-
erable dimensions indoors, but as soon as they are
released and restored to comparative liberty in a garden
aviary they at once commence to build.

It may be that in a well-appointed place where the
temperature necessary for the well-being of the young
ones could be maintained by means of hot water pipes,
or hot air flues, there would be no difficulty in rearing
them to maturity, but there are few amateurs so for-
tunately situated in this respect and the birds have to
take their chance without the aid of artificial warmth.

Once they are acclimatized the Masked Doves may
be wintered out of doors in a well-sheltered aviary, it

248 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

is said; but the better plan, I think, is to take them
in by the middle of October, returning them to their
fair weather quarters in May ; for although they might
be able to resist a certain amount of dry cold, damp
soon overpowers them, and if they do not die at once,
they are liable to contract arthritic rheumatism, and
become so crippled as to be unable to fly ; or else
their toes get contracted and they cannot walk or even
stand without evidently suffering acute pain: therefore,
in the interests of humanity, it is well not to expose
the poor little things to the risk of catching such a
terrible complaint.

The young Cape Doves differ considerably in appear-
ance from their parents, and are more or less speckled
and spotted, but when about six months old they
assume the adult plumage and are indistinguishable
from their elders.

In the matter of diet, they are easily accommodated,
their sole food consisting of Canary-seed and white
millet, on which they will do very well ; they are fond,
however, of pottering about in short grass, where I
have repeatedly seen them picking up small insects,
for in common with most Doves and Pigeons they are
not strictly vegetarian in their habits, but devour a
good many flies and grubs, and especially small snails,
which last they may, possibly, mistake for stones, as
these are swallowed whole.

I fancy these miniature Doves might in a suitable

THE CAPE DOVE. 249

situation be readily taught to go out and return, par-
ticularly if the experiment of leaving their door open
were first tried when they had young ones nearly ready
to fly and not liable to suffer from an absence of an
hour or so on the part of the old birds.

One of my Harlequin hens once got out of the
aviary by darting over my head as I was going in to
feed them and immediately winged her way to some
adjoining tall trees, in which, it being evening at the
time, she passed the night, and next morning I found
her sitting on the wire roof of her abode conversing
with her mate through the bars.

I soon caught and restored her to his society, but
must say that he appeared to be considerably ruffled
in temper for he began to call out "Hoo hoo" in an
angry tone, and chased her about the place in a manner
I had never seen in his case before.

Her flight was really a very pretty spectacle, for
her short rounded wings and long tail, which latter
was spread out fanwise to its full extent, caused her
to progress through the air with an undulating motion that
was extremely graceful, so that I felt almost reconciled
to losing her for the sake of the pleasure of watching
her as she flitted across the garden to the poplars, on
which she ultimately alighted ; and there she received no
very cordial welcome from the Sparrows which were the
usual tenants, and which seemed, to judge by the uproar
they made, to be greatly annoyed at her intrusion.

250 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The evening was far advanced at the time, as it
happened, when the little thing made her escape, and
darkness soon put an end to the undignified scolding
and unneighbourly conduct of the Sparrows, which,
however, I expect was renewed at day-break or before
it next morning; and this would account for the return
of the truant to her former domicile as well as to the
mate she had left behind her, for no doubt the Sparrows
resented her coming among them and drove her away
from the vicinity of their valuable nests.

It is almost superfluous to observe that these small
and extremely defenceless birds had better be kept in
an aviary by themselves, or at least in a compartment
of one occupied by no tenants of greater size, or armed
with more formidable beak and claws, especially if at
all combatively inclined; but a dozen or two ol them
will agree together perfectly well, or they may be
lodged with some of the smaller kinds of foreign birds,
such as Waxbills, that are in general favour with
amateurs.

This reminds me that I once was witness of a rather
comical incident, when a pair of Harlequin Doves were
utterly routed and put to flight by no less formidable
an antagonist than an impudent little cock Zebrafinch.
The pair of Doves had been sunning themselves for
some time in the outside or flight portion of the
aviary, and having had a good "air bath" wanted to
go inside in order to have something to eat, and one

THE CAPE DOVE. 251

of them, the hen, flew up on the landing-board that
led into the " dining-room," or "refectory" of the
establishment, but the Zebrafinch barred the way and
the Dove was afraid to venture, whereupon her mate,
seeing her predicament, bravely hastened to her as-
sistance. Pushing past his partner with a little "hoo"
that evidently meant, "let me try/' he confronted
the valiant defender of the pass, but was resolutely
resisted by the tiny Finch, who immediately sounded
his "penny-trumpet" and showed such a determined
front that the Dove thought discretion would be the
better part of valour and at once retired from the
contest, leaving the audacious little Australian in posses-
sion of the field; so that I was obliged to intervene
and dislodge him before the Doves were able to have
their dinner.

Two or three, occasionally four, broods may be
looked for during the season, and no doubt all the
young might be reared if provision were made for
replacing the parental heat as soon as instinct had
taught the old birds that their progeny should be left
to shift for themselves at night. But unless this can
be done, probably not one of all the baby Doves will
live to reach maturity, unless, as I have said, the
weather happen to be exceptionally fine.

A lady aviarist of my acquaintance residing in
Hampshire was successful in fully rearing some of these
Doves during the summer of 1887, but only after

252 FEATHERED FRIENDS,

having had the mortification of losing a number of
chicks exactly at the moment when success appeared
certain ; however, as aviarists are mostly thankful for
very small mercies, her last good fortune quite recon-
ciled her to all the preceding losses and disappointments*

The note of the Cape Dove is rather peculiar, resem-
bling the syllable "hoo" or "heugh" frequently repeated,
rather than the well-known cooing of so many other
members of the family. The intonation, however, varies
a good deal according to the temper the bird is in at
the time of calling, as well as to the season of the year.

The female I have found to be a very quiet, silent
little thing, and have never heard her give utterance
to anything more than a little grunt ; but the young
ones hiss from a very early age, if in a scarcely audible
tone, and lift up their ridiculous-looking apologies for
wings with as much assurance as if they were as big
and strong as a Goura.

I have occasionally seen two males pretend to quarrel
with each other, but it was not an exciting contest to
witness, and, as a rule, subsided after a second or two,
the rivals betaking themselves off in different directions,
apparently well satisfied with the result of the duel.

The scientific name of the Cape Dove is (Ena
capensis.

CHAPTER LIV.

or

I HIS is another charming species that has done fairly
well in my possession, although it has not bred
in the aviary in which I had placed it, very comfort-
ably, too, as I imagined. Other amateurs, however,
have been more fortunate in this respect, and have had
individuals that nested and fully reared their young,
and perhaps if I had given mine a more extended trial
I might have been equally successful, but my Barred
Doves, like many more of my birds, had to make
room for fresh arrivals. I did not therefore have an
opportunity of fully testing their capabilities in the
matter of nesting; though I suspect that the Doves I
had were all males, for they nested, that is built nests,
but I never found any eggs, nor could I detect the
slightest difference of marking on the plumage.

The Barred, Zebra, or Striated Dove is larger than the
Harlequin, but his tail is much shorter than that of the
latter species, so that although really of stouter build he
looks less than the latter, but tested by weight the

254 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Harlequin is only about half that of the Barred Dove.
As regards its temper the species now under consid-
eration does not quite come up to the standard of
perfection to which the Cape Dove has attained, but
as the former is a native of India that is not so very
surprising, for I have always found that the African
inmates of my aviary were more amiable and better
natured than those that hailed from "the gorgeous
East", and infinitely more peaceful than our English
birds, at least with very few exceptions among the
latter, the Ringdove for instance, as I have already shown.

If the Barred Dove is less gentle than its Masked
congener, it is also more delicate, for although I believe
some amateurs have successfully wintered it out of doors,
I was quite unable to do so, and had to bring mine in
in October, which, as I now recollect, was the reason
why I had to send them away, not having room to
dispose of them in the house.

They seemed to feel the cold very acutely, and
looked so thoroughly miserable in the garden aviary
that I had no alternative, but had to take them out of
it at once, for although they were only exposed to the
sudden cold for a day or two they appeared quite
benumbed by it, and I do not think they would have
survived a much more protracted exposure to the
inclemency of the commencing winter. What then must
have been their sufferings and ultimate fate had I steeled
my heart against them and left them out to take their

THE BARRED OR ZEBRA DOVE.

255

chance against the wind, and rain, and frost, not to
speak of the fog of November and the following months
to the end of March, which last I feel certain they
would never have reached alive?

The favourite food of the Barred Doves is white
millet, so called, but really sorghum, and Canary-seed,
but they will also eat hemp, though I do not think it

ZEBRA OR STRIATED DOVE.

agrees with them, being too heating, and should not
be allowed, except perhaps a little in the winter by
way of stimulant.

Spray millet is good and wholesome by way of change,
but my Doves did not appear to care very much for
it. I have seen them try to swallow some of the
small yellow maize but not very successfully, and I

256 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

am afraid there might be a little difficulty in digesting
it, unless, indeed, it had been previously boiled, or softened
by soaking in warm water. Indian dari some of them
appear to relish, but it is an acquired taste; however,
if they do take it, it is very good feeding for them.

Green stuff of all kinds they are extremely fond of,
but I think they prefer groundsel, especially when it is
in full flower, when they greedily pick off and devour
the buds. Lettuce seems also to be liked, but it has
a tendency to make them drowsy, especially if they eat
the stalks.

With regard to small worms, snails, and insects or
all kinds, they will take as many of them as they find,
and in their wild state, I imagine, consume a large
amount of animal food. Ants' eggs, supplied to them
as bought, seem to be thoroughly enjoyed, and they
will pick up the larvae and pupae of the common flesh-
fly (blue-bottle) as greedily as they will their favourite
millet, or indeed with even greater gusto.

Very likely I did not allow mine a sufficiency ot
insect food and that in consequence they did not lay:
I would advise a liberal supply. If insects could
not be obtained, probably a little lean meat, shredded
or chopped up finely, might have an equally bene-
ficial effect; it is recommended by a French naturalist
and aviculturist, M. Rousse.

The scientific name of the Barred or Zebra. Dove is
Geopelia striata.

CHAPTER LV.

Turtle

W LTHOUGH long accepted as the personification of all
that is sweetest and most charming in Nature,
as well as the emblem of lovers in the "spooniest"
stage of their existence, the Turtle Dove, or Turtledove,
is nevertheless not by any means the paragon of per-
fection it has been called by the poets of all ages and
climes, but a very fallible creature indeed.

My own experience with it is far from favourable,
and yet I feel bound to admit that the bird is not
without its good points. In confinement, in a cage, it
is very nice, becomes very tame, and has rather an
agreeable voice ; but turn it loose into an aviary of
any size, and it will behave in even a more idiotic
manner than its relative the Ringdove, than which it
will turn out wilder and more unmanageable: at least
such is my experience.

It is a pity this should be so, for the Turtle Dove is
a pretty creature, that is to say, as far as its personal
appearance goes; but "handsome is that handsome

17

258 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

does" is a proverb I am not prepared to dispute in
this connection.

The bird now under consideration is not much more
than half the size of the Wood Pigeon, it reaches our
shores in the spring, nests and rears its young ones
in our midst, and then takes its departure, prudent
emigrant that it is, to warmer climes on the very first
indication of the approach of our inclement winter.
As soon as the first leaves begin to assume the sere
and yellow tints of autumn this Dove commences
to get ready for its journey, and long before the last
remnant of clothing has dropped from the woodland,
is warmly ensconced in Egypt, Libya, Nubia, or even
in Italy and Spain.

In confinement the Turtle Dove is very impatient of cold,
and about November gets so benumbed and wretched-
looking that it has to be, or should be, taken into the house,
as I always did with those of which I had possession.

As in the case of the Wood Pigeon, so in that of
the Turtle Dove, ever since reading my Bechstein
"in days gone by," I had longed to possess a pair,
but many obstacles intervened to prevent the realisation
of my desire. Everything, however, it is said, will
come to him who waits, and at last I noticed an
advertisement in that most useful journal, The Bazaar,
Exchange and Mart, and put myself in communication
with a person who wished to dispose of one of the
birds in question.

THE TURTLE DOVE.

259

In the course of a few days after writing, I received
by rail a box, not much larger than a cigar-box,
which, had it not been labelled "Live Bird, with care,"
I never should have imagined to have held a living
creature. A dozen or so of gimlet-holes had been bored

TURTLE DOVES.

round the sides of the box and admitted a limited
amount of air and light into its interior for the use of
the prisoner, which I scarcely expected to see come out
of it alive. The box, or I should say its cover, was
fastened down with rather long nails, so that I had a
little difficulty in opening it, but at length I succeeded

260 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

and shall not soon forget the spectacle that presented
itself to my sight.

The poor Turtle Dove was certainly alive, but every
morsel of skin had been rubbed off the top of its head,
the lid of the little box was a mass of blood, and the
box itself nearly half- filled with feathers 1 I took the
unhappy captive out, and it did not move, for its eyes
were sealed up with clotted blood that had flowed
from the injured scalp: I got some warm water, bathed
the poor eyes and the bird opened them, feebly, looked
stupidly round it, as well it might, poor creature 1 and
shut them again, with an inspiration that sounded
uncommonly like a sigh.

I loosened my hold of the bird and it made an im-
mediate dash at the window, which it struck with such
force that it fell, apparently lifeless, to the ground. I
picked it up and found that it was only stunned.
I placed it in a cage and it presently began fe knock
itself about so frantically, perhaps from the pain of its
bruised head, that I felt tempted to wring its neck in
order to put it out of its misery; but I concluded to
wait, covered over the cage, and went away.

The next morning, the poor Turtle Dove's head
presented a sorry sight; the wound on it was dry and
black-looking, as if the skull had been seared with a
hot iron, but the wretched creature had eaten and
drunk and was evidently recovering. After a few days,
a crust peeled off the top of its head and I saw that

THE TURTLE DOVE. 261

the skin was partially united, although, of course, no
feathers would, or could, ever grow on it again, for
the poor thing had literally scalped itself.

After that I let the bird out into a small conser-
vatory, where it seemed to get on very well, for it could
hide behind the flower pots when anyone went near,
and it soon regained its health and vigour, but was so
horribly disfigured that I could not bear to see it and
so one day I took it across to the wood on the
opposite side of the common and let it fly away among
the trees, which it did with right good will, to my
great satisfaction, and that was the last I ever saw of
it, poor maimed creature !

I may add that I had agreed to give the former
owner half-a-crown for the bird, if, on receipt of it, I
was able to approve of its condition and appearance;
but when I sent him the blood-stained lid of the box
in which he had enclosed the Dove and explained that
owing to his careless packing the poor creature was
irreparably spoilt, he replied that I might keep and
do what I liked with it, as he would not have it back.

It will not, I fancy, be amiss to add here, that in
sending to any distance a bird that has a habit of
springing up from the ground, such as a Pheasant,
Quail, Dove, or Pigeon of any variety, the lid of the
box in which it is placed should always be padded
on the inside with some soft material. I generally
use a couple of newspapers for this purpose and

262 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

they answer very well when folded several times and
tacked loosely round the inner edges of the lid so that
they bulge down a little in the centre. Then, when the
bird bumps up its head it is not hurt as it would be
if it struck against the bare hard wood. A perch, too,
should always be provided in the box for such birds
as use one, and the food, instead of being scattered on
the floor where it soon becomes defiled by the prisoner's
excrement, should be confined in one corner by a
little piece of board a couple of inches high so as to
give room for a supply sufficient to last through the
journey and a little to spare. Some soaked bread
similarly fastened in the opposite corner will serve
in lieu of water, which cannot be conveniently
put in.

Between two opposite corners of the box a round
or square hole should be made large enough to admit
a sufficiency of both light and air, and this hole
should be protected by means of a piece of perforated
zinc nailed or screwed over it on the inside. In a box
thus fitted a bird may be sent quite safely even for a
long distance; it will travel comfortably and arrive
without a ruffled feather.

To resume : some months after the experience I
have related, a man who kept a bird-shop in my then
neighbourhood, called on me with a couple of extremely
nice-looking Turtle Doves in an old Parrot-cage. He
assured me that they were perfectly tame and would

THE TURTLE DOVE. 263

feed from the hand of the person who had brought
them up from the nest.

They certainly seemed to be as described, for they
allowed me to stroke them and even take them in my
hand without evincing the least fear, or showing any
sense of annoyance; but as to eating some corn I
offered them, "No, thank you", they positively de-
clined— but perhaps they were not hungry.

I inquired the price, and on being told that I might
become their owner for the ridiculously small sum of
four shillings sterling, I gave the man the amount and
at once transferred the birds to another and more
roomy cage, in which also they seemed to be quiet and
perfectly at home.

Had I left them there, all would, probably, have
been well, but I had a number of other Doves and
Pigeons in one of my aviaries in the garden, and con-
cluding that the Turtles would look very well among
them and form a pleasing combination with their
scarcely more brilliantly plumaged relations from foreign
parts, I turned them out one fine morning, about a
week after I had obtained them from the dealer.

I cannot determine if it was the smell of the fresh
air and of the flowers in the garden, or the sight of
the other Doves or of the plants in the aviary itself
that drove them wild, but my sedate pair of hand-
reared Turtles lost their heads at once on regaining
comparative freedom and as soon as they were released

264 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

from the cage, dashed furiously about, just as the
Wood Pigeons had done, or, I should rather say, a
great deal more wildly, and after banging their heads
against the wires until they were covered with blood,
fell exhausted on the grass, where they lay panting
for a few minutes, and then started off again on their
mad career.

Not knowing what to do, or how to stop the silly
birds from injuring themselves, I turned away and left
them alone, hoping they would settle down when they
found that there was nobody looking at them, but
later on I found that they must have been carrying on
their foolish game all day, for their heads were in
almost as sad a plight as was that of the first of their
race I ever had when I released him from his travelling-
box: so I went into the aviary, net in hand, and hav-
ing caught the pair of silly Doves, transferred them
once more to their cage, where after an interval of a
week or so their heads began to look better and indi-
cations of a renewed crop of feathers were plainly to
be seen in place of those that had been rubbed or
knocked off against the wire roof of the aviary.

What to do with the birds I scarcely knew ; I did
not want to keep them in the house, nor did I feel
inclined to try them in the grassed and planted aviary
any more, so after some deliberation I put them along
with the Wood Pigeons and the Parrakeets, where I
was glad to find that they behaved themselves a little

THE TURTLE DOVE. 265

better than they had done in the first quarters where
I had placed them.

I soon saw, however, that the male bird had injured
one of his wings so that he could scarcely fly, which
in one sense was rather an advantage, as it kept him
from knocking himself about, but the hen remained
very wild. After a time they both got more reconciled
to their life out of doors and their heads got quite
well, but the wing of the cock did not : on the con-
trary, it became worse and evidently gave the bird pain
for he let it droop and frequently pecked at the
swollen joint.

Whether the accident made him ill-tempered or noty
I cannot say, but he became very disagreeable to his
mate, and pecked furiously at the foolish big Ringdoves
whenever they went near him, but he would scuttle
away in a great hurry from all the Parrakeets except
the good-natured Cockateels, which he did not appear
to be afraid of.

I left the Turtle Doves out all that summer and the
hen recovered completely, but the cock did not im-
prove; and finding in November that the pair of them
seemed to feel the cold severely, I caught them and
caged them indoors again.

I do not now remember what became of them, though
I have an idea that I gave them away to someone,
but I am not sure — I know neither of them died while
with me.

266 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

The above little experience reminds me how superior
very often are the pleasures of anticipation to those
of actual fruition. I had longed, I was about to say
from time immemorial, but at all events for a long
while, to own a pair of Turtle Doves, and lo, when my
long-cherished desire was, after much waiting, gratified,
I was only too glad to get rid of my prize.

1 may have been unfortunate in my experience, no
doubt: in all probability I was, for Mr. Morris and
other writers give numerous instances of the great
tameness, docility, amiability and general desirableness
of these birds. Well, be that as it may, for my part
I have lost all wish to try them again, out of doors
at any rate, and although there is no telling what may
happen, I do not expect that I shall ever possess any
Turtle Doves again.

Nevertheless the bird is a nice bird, a very nice-
looking bird, and is a trifle bigger than the Barbary
Turtle, so often but so erroneously described as the
"Ringdove." The male Turtle Dove is about a foot in
length, of slender shape and weighs about six ounces
when in good condition. His legs and toes are bright
red, and his claws (nails) blackish brown. His beak
is grey, but the tip of the upper mandible is of a
brownish yellow colour, and very hard, while the
inside of both upper and lower mandibles is red.

He belongs to a numerous sub-family the members
of which all bear a general likeness to each other, that

THE TURTLE DOVE. 267

is in so far as they are all of slender build, have small
heads and long powerful wings well adapted for strong
and swift flight: the feet are well adapted for the
ground, if not as robust as those of the Pigeons proper,
and their plumage, in general, has more or less of a
ruddy tinge. The back of the neck is encircled by
a narrow band of black colour for the most part, but
occasionally, as in the present instance, spotted, dashed
or fringed with white.

Hybrids are not uncommon between the different
species that go to form the group, and the cross-bred
birds proceeding from the union of the Turtle Dove with
the Barbary Turtle are said by Bechstein to be fruitful.
I have, however, no personal experience on this point,
but judging from analogy, am inclined to doubt the
correctness of the report.

The plumage of the Turtle Dove is rusty-brown on
the upper surface of the body, but the feathers have
grey margins and black and cinereous spots in the
centre. The crown of the head and the back of the
neck are greyish-blue, and across the latter are placed
four black stripes with silvery edges. The throat and
the upper part of the breast are red of a vinous tinge.
The shoulders are black, but each feather has a rusty
margin which gives a mottled appearance to this part.
The flights are reddish cinereous grey.

The bird, indeed, is one that it is far from easy to
describe, and in different specimens there is by no

268 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

means uniformity in the disposition and arrangement
of the colours, some individuals displaying far more
brilliant tints than others, the duller plumaged birds
being, probably, young males or females, which last
are always a trifle less showy than their mates.

The seeds of trees, such as the pine, fir, larch,
beech, birch and alder, are greedily devoured by the
Turtle Dove, which will also pick up those of the red
poppy, the milk or sow-thistle and many others, as
well as snails and beetles, so that it is of much
benefit to the agriculturist and rids him of many
a fruitful crop of pernicious weeds, while the damage
done to flax, rape, peas andwheat is quite incon-
siderable.

These birds drink regularly about eleven o'clock in
the forenoon, and again towards evening, evincing a
decided preference for spring water, to obtain which
they will often travel a distance of more than a mile.

Nesting commences directly after their arrival, and
it is at least doubtful if the birds are mated when they
come over in April, or at latest in May. Under favour-
able conditions they have two or three broods during
the season, which lasts until August. The nest, a slight
affair, is constructed with twigs by both birds on a flat
bough covered with dense foliage and at a varying
height from the ground. Male and female share the
task of incubation and of feeding the young.

The Turtle Dove will, it is said, live for fourteen or

THE TURTLE DOVE. 269

more years in confinement, and is much more frequently
kept in Germany than it is in this country.

In the Eighth Edition of the "List of Vertebrated
Animals" of the London Zoological Society, hybrids
are recorded as having been produced in 1863 and
1867, between the Common Turtle Dove and the Barbary
Turtle. And a pair of the former had a pure-bred
young one in 1878 in the same Gardens, but nothing
is stated about the fertility or otherwise of the hybrids.

The males, says Morris, arrive before the females and
appear to pair for the season only.

The scientific name is Turtur communis.

CHAPTER LVI.

I His is a remarkably fine bird, and one of the most
interesting that I have ever kept. It has a noble
appearance, too, and is almost as big as the Wood
Pigeon. The head is bluish-grey, the back chocolate-
brown and the throat and breast greyish-vinous-red;
the legs and feet are vermilion.

The male and female are much alike but the latter
is somewhat the smaller of the two, and both have the
characteristic black band on the back of the lower third
of the neck that is common to the whole of the Turtle
sub-family.

The first pair of these birds that I had were given
to me, and not knowing anything about them, except
that they were said to be natives of some part of
Africa, I concluded, naturally enough, that they were
delicate and would require to be kept very warm in-
doors, so I put them in the largest cage I had at my
disposal, and there they moped all day, sitting with
their heads retracted into their breast, closed eyes and

THE C A MB AY AN TURTLE. 271

ruffled feathers, except when they were eating or fight-
ing, which they did pretty frequently, so that in spite
of their handsome appearance they were presently voted
uninteresting if not, indeed, a nuisance, and got rid of
at the first opportunity.

As it afterwards proved, I acted too hastily in the
matter, and had plenty of leisure to lament my precip-
itancy before I got another bird of the same kind. After
a while, however, I happened to hear of one that was
for disposal and secured it.

It turned out to be a male, and a remarkably fine
one, too. It was summer when he arrived, and, not-
withstanding my unfortunate experience with the Wood
Pigeons and the Turtle Doves, of which I have already
related the history, I turned him out at once into the
further aviary, which was then occupied, among others,
by a pair of Indian Green-winged Pigeons whose adven-
tures I reserve for a subsequent chapter, and, on the
whole, he behaved a great deal better than might have
been expected.

True, he commenced by attacking the Green cock,
and when that poor creature had been utterly discom-
fited, the Cambayan began to make love to the Green
hen, which discouraged his advances by every means
in her power, striking at him with her wing whenever
he attempted to go near her and uttering the most in-
dignant remonstrances that in my ears sounded like the
syllable, "Hoof, hoof", rapidly repeated, but which

272 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

doubtless were withering sarcasm, if one could but have
understood her language.

In order to restore peace I procured a hen Barbary
Turtle and introduced her to the Cambayan as the next
best thing I could do for him, seeing that it was im-
possible to obtain him a mate of his own race. She was
only about half his size, it is true, and looked very pale
beside the swarthy 'Moor, but in a short time she built a nest
and laid two eggs, on which the huge Cambayan sat during
the daytime and the little Laughing Dove at night.

As I had never seen the birds pair, or indeed take
the smallest notice of each other, I was naturally anx-
ious to see the result of their most attentive incubation,
which I feared would be nothing of more consequence
than a couple of addled eggs. In this, however, I was
agreeably disappointed, for at the end of seventeen days
I caught sight of a little black-looking thing in the
nest, and the next day it had a companion, and the
two turned out to be the offspring of the badly matched
pair, at least badly matched in point of size, for they
really were a most affectionate couple.

The young strangers grew apace but were by no
means pretty, for their shapeless bodies were covered
with dark, almost black down, and their complexions
could not be described truthfully as anything but swarthy.
When fully grown they resembled their father in ap-
pearance, but their mother in point of size, and were,
I judged from their manner, cock and hen.

THE CAMS A FAN TURTLE. 273

A second brood soon followed, and before these were
altogether able to feed themselves, a third, and during
the first week of the lives of these last a sad accident
took place that widowed the Cambayan and left the
callow Dovelets depending on his sole care.

Upon entering the aviary one morning I found the
poor mother lying, stiff and cold, with out-spread wings,
on the ground below the nest, and a subsequent exam-
ination of the remains showed that she had been ac-
cidentally choked while in the act of feeding one of the
little ones. These were so young I scarcely expected
them to live, but their father behaved nobly and fin-
ished bringing them up alone.

I afterwards tried to get him another mate, but failed,
for of several Barbary Doves that I bought as females,
not one was really a hen, and fierce fighting between
the birds was the consequence of each mistake.

Two of the hybrids were shown at the Crystal
Palace, but as they were the first of the kind that had
ever been seen there, they were, of course, ignored by
the "judges," who only noticed what they knew. How-
ever, someone bought them at the upset price (fifteen
shillings, I think) and I subsequently also disposed of
the other four, one of which at least, as I subsequently
heard, laid a number of eggs that were all barren, thus
proving the Doves to be sterile hybrids and not mon-
grels, which would have been fertile.

Failing in all my attempts to get a hen for the Cam-

18

274 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

bayan and commiserating his loneliness, I one day
bought a nice matronly Blue Rock Pigeon in Rye Lane
and introduced her to him, when he hailed her advent
with every demonstration of satisfaction.

At once the old fellow changed his note "Tis a pity,
so it isl" which since his widowhood, or at least since
his last children had grown up, he had been in the
habit of indulging in from early dawn till after dusk,
for another that resembled the words "Ha! hoo! hool
ha! hoo! hool" repeated a number of times as he
pranced about the aviary with fanned tail, bowing head
and drooping wings after my Lady Blue.

All his blandishments, however, were of no avail :
the Pigeon rejected every advance with scorn, and after
an interval of bootless courtship he resumed his inter-
rupted cry of "'Tis a pity, so it is!" which was cer-
tainly a very aggravating one when repeated so con-
stantly and in such a mournful key.

Sometimes he diversified it with another that
sounded like "You're a stoopid thing, hoo, hool" and
at last the neighbours complained of the annoyance
and I had to send the poor old chap away.

That I am not fanciful in my interpretation of his
cry, was proved by a lady asking me one day what
sort of Parrot it was in my aviary that was always
calling out "What a pity!" and his other expression
"You're a stoopid thing!" was equally unmistakable.

But I have anticipated a little. After a time my Lady

THE CAMBAYAN TURTLE. 275

Blue, proving herself to be utterly impracticable, for she
laid several eggs that were all broken when she fought
the Cambayan for trying to take his turn upon them, I
sent her away, and then his lamentations became so
continual and insupportable that he, too, had to go.

In his new home, which, I was glad to think, was a
comfortable one, he mated with a little white Japanese
Dove (so-called), by whom he had a numerous progeny,
not distinguishable, when grown up, from their half-
brothers and sisters, the offspring of his first little wife.

I am sorry to have to record anything bad of that,
in so many respects, noble and trustworthy old fellow,
my Cambayan Turtle, but the truth must be told though
the heavens fall, and it is this. When two of three
pairs of hybrids had been hatched to the swarthy Moor
and his lily-white spouse, he unaccountably deserted the
latter and married one of his own daughters! who built
a nest and laid many eggs that all turned out to be
barren.

He is yet alive, I have been given to understand, or
was quite recently, but has not repented of his repre-
hensible conduct, being as devoted as ever to the hybrid.

At the Western Aviary in the Zoological Gardens,
Regent's Park, the Cambayans have bred as freely as
possible, both among themselves and when mated with
some allied species, and I may say that upon the whole
they are among the nicest birds I have kept, whether
as regards personal appearance, docility, quaint lively

276 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

ways, curious notes, or extreme hardiness, for although
denizens of the Dark Continent they are quite as in-
sensible to the many changes of our inconstant climate
as any of our own domesticated Pigeons.

Like these, the Cambayan Turtles are of frugal habits
and will eat anything in the shape of seed or corn,
although they evince a marked preference for the yellow
round maize when they can get it. I have seen my old
fellow "tub" as soon as I had broken the ice for him.

The Cambayan Turtle is found as far north as Egypt,
where he alights on the Nile when he wants to drink,
rising from the water like a duck.

Scientific name, Turtur senegalensis.

CHAPTER LVII.

Turtle.

|N the last chapter I had occasion to mention this
bird, which is merely a white (perhaps an albino)
variety of the Common Barbary or Laughing, otherwise
Collared Turtle; it is also frequently spoken of as the
Java Dove, but is supposed, not without reason, to be
of Chinese creation ; the children of the Flowery Land
being well-known adepts in the Jacobean art of modi-
fying colour in domestic and other animals, witness
their white Java Sparrows and Mannikins, which last
are also called Bengalis, or Bengalees, so that the
rumour which connects these white Doves with the
Celestial Empire is probably correct.

Compared with the ordinary members of its species,
the Japanese Turtle presents no special peculiarity save
its milk-white colour, for in size, shape and voice it
exactly resembles its relatives, though it is more
delicate, and cannot be safely wintered out of doors in
this country.

At one time, not very long ago, these Doves were

278 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

rather expensive, but as they breed very freely and
always true to colour the price has declined materially,
so that they can now be purchased at a slight advance
upon that of the ordinary Barbary Doves, and it no
longer pays to import them.

The first pair of these birds that I possessed were
presented to me by a friend when they were quite
young, indeed only just able to feed themselves. This,
however, did not keep them from pairing pretty quickly
and when the little ones were hatched it was amusing,
and pitiable, too, to watch the helplessness of the youth-
ful parents, which had not the remotest notion what
to do with the two poor little naked pink things that
suddenly made their appearance under their wings in
place of the couple of nice smooth white eggs they
had brooded so carefully.

Of necessity the young ones died, for we could not
feed them, and it never seemed to occur to the inex-
perienced father and mother that it was their duty to
do so; and after their disappearance the little mother
became ill and was a long time before she regained
her health, even to a certain extent, the strain upon
her system had been so great.

There is no doubt that these birds are more delicate
than the ordinary variety, but they are also prettier,
though the grey Quakerish common Barbary Dove is
by no means ill-looking.

Any little flat basket, placed on the floor of the cage

THE JAPANESE TURTLE. 279

or aviary or on a shelf, will serve for a nest, and a
handful of hay or fibre to line it with will be gratefully
accepted by* the birds.

Paired with one of the ordinary variety, the young
that result will be perfectly fruitful and will partake of
the characteristics of both parents ; consequently they
have a faded washed-out appearance that is the reverse
of attractive, so that the cross is not one to be recom-
mended. It is curious that the conspicuously darker
colour of the Cambayan Dove was able to conquer
the pallor of the Chinese, for their mongrel offspring
were very little, if at all, lighter than their father.

These White Doves must not be exposed to cold,
which soon causes their death from congestion of the
liver, and if they are kept in an unheated room during
the. winter the cage they inhabit should be at least
partially covered during the night. The best food is
Canary-seed and millet with a little small corn or dari
now and then. Coarse grit, salt and plenty of water
are indispensable.

The scientific name is Turtur risorius var. albus.

CHAPTER LVIII.

I His is another very nice bird, about the same size
as the last species, but of a stouter or plumper
build; it has also a much shorter tail. It is a native
of South-western Africa, whence it is often imported
in considerable numbers: it is, however, decidedly
delicate and no attempt should ever be made to winter
it out of doors in this country.

I once tried to acclimatize a pair, but the result
was deplorable for the poor Doves and distressing to
myself, nor would anything tempt me to repeat the
experiment, which was not carried out to the bitter
end. They were in a very comfortable aviary, too,
but even there the cold seemed quite to paralyse them,
and when I caught them in order to bring them into
the house, their feet were swollen and felt just like ice.

The Bronze-spotted Dove is a very pretty bird. The
top and back part of its head are bluish grey; the
forehead white, and from the angle of the mouth to
the eye extends a narrow black line that surmounts

THE BRONZE-SPOTTED DOVE. 283

another white one ; the face, throat and breast are
brownish-red ; the rump is crossed by a band of black
and another of reddish-brown; on the shoulders are
several spots of greyish-purple shining with metallic
reflections, whence the species is named.

There is but little difference in appearance between
the sexes, but the spots on the wings of the female
are rather smaller than, and not quite as lustrous as,
they are in the case of the male.

It was unfortunate that my Spotted Doves should
just have commenced to nest as the cold weather set
in, for of course that put a stop to the proceedings,
and they never recovered fully from the shock they had
received.

One of the pair, the female, if I remember rightly, died
at the Crystal Palace Bird Show to which I had sent
them, and the survivor I gave away to a friend, but it
soon died too, whether from the effects of a torpid liver
or from grief at the loss of its mate I am not sure, but in
all probability both causes had something to do with its
demise, for the Bronze-spotted Doves are very affectionate
little creatures, and visibly fret when alone.

I found the liver congested in the case of the one that
died at the Palace, no doubt owing to the cold.

Scientific name : Chalcopelia chalcospilos.

CHAPTER LIX.

Tambourine

IN "Birds I have kept in Days gone by" I mentioned
having had a pair of Pigeons, or Doves, with choco-
late backs and white breasts, to which I gave the name
of " White- breasted Pigeons" in consequence of being
unable to identify them. I have since learned that
their proper designation, in English, is as above, and
I have but little to add to what I then said about them.

Subsequent experience, however, has confirmed my
former estimate as to their delicacy, as well as to their
general desirableness as inmates of the aviary.

I am doubtful if they are the same as the birds de-
scribed by Russ under the name of Die zweifarbige
Fruchttaube, for I cannot perceive any of the char-
acteristics of the Fruit Pigeons in these little Doves,
while the authorities at the London Zoological Gardens
place them among the seed- eaters, of which they
constitute the genus Tympanistria.

THE TAMBOURINE DOVE.

285

I am not aware of their having bred in this country,
though, if suitably lodged, I see no reason why they
should not do so.

Scientific name : Tympanistria bicolor.

WHITE-BREASTED OR TAMBOURINE DOVES.

CHAPTER LX.

I HIS, in every sense of the word, is a most delightful
bird. It is about the same size as the well-known
Barbary Dove, but has the advantage over the latter
of possessing a handsome crest, not unlike that of the
Cockateel in shape; its general colour is bluish-grey and
white, but the wings are decorated with a number of
glittering spots and bars of a greenish-purple colour
reflecting metallic tints that tend considerably to its
adornment.

The tail is long and tipped with white and the bird
has a curious habit when alighting on a perch or bough
of tilting it up and at the same time spreading it out
broadly, fanwise.

The male and female bear a close outward resem-
blance to each other, but the latter is the smaller of
the two and has less of the glittering markings on the
wing to which reference has already been made, so
that when together the sexes can be distinguished
readily enough, but it is more difficult to do so when
they are seen apart, which, however, is not often the

THE CRESTED DOVE. 287

case, for they are very affectionate creatures and the
pairs are much attached to each other.

These birds were some of the common objects of the
Bush when I was in Australia, where we used to call
them, why I know not, Ground Thrushes 1 I was very
anxious to have a pair of them for my aviary, but a
long time elapsed before I could gratify my wish.
At length, however, I procured a pair in exchange
for some of my Cambayan hybrids and found that in
their case (the Crested Doves') enchantment was not
altogether the effect of distance, for the birds were
very delightful from every point of view.

Extremely quiet, they did not interfere in the. least
with the tiniest of their fellow-inmates, but, on the
contrary, permitted themselves to be driven away from
the seed-pan by birds that were not half their size, so
that I congratulated myself immensely on my new
acquisition, and thought that if the Doves could only
be induced to breed how very delightful it would be.

They had bred freely in other aviaries, I was aware,
for I knew of one instance in which sixteen young
ones had been obtained from a single pair in one
season, by the simple device of transferring their eggs
to some Barbary Turtles whose own were, of course,,
destroyed, and these simple creatures hatched the
valuable eggs of the Australians, and brought up the
young ones as carefully and tenderly as if they had
been their own.

288 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

Nor did the Crested hen appear to have suffered
from the extra demand on her system owing to the
production of such an unusual, not to say unnatural,
number of eggs, for when fourteen of these had been
taken from her and given to the Barbarians, the avia*
rist permitted her to incubate the last two and these
also were successfully reared by their own parents,
making, as I have said, no less than sixteen young
Crested Doves from one pair in the course of one
summer, and that at a time when they commanded
something like thirty shillings a pair in the market.
Since then the price of these handsome Doves has
fallen considerably, but it is still sufficiently high to
make a good breeding pair of them a by no means
unprofitable investment for the aviarist.

I was not destined, however, to be as successful
with my Crested Doves as the amateur to whom I
have referred was with his, for my pair began to moult
soon after I had them, and then, just as they had
finished and were commencing to place a few sticks
in order in a wire basket I had hung up in the aviary
in the expectation that they might avail themselves
of it, cold weather set in and the attempt to build was
abandoned.

As the Doves did not seem to be particularly affected
by the cold and frost, I left them where they were and
thought, as they were feeding well, that they would take
no hurt. One morning, however, I found the hen

THE CRESTED DOVE. 289

huddled up in a corner on the ground, dead, and on
examination discovered that her liver was much affected
and more than twice its natural size.

Soon afterwards I gave the cock away, but he too
died in the spring and was also found to have suffered
with his liver as well as his mate, which is curious
seeing that in their native country there is often frost,
but, of course, it is never of such long continuance
as it is with us, nor is there the amount of damp in
the Bush from which we suffer during an English winter,
and the damp and cold combined it is that proves so
disastrous to many otherwise hardy foreign birds.

I have often thought that it is after all decidedly
cruel to take exotic birds from their own bright sunny
lands and compel them to linger out the remnant of
their days amid the varied horrors of what it pleases
us to call the British climate.

The result of my first experience with the Crested
Dove in this country was unfavourable, no doubt, but
as the birds are very desirable from all points of view,
I should never be surprised to find myself giving them
another trial, for even fifteen shillings a pair (about
their present price) would pay well, for they are frugal
eaters and, when properly lodged, very free breeders
indeed, but I would take care, of course, not to expose
another pair out of doors during the winter.

The scientific name of the Australian Crested Dove
is Ocyphaps lophotes.

19

CHAPTER LXI.

Indian Qreen*imngecl Pigeon.

I HIS gorgeously plumaged bird reminds one, from the
brilliancy of its colouration, of one of the Fruit
Pigeons, not to say of the Birds of Paradise, but it is
nevertheless no less distinct from the latter than it is
from the former of those feathered jewels, for it is a
very frugal and hardy seed-eater.

Although a native of our Indian Empire it will live
quite as well in this country as any of our domestic
inmates of the Dovecote, and on the same kind of food,
though it displays a preference for yellow maize, which
is much too fattening for it to live upon exclusively.

In shape the Green-winged Dove or Pigeon is com-
pact and plump and in size it about equals one of the
smaller Tumblers. The plumage is a rich metallic green
on the upper surface of the body and a delicate vinous-
red on the lower parts; the under-aspect, however, of
the tail is black.

THE INDIAN GREEN-WINGED PIGEON. 291

The sexes are much alike in colour but the female
is decidedly smaller than her mate.

I bought my first pair, as usual, from the late Mr
Anton Jamrach, and very nice birds they were, as were
almost all I ever obtained from the same source. I
was very proud of my beautiful pair of Pigeons and

THE INDIAN GREEN-WINGED PIGEON.

put them into the aviary, where they immediately made
themselves at home, strutting about and looking as if
they thought that the whole place belonged to them.
As the cock at once began to drive the hen about,
bowing and strutting and inflating his crop as he walked
along rapidly behind her through the grass, I thought

2 92 FEATHERED FRIENDS,

that before long I might have the pleasure of seeing
them begin to build a nest; but alas! I had some
Californian Quail in the same enclosure, very delightful
creatures and perhaps the tamest birds I ever had, but
at the same time the most tyrannical and wicked, beat-
ing even the White-eared Conures in this respect, and
they were bad enough!

I did not, at the time, suspect the Quail of hostile
intentions towards my handsome Green-winged Doves,
or I should certainly have taken them away, but one
morning when I went to feed the birds I saw the cock
Pigeon perched high up on a branch, and looking very
frightened and miserable, as he had reason to do, too,
for he had evidently been in the wars and had lost,
or been stripped of pretty well half his feathers. The
hen Pigeon was not to be seen anywhere about, but
the place was strewn with feathers, which come out of
these birds almost at the slightest handling. With a
foreboding of evil I entered the aviary, and on searching
about presently found the poor hen Dove in a corner
dead and greatly disfigured.

My first idea was that a rat had effected an entrance
and done the wicked deed : but no, for even as I held
the scarcely cold body of the Pigeon in my hand the
Quail flew at it, and by the fierce " war-whoop" the
cock raised as I drove them away I knew that my
"Indian Chief" and his fiery-tempered " Squaw" had
been the perpetrators of the deed. Why, it is impos-

THE INDIAN GREEN- WINGED PIGEON. 293

sible to say, for nothing could have been more inoffen-
sive than the poor Doves, or, I feel sure, have given
less provocation to the Quail.

Well, it was a thousand pities, but there was no use
in fretting about what was done, so I paid another visit
to Mr. Jamrach with the intention of buying a new
mate for the disconsolate widower, but there were no
more Green-winged Doves in stock just then at the Depot
in East India Dock Road, Poplar, and I had to return
home as I had gone— stay, not quite, for I brought
some other birds back with me, I feel certain, though
I cannot now recollect what they were: however, there
was not a Pigeon among them ; on that point I have
a distinct recollection.

The summer passed away, all too quickly, as it has
a trick of doing in this variable climate of ours, and the
Quail having been promptly removed from his society,
the widower Dove lived quietly by himself in the aviary
in company with a pair of Thrushes and some other
small and harmless birds, until I. received the Cambayan,
of whom mention has been made, and then peace for-
sook the semi-sylvan scene, and spreading her wings
flew rapidly away to that Empyrean she must then have
regretted having left for earth; and had I not put the
Green-wing elsewhere he would certainly have been
killed by the desperate Moor.

For a long time I tried to obtain another Green-
winged hen Pigeon, but in vain: cocks there were in

294 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

the market, but not a female, for love or money, so
at last I parted with the male, who never made the
slightest advance towards any other bird, whether
nearly allied to himself or not.

The scientific name of the Indian Green-winged
Dove is Chalcophaps in die a.

I was under the impression that these Doves had
bred somewhere, probably in the Western Aviary at the
"Zoo", but on referring to the Society's "List" I find
no notice of the fact recorded there, and conclude that
I was mistaken.

CHAPTER LXII.

(Australian Qreen-rmngecl Dot>e.

I HIS bird bears a striking general resemblance to the
last, but in spite of the fact that the authorities
in the Regent's Park call it the "Little Green- winged
Dove", it is considerably larger than its Indian con-
gener, and can be readily distinguished from the latter
by its white forehead and the larger and broader eye-
streak of the same colour, as well as by the greater
brilliancy of the metallic reflections on its back and
wings.

The female of this species I do not happen ever to
have met with, but in all probability the same difference
exists between her and her mate as obtains between
the two sexes in the Indian species.

At the time when I was looking out for a mate for
my male Green-wing a correspondent very obligingly
offered me one of the Australian Green-winged Pigeons,
which I accepted with pleasure, thinking that perhaps
it might be a female. However, as soon as it arrived

296 FEATHERED FRIENDS.

and the two birds were introduced to each other, I
saw that it was not, but a male, and a fine one, too.

As the new-comer was the bigger and evidently the
stronger of the two, the Indian soon got the worst of
the combat which, I must say, he provoked ; but after
the battle, which was short, sharp and decisive, the
birds agreed to divide the aviary between them, each
occupying one half without trespassing upon the terri-
tory of his rival, except for a few minutes at feeding-
time, when a few grunts and angry flaps of the wing
were generally exchanged.

After a time I had had enough of the Green-winged
Pigeons' society, and sent them away, Australian and
Indian, nor have I had any of either species since.

I am surprised these birds are not more frequently
imported, and consequently kept in aviaries, than they
are, for they are perfectly hardy, and did not appear
to suffer the slightest inconvenience from the weather,
even during the exceptionally severe winter of 1888-9,
which they passed in one of my out- door aviaries.

Russ, in his "Handbook for Bird-fanciers," states
that some Indian Green-winged Pigeons produced young
ones in his aviary, and he gives them a good character
for general amiability; he also lauds their personal
beauty, and considers them to be as hardy as they are
gentle and uninterfering. He adds that the young re-
semble their parents from the first but their plumage is
duller, and the metallic reflections on it not so apparent

THE A USTRALIAN GREEN- WINGED DO VE. 297

as in the case of their elders. The Australian Green-
wing he merely mentions.

It is quite likely that the two so-called species may,
really, stand to each other in the relation of local va-
rieties of one, and that alliances between them would
be productive of fruitful mongrels and not of barren
hybrids. Should I ever have a couple of each I shall
cross-pair them and try the experiment, but in the
meantime someone else might have the opportunity,
and if so I should be glad to be made acquainted with
the result.

The scientific name of the Australian Green-winged
Dove is Chalcophaps chrysochlora.

This brings me to the end of my labours for the
present, but before concluding I may remark that should
any aviarist be in doubt as to where to go for provi-
sions for his birds, he cannot do better than apply to
Messrs E. and T. Pink, of Staple Street, Borough, S. E.
who keep all and everything needed by cage-birds,
whether hard or soft-billed.

INDEX.

A.

Adelaide Parrakeet, 187
Agapomis roscicollis, 182
Albino Starlings, 102
Amazon Parrot, Festive, 224
American Blue Robin, i
Anthus arboreus, 43
AprosnrictTis erythropterus, 159

,, scapidatits, 163
Australian Crested Dove, 2S6

,, Green-winged Dove, 295

B.

Banded Finch, 62
Barbary Turtle, 241
Bare-eyed Cockatoo, 126
Barred Dove, 253
Bicudo, 76
Black Bullfinch, 77
Black-headed Finch, 55

,, Mannikin, 57

Nun, 55

Black-tailed Parrakeet, 154
Blood-winged Parrakeet, 156
Blossom-headed Parrakeet, 149
Bluebird, I

Blue-eyed Cockatoo, 122
Blue Mountain Lory, 132
Blue Robin, I
Bolborhynchus lineolatus, 223

,, monachus, 220

Bourke's Parrakeet, 173
Bramble Finch, 89
Brambling, 89
Brazilian Bullfinch, 76
Bronze-spotted Dove, 280
Brush-tongues, 139

Bullfinch, Black, 77

„ Brazilian, 76.
Bunting, Ortolan, 95

C.

Cacatua galerita, 123
,, gymnopis, 127
,, mohtccensis, 121
,, ophthalmica, 122
,, sulphurea, 125
Cambayan Turtle, 270
Cape Dove, 244
Cardinal, Yellow-billed, 73
Ceylonese Hanging Dwarf Parrot, 164
Chalcopelia chalcospilos, 283
Chalcophaps chrysochlora, 297

„ indica, 294

Chrysomitris spinus, 94
Chrysalis f estiva, 226
Coal Tit, 29

Cockatoo, Bare eyed; 122
Blue-eyed, 122
Lemon-crested, 123
Lesser Sulphur-crested, 124
Moluccan, 116
Rose-crested, 116
Western Slender-billed, 128
Cockatoos, King of, 119
Cole Tit, 29
Columba guinea, 243

,, palumbus, 241
Conure, Half-moon, 211

„ White-eared, 212
Conurus auretts, 21 1
„ leucotis, 216
Cordon Bleu, 52
Corvus cor ax (not cor a), 115
Crested Dove, 286

3°°

INDEX.

Crimson-capped Parrakeet, 194
Crimson-eared \Vaxbill, 50
Crimson-winged Parrakeet, 155
Cushat, 233
CyanorhainpJms aiiricej>s, 200

novtc-zelandicc, 198

D.

Daulias litscinia, 28

Deroptynis accipitrinus, 231

Dove, Australian Green-winged, 295

Barred, 253

Bronze-spotted, 280

Cambayan Turtle, 270

Cape, 244

Crested, 286

Green-winged, 290, 295

Harlequin, 245

Hybrids, 267, 269, 273

Indian Green-winged, 290

Japanese Turtle, 277

Java, 277

Masked, 245

Ring, 232

Spotted, 280

Striated, 253

Tambourine, 284

Turtle, 257

White, 279

Wood, 233

Zebra, 253

E.

Elegant Parrakeet, 170
Emberiza hortulana, 96
E&trelda phvenicotis, 54
,, mbriventriSi 49

Euphenia bourkii, 178
„ pi4lchella, 172

F.

Festive Amazon Parrot, 224
Finch, Banded, 62

„ Black -headed, 55

„ Bramble, 89

„ Maja, 60

,, Parson, 62

,, Pheasant, 49

Finch, Siskin, 91

White-headed, 60
Fringilla montifringilla, 90
Fruchttaube, zweifarbige, 284
Fruit Pigeon, 284

G.

Geopelia striata, 256
Golden-headed Parrakeet of New

Zealand, 199, 201
Gracula intermedia, 104
Green-winged Dove, Australian, 295

„ Pigeon, Indian, 290

Grey-breasted Parrakeet, 217
Grey Parrot, 203
Ground Thrush, 287

H.

Half-moon Conure, 211

Hanging Dwarf Parrot, Ceylonese, 164

Harlequin Dove, 245

Hawk-headed Parrot, 227.

Hill Mynah, Larger, 103

Hiittensanger, I

Hyphantornis ccipensis, *]2.

I.

Indian Green-winged Pigeon, 290

J-

Japanese Turtle, 277
Java Dove, 277
,, Sparrow, White, 65

K.

King Parrakeet, 160
L.

Larger Hill Mynah, 103
Lemon-crested Cockatoo, 123
Leprosy, 90

Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 124
Lie metis pastinator, 128
Lineolated Parrakeet, 221
Loriculus asiaticus, 168
Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted, 134

,, Swainson's, 129

Lory, Blue Mountain, 132

INDEX.

301

Lovebird, Peach-faced, 179
,, Rosy-faced, 179

M.

Maja Finch, 60
Mannikin, Black-headed, 58
„ White-headed, 60

Masked Dove, 245
• Meadow Pipit, 43
Mealworms, breeding, 13
Melopyrrha nigra, 84
Moluccan Cockatoo, 116
Monk Parrakeet, 217
Munia maja, 61

„ sinensis, 59
Mynah, Larger Hill, 103

New Zealand Golden-headed Parra-
keet, 199, 201
New Zealand Red-fronted Parrakeet,

195

Nightingale, 8
Nun, Black-headed, 55
„ W7hite-headed, 60
Nuns, birds known as, 56

O.

Ocyphaps lophotes, 289

(Ena capensis, 252
Olive \Veaver, 70
Ortolan, 95

P.

Packing birds, 261

Padda oryzivora alba, 69

Patocephalus senegahis, 210

Paiceornis cyanocephahis, 153
„ torquattts, 148

Palceornithiace, 149

Par oar ia capitata, 75

Parrakeet, Adelaide, 187

Black-tailed, 154
Blood-winged, 156
Blossom-headed, 149
Bourke's, 173
Ceylonese Hanging, 164
Crimson-capped, 194

Parrakeet, Crimson-winged, 155

Elegant, 170
,, Golden-headed, of New

Zealand, 199, 201
,, Grey-breasted, 217
,, Hanging Dwarf, 164
„ King, 160
„ Lineolated, 221

Monk, 217

„ Pennant's, 183, 1 88
„ Pileated, 189
„ Quaker, 217
„ Queen, 160
„ Red-fronted New Zealand,

195

„ Red-shining, 162
Red-winged, 155
„ Ring-necked, 140
„ Scaly-breasted, 134
„ Swainson's, 129
„ Turquoisine, 169
Parrot, Ceylonese Hanging, 164
„ Festive Amazon, 224
„ Grey, 203
„ Hanging Dwarf, 164

Hawk-hearled, 227
,, Senegal, 210
Parrot Fever, 208

Parsley, supposed effects of, on Par-
rots, 151

Parson Finch, 62
Parus ater, 38
Passer anonymus, 88
Peach-faced Lovebird, 179
Pennant's Parrakeet, 183, 188
Pheasant Finch, 49
Phdomelia luscinia, 28
Pigeon, Australian Green-winged, 295
„ Fruit, 284

„ Indian Green-winged, 290
„ Triangular-spotted, 242
„ White, 239

White-breasted, 284
WTood, 233

Pigmy Hanging Parrot, 1 66
Pileated Parrakeet, 189
Pipit, Meadow, 43
„ Tree, 39

302

INDEX.

Platycercus adelaidcz, 1 88

,, pennant ii, 184

„ pileatus, 194

PoRphila cincta, 64
Polytelis melanura, 154
Porphyrocephalus spurius, 194
Psittacus €rithaciis, 209

Q.

Quaker Parrakeet, 217
Queen Parrakeet, 160
Queest, 233

R.

Raven, 105

Red-bellied Waxbill, 44
Red-faced Lovebird, 179
Red-fronted New Zealand Parrakeet,

195

Red-shining Parrakeet, 162
Red-winged Parrakeet, 155
Ringdove, 232
Ring-necked Parrakeet, 140
Robin, Blue, I
Rock-peplers, 154
Rose-crested Cockatoo, 116
Rosy-faced Lovebird, 179

S.

St. Helena Waxbill, 44
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, 134
Senegal Parrot, 210
Sialia wilsonii, J
Siskin, 91

Slender-billed Cockatoo, Western, 128
Sparrow, a doubtful, 85
,, White Java, 65
Spotted Dove, 280
Starling, 97
Striated Dove, 253
Sturnus vulgaris, 102
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Lesser, 124
Swainson's Lorikeet, 129

T.

Tambourine Dove, 284

Tenebrio molilor, 1 3

Thrush, Ground, 287

Tit, Coal, 29

Titlark, 43

Tits, 36

Tree Pipit, 39'

Triangular-spotted Pigeon, 242

Trichoglossus chlorolepidot^ls, 139

,, swainsonii, 133

Turquoisine, 169
Turtle, Barbery, 241

„ Cambayan, 270

,, Dove, 257

„ Hybrids, 267, 269, 273

„ Japanese, 277
Turtiir communis, 269

„ risoritis albns, 279

„ senegalensis, 276
Tympanistria bicolor, 285

W.

Waxbill, Crimson-eared, 50

Red-bellied, 44
,, St. Helena, 44
Waxbills, young, 47
Weaver, Olive, 70
Western Slender-billed Cockatoo, 128
What is it? 85
White Bird, 65

„ Dove, 279

„ Java Sparrow, 65

„ Pigeon, 239
White-breasted Pigeon, 284
WThite-eared Conure, 212
White-headed Mannikin, 60

„ Nun, 60

Widow, Young, 217
Wood Dove, 233

„ Pigeon, 233
Woodquest, 233

Y.

Yellow-billed Cardinal, 73
Young WTidow, 217

Z.

Zebra Dove, 253

Printed in Holland.

Catalogue of Practical Handbooks
Published by L. Upcott Gill, 170,
Strand, London, IV. C.

ANGLER, BOOK OF THE ALL-ROUND. A Comprehensive
Treatise on Angling in both Fresh and Salt Water. In Four Divisions,
as named below. By JOHN BICKERDYKE. With over 220 Engravings
In cloth, price 5s. 6<Z., by post 6s. (A few copies of a LARGE PAPER
EDITION, bound in Roxburghe, price 25s.)

Angling- for Coarse Fish. Bottom Fishing, according to the
Methods in use on the Thames, Trent, Norfolk Broads, and elsewhere.
Illustrated. In paper, price Is., by .post Is. 2d.

Angling" for Pike. The most Approved Methods of Fishing
for Pike or Jack. Profusely Illustrated. In paper, price Is., by post
Is. 2d.; cloth, 2s. (uncut), by post 2s. 3d.

Angling* for Game Fish. The Various Methods of Fishing for
Salmon; Moorland, Chalk-stream, and Thames Trout; Grayling and
Char. Well Illustrated. In paper, price Is. 6d., by post Is. 9d.

Angling in Salt Water. Sea Fishing with Rod and Line, from
the Shore, Piers, Jetties, Bocks, and from Boats ; together with Some
Account of Hand-Lining. Over 50 Engravings. In paper, price Is., by
post Is. 2d. ; cloth, 2s. (uncut), by post 2s. 3d.

AQUARIA, BOOK OF. A Practical Guide to the Construction,
Arrangement, and Management of Fresh-water and Marine Aquaria ;
containing Full Information as to the Plants, Weeds, Fish, Molluscs,
Insects, &c., How and Where to Obtain Them, and How to Keep Them
in Health. Illustrated. By KEY. GREGORY C. BATEMAN, A.K.C., and
REGINALD A. E. BENNETT, B. A. In eloth gilt, price 5s. 6d., by post 5s. lOeZ.

AQUARIA, FRESHWATER : Their Construction, Arrangement,
Stocking, and Management. Fully Illustrated. By EEV. G. C. BATE-
MAN, A.K.C. In cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d., by post 3s. 10<Z.

AQUARIA, MARINE : Their Construction, Arrangement, and Manage-
ment. Fully Illustrated. By E. A. E. BENNETT, B.A. In cloth gilt,
price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

AUSTRALIA, SHALL I TRY? A Guide to the Australian
Colonies for the Emigrant Settler and Business Man. With two
Illustrations. By GEORGE LACON JAMES. In cloth gilt, price 3s. 6d.,
by post 3s. lOcZ.

AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING: A Practical Manual for Amateurs
and Historical Students, containing ample information on the Selec-
tion and Arrangement of Autographs, the Detection of Forged
Specimens, &c., &c., to which are added numerous Facsimiles for
Study and Eeference, and an extensive Valuation Table of Auto-
graphs worth Collecting. By HENRY T. SCOTT, M.D., L.E.C.P., &c.
In leatherette gilt, price 7s. 6d., by post 7s. lOd.

BAZAARS AND FANCY FAIRS: Their Organization and Manage-
ment. A Secretary's Vade Mecum. By JOHN MUIR. In paper,
price Is., by post Is. 2d.

175 C 8/96

Published by L. UPCOTT GILL,

BEES AND BEE-KEEPING t Scientific and Practical. By F. E.
CHESHIRE, F.L.S., F.R.M.S., Lecturer on Apiculture at South Kensington.
In two vols., cloth gilt, price 16s., by post 16s. 8d.

Vol. I., Scientific. A complete Treatise on the Anatomy and

Physiology of the Hive Bee. In cloth gilt, price 7s. Qd., by post 7s. 10<Z.

Vol. II., Practical Management of Bees. An Exhaustive

Treatise on Advanced Bee Culture. In cloth gilt, price 8s. 6d., by

post 9s.

BEE-KEEPING, BOOK OF. A very practical and Complete Manual
on the Proper Management of Bees, especially written for Beginners
and Amateurs who have but a few Hives. Fully Illustrated. By
W. B. WEBSTER, First-class Expert, B.B.K.A. In paper, price Is.,
by post Is. 2<i. ; cloth, Is. 6<Z., by post Is. 8d.

BEGONIA CULTURE, for Amateurs and Professionals. Containing
Full Directions for the Successful Cultivation of the Begonia, under
Glass and in the Open Air. Illustrated. By B. C. RAVENSCROFT. In
paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

BENT IRON WORK : A Practical Manual of Instruction for Amateurs
in the Art and Craft of Making and Ornamenting Light Articles in
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By F. J. ERSKINE. Illustrated. In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

BIRDS, BRITISH, FOR THE CAGE AND AVIARY. Illus-
trated. By DR. W. T. GREENE. [In the Press.

BOAT BUILDING AND SAILING, PRACTICAL. Containing
Full Instructions for Designing and Building Punts, Skiffs, Canoes,
Sailing Boats, &c. Particulars of the most suitable Sailing Boats and
Yachts for Amateurs, and Instructions for their Proper Handling. Fully
Illustrated with Designs and Working Diagrams. By ADRIAN NEISON,
C.E., DIXON KEMP, A.I.N.A., and G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES. In one vol.,
cloth gilt, price 7s. 6d., by post 7s. 10<Z.

BOAT BUILDING FOR AMATEURS, PRACTICAL. Contain-
ing Full Instructions for Designing and Building Punts, Skiffs, Canoes,
Sailing Boats, &c. Fully Illustrated with Working Diagrams. By
ADRIAN NEISON, C.E. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged by DIXON
KEMP, Author of " Yacht Designing," " A Manual of Yacht and Boat
Sailing," &c. In cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

BOAT SAILING FOR AMATEURS. Containing Particulars of
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Diagrams. By G. CHRISTOPHER DAVIES. Second Edition, Revised and
Enlarged, and with several New Plans of Yachts. In cloth gilt, price 5s.,
by post 5s. 4id.

BOOKBINDING FOR AMATEURS: Being Descriptions of the
various Tools and Appliances Required, and Minute Instructions for
their Effective Use. By W. J. E. CRANE. Illustrated with 156 Engrav-
ings. In cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

BUNKUM ENTERTAINMENTS: A Collection of Original Laugh-
able Skits on Conjuring, Physiognomy, Juggling, Performing Fleas,
Waxworks, Panorama, Phrenology, Phonograph, Second Sight,
Lightning Calculators, Ventriloquism, Spiritualism, &c., to which are
added Humorous Sketches, Whimsical Recitals, and Drawing-room
Comedies. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

BUTTERFLIES, THE BOOK OF BRITISH: A Practical
Manual for Collectors and Naturalists. Splendidly Illustrated through-
out with very accurate Engravings of the Caterpillars, Chrysalids, and

170, Strand, London, W.C. 3

Butterflies, both upper and under sides, from drawings by the Author
or direct from Nature. By W. J. LUCAS, B.A. Price 3s. 6d., by post 3s. 9d.

BUTTERFLY AND MOTH COLLECTING: Where to Search,
and What to Do. By G. E. SIMMS. Illustrated. In paper, price Is.,
by post Is. 2d.

CACTUS CULTURE FOR AMATEURS: Being Descriptions of
the various Cactuses grown in this country ; with Full and Practical
Instructions for their Successful Cultivation. By W. WATSON, Assistant
Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Profusely Illustrated.
In cloth gilt, price 5s., by post 5s. 4d.

CAGE BIRDS, DISEASES OF : Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treat,
ment. A Handbook for everyone who keeps a Bird. By DR. W. T.
GREENE, F.Z.S. In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

CANARY BOOK. The Breeding, Rearing, and Management of
all Varieties of Canaries and Canary Mules, and all other matters
connected with this Fancy. By ROBERT L. WALLACE. Third
Edition. In cloth gilt, price 5s., by post 5s. 4<Z. ; with COLOURED
PLATES, 6s. 6d., by post 6s. lOd.

General Management of Canaries. Cages and Cage-making
Breeding, Managing, .Mule - Breeding, Diseases and their Treatment,
Moulting, Pests, &c. Illustrated. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.
Exhibition Canaries. Full Particulars of all the different
Varieties, their Points of Excellence, Preparing Birds for Exhibi-
tion, Formation and Management of Canary Societies and Exhibitions.
Illustrated. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

CANARY, THE PET. With some Instructions as to its Purchase,
Diet, Toilette, Cage, and Sanitary Keeping. Illustrated. By W. H.
BETTS, Hon. Treas. Cage Bird Club. Price 5s., by post 5s. 3d.

CARD TRICKS, BOOK OF, for Drawing-room and Stage Entertain-
ments by Amateurs ; with an exposure of Tricks as practised by Card
Sharpers and Swindlers. Numerous Illustrations. By PROF. R. KUNARD.
In illustrated wrapper, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

CARNATION CULTURE, for Amateurs. The Culture of Carnations
and Picotees of all Classes in the Open Ground and in Pots. Illustrated.
By B. C. RAVENSCROFT. In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

CATS, DOMESTIC OR FANCY: A Practical Treatise on their
Antiquity, Domestication, Varieties, Breeding, Management, Diseases
and Remedies, Exhibition and Judging. By JOHN JENNINGS. Illus-
trated. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE, for Amateurs and Professionals.
Containing Full Directions for the Successful Cultivation of the
Chrysanthemum for Exhibition and the Market. Illustrated. By
B. C. RAVENSCROFT. In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

COINS, A GUIDE TO ENGLISH PATTERN, in Gold, Silver,
Copper, and Pewter, from Edward I. to Victoria, with their Value. By
the REV. G. F. CROWTHER, M.A. Illustrated. In silver cloth, with gilt
facsimiles of Coins, price 5s., by post 5s. 3d.

COINS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, A GUIDE
TO THE, in Gold, Silver and Copper, from the Earliest Period to the
Present Time, with their Value. By the late Colonel W. STEWART
THORBURN. With 32 Plates in Gold, Silver, Copper, &c. In cloth
gilt, price 7s. 6d., by post 7s. lOd.

COLLIE, THE. Its History, Points, and Breeding. By HUGH DALZIEL.
Illustrated with Coloured Frontispiece and Plates. In paper, price 1*.,
by post Is. 2d.; cloth, 2s., by post 2s. 3d.

Published by L. TJpcOTT GILL,

COLLIE STUD BOOK. Edited by HUGH DALZIBL. Price 3s. Gd. each,
by post 3s. 9d. each.

Vol. I., containing Pedigrees of 1308 of the best-known Dogs, traced
to their most remote known ancestors ; Show Record to Feb., 1890, &c.
Vol. II. Pedigrees of 795 Dogs, Show Record, &c.
Vol. III. Pedigrees of 786 Dogs, Show Record, &c.

COLUMBARIUM, MOORE'S. Reprinted Verbatim from the original
Edition of 1735, with a Brief Notice of the Author. By W. B. TEGET-
MEIER, F.Z.S., Member of the British Ornithologists' Union. Price Is.,
by post Is. 2d.

CONJURING, BOOK OF MODERN. A Practical Guide to Drawing,
room and Stage Magic for Amateurs. By PROFESSOR R. KTTNARD.
Illustrated. In illustrated wrapper, price 2s. 6(2., by post 2s. 9cJ.

COOKERY POR AMATEURS ; or, French Dishes for English Homes
of all Classes. Includes Simple Cookery, Middle-class Cookery, Superior
Cookery, Cookery for Invalids, and Breakfast and Luncheon Cookery.
By MADAME VALERIE. Second Edition. In paper, price !•?., by post Is. 2cZ.

CRICKET. The History of a Hundred Centuries, as Written by Dr.
W. G. GRACE, and Edited by W. YARDLEY. In paper, 6<Z., by post 7d.

CUCUMBER CULTURE FOR AMATEURS. Including also
Melons, Vegetable Marrows, and Gourds. Illustrated. By W. J. MAY.
In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

CYCLIST'S ROUTE MAP of England and Wales. Shows clearly
all the Main, and most of the Cross, Roads, Railroads, and the Distances
between the Chief Towns, as well as the Mileage from London. In
addition to this, Routes of Thirty of the most Interesting Tours are
printed in red. Fourth Edition, thoroughly revised. The map is
printed on specially prepared vellum paper, and is the fullest, handiest,
and best up-to-date tourist's map in the market. In cloth, price Is.,
by post Is. 2d.

DESIGNING, HARMONIC. Explaining a System whereby an
Endless Variety of Most Beautiful Designs suited to numberless
Manufactures may be obtained by Unskilled Persons from any Printed
Music. Illustrated by Numerous Explanatory Diagrams and Illustrative
Examples. By C. H. WILKINSON. Demy 4io, price £2 2s. [In the Press.

DOGS, BREAKING AND TRAINING : Being Concise Directions
for the proper education of Dogs, both for the Field and for Companions.
Second Edition. By "PATHFINDER." With Chapters by HUGH
DALZIEL. Illustrated. In cloth gilt, price 6s. 6d., by post 6s. lOd.

DOGS, BRITISH, ANCIENT AND MODERN : Their Varieties,
History, and Characteristics. By HTJGH DALZIEL, assisted by Eminent
Fanciers. SECOND EDITION, Revised and Enlarged. Illustrated with
First-class COLOURED PLATES and full-page Engravings of Dogs of
the Day. This is the fullest work on the various breeds of dogs kept in
England. In three volumes, demy Svo, cloth gilt, price 10s. 6d. each, by
post lls. Id. each.

Dogs Used in Field Sports. Containing Particulars of the
following among other Breeds: Greyhound, Irish Wolfhound, Blood-
hound, Foxhound, Harrier, Basset, Dachshund, Pointer, Setters,
Spaniels, and Retrievers. SEVEN COLOURED PLATES and 21 full-page
Engravings.

Dogs Useful to Man in other Work than Field Sports ;
House and Toy Dog's. Containing Particulars of the following,
among other Breeds : Collie, Bulldog, Mastiff, St. Bernards, Newfoundland,
Great Dane, Fox and all other Terriers, King Charles and Blenheim

170, Strand, London, W.C. 5

Spaniels, Pug, Pomeranian, Poodle, Italian Greyhound, Toy Dogs, &o.,
&c. COLOURED PLATES and full-page Engravings.

Practical Kennel Management: A Complete Treatise on all
Matters relating to the Proper Management of Dogs, whether kept for
the Show Bench, for the Field, or for Companions. Illustrated with
Coloured and numerous other Plates. [In the Press.

DOGS, DISEASES OP: Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment;
Modes of Administering Medicines ; Treatment in cases of Poisoning, &c.
For the use of Amateurs. By HUGH DALZIEL. Third Edition. In
paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d. ; in cloth gilt, 2s., by post 2s. 3d.

ENTERTAINMENTS, AMATEUR, FOR CHARITABLE AND
OTHER OBJECTS : How to Organize and Work them with Profit
and Success. By ROBERT GANTHONT. In coloured cover, price Is., by
post Is. 2d.

FANCY WORE SERIES, ARTISTIC. A Series of Illustrated
Manuals on Artistic and Popular Fancy Work of various kinds. Each
number is complete in itself, and issued at the uniform price of 6d., by
post 7d. Now ready — (1) MACRAME LACE (Second Edition) ; (2) PATCH-
WORK ; (3) TATTING; (4) CREWEL WORK; (5) APPLIQUE; (6) FANCY
NETTING.

FEATHERED FRIENDS, OLD AND NEW. Being the Expe-
rience of many years' Observation of the Habits of British and Foreign
Cage Birds. By DR. W. T. GREENE. [In the Press.

FERNS, THE BOOK OF CHOICE : for the Garden, Conservatory,
and Stove. Describing the best and most striking Ferns and Sela-
ginellas, and giving explicit directions for their Cultivation, the for-
mation of Rockeries, the arrangement of Ferneries, &c. By GEORGE
SCHNEIDER. With numerous Coloured Plates and other Illustrations.
In 3 vols., large post 4to. Cloth gilt, price £3 3s., by post £3 6s.

FERNS, CHOICE BRITISH. Descriptive of the most beautiful
Variations from the common forms, and their Culture. By C. T. DRUERT,
F.L.S. Very accurate PLATES, and other Illustrations. In cloth gilt,
price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

FERRETS AND FERRETING. Containing Instructions for the
Breeding, Management, and Working of Ferrets. Second Edition, Re-
written and greatly Enlarged. Illustrated. In paper, price 6d., by
post 7<Z.

FERTILITY OF EGGS CERTIFICATE. These are Forms of
Guarantee given by the Sellers to the Buyers of Eggs for Hatching,
undertaking to refund value of any unfertile eggs, or to replace them
with good ones. Very valuable to sellers of eggs, as they induce
purchases. In books, with counterfoils, price 6cL, by post Id.

FIREWORK-MAKING FOR AMATEURS. A complete, accurate,
and easily-understood work on Making Simple and High-class Fireworks.
By Dr. W. H. BROWNE, M.A. In paper, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

FISHERMAN, THE PRACTICAL. Dealing with the Natural
History, the Legendary Lore, the Capture of British Fresh- Water Fiah,
and Tackle and Tackle-making. By J. H. KEENE. In cloth, price
7s. 6cZ., by post, 8s.

FISH, FLESH, AND FOWL : When in Season, How to Select, Cook,
and Serve. By MART BARRETT BROWN. [In the Press.

FOREIGN BIRDS, FAVOURITE, for Cages and Aviaries. How to
Keep them in Health. Fully Illustrated. By W. T. GREENE, M.A.,
M.D., F.Z.S., &c. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

Published by L. UPCOTT GILL,

POX TERRIER, THE. Its History, Points, Breeding, Bearing, Pre-
paring, for Exhibition, and Coursing. By HUGH DALZIEL. Illustrated
with Coloured Frontispiece and Plates. In paper, price Is., by post
Is. 2d. ; cloth, 2s., by post 2s. 3d.

POX TERRIER STUD BOOK. Edited by HUGH DALZIEL. Price
3«. 6d. each., by post 3s. 9d. each.

Vol. I., containing Pedigrees of over 1400 of the best-known Dogs,
traced to their most remote known ancestors.

Vol. II. Pedigrees of 1544 Dogs, Show Eecord, &c.
Vol. III. Pedigrees of 1214 Dogs, Show Eecord, &o.
Vol. IV. Pedigrees of 1168 Dogs, Show Eecord, &c.
Vol. V. Pedigrees of 1662 Dogs, Show Eecord, &c.

FRETWORK AND MARQUETRY. A Practical Manual of
Instructions in the Art of Fret-cutting and Marquetry Work. Profusely
Illustrated. By D. DENNING. In cloth, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. Wd.

FRIESLAND MERES, A CRUISE ON THE. By ERNEST E.
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GAME AND GAME SHOOTING, NOTES ON. Grouse, Par-
tridges, Pheasants, Hares, Eabbits, Quails, Woodcocks, Snipe, and
Eooks. By J. J. MANLET. Illustrated. In cloth gilt, price 7s. 6d.,
by post 7s. lOd.

GAMES, THE BOOK OF A HUNDRED. By MART WHITE.
These Games are for Adults, and will be found extremely serviceable for
Parlour Entertainment. They are Clearly Explained, and are Ingenious,
Clever, Amusing, and exceedingly Novel. In cloth, price 2s. Qd., by
post 2s. Qd.

GARDENING, DICTIONARY OF. A Practical Encyclopaedia of
Horticulture, for Amateurs and Professionals. Illustrated with 2440
Engravings. Edited by G. NICHOLSON, Curator of the Eoyal Botanio
Gardens, Kew ; assisted by Prof. Trail, M.D., Eev. P. W. Myles,
B.A., F.L.S., W. Watson, J. Garrett, and other Specialists. In 4 vols.,
large post 4tto. In cloth gilt, price £3, by post £3 3s.

GARDENING IN EGYFT. A Handbook of Gardening for Lower
Egypt. With a Calendar of Work for the different Months of the
Year. By WALTER DRAPER. In cloth, price 3s. 6dL, by post 3s. 9d.

GOAT, BOOK OF THE. Containing Full Particulars of the various
Breeds of Goats, and their Profitable Management. With many Plates.
By H. STEPHEN HOLMES PEGLER. Third Edition, with Engravings and
Coloured Frontispiece. In cloth gilt, price 4s. 6d., by post 4s. lOd.

GOAT-KEEPING FOR AMATEURS : Being the Practical Manage,
ment of Goats for Milking Purposes. Abridged from " The Book of the
Goat." Illustrated. In paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

GRAPE GROWING FOR AMATEURS. A Thoroughly Practical
Book on Successful Vine Culture. By E. MOLYNEUX. Illustrated. In
paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT FOR AMATEURS. The
Best Greenhouses and Frames, and How to Build and Heat them, Illus-
trated Descriptions of the most suitable Plants, with general and
Special Cultural Directions, and all necessary information for the
Guidance of the Amateur. Second Edition, Eevised and Enlarged.
Magnificently Illustrated. By W. J. MAT. In cloth gilt, price 5s.
by post 5s. 4<Z.

GREYHOUND, THE : Its History, Points, Breeding, Eearing, Training,
and Eunning. By HUGH DALZIEL. With Coloured Frontispiece. In
cloth gilt, demy 8vo, price 2s. 6d., by post 2s. 9d.

170, Strand, London, W.C.

GUINEA FIG, THE, for Food, Fur, and Fancy. Illustrated with
Coloured Frontispiece and Engravings. An exhaustive book on the
Varieties of the Guinea Pig, and its Management. By C. CUMBERLAND,
F.Z.S. In cloth gilt, price 2s. Qd., by post 2s. Qd.

HAND CAMERA MANUAL, THE. A Practical Handbook on all
Matters connected with the Use of the Hand Camera in Photography.
Illustrated. By W. D. WELFORD. Third Edition. Price Is., by post Is. 2d.

HANDWRITING, CHARACTER INDICATED BY. With Illus-
trations in Support of the Theories advanced taken from Autograph
Letters of Statesmen, Lawyers, Soldiers, Ecclesiastics, Authors, Poets,
Musicians, Actors, and other persons. Second Edition. By E. BAUGHAN.
In cloth gilt, price 2s. Qd., by post 2s. 9d.

HARDY PERENNIALS and Old-fashioned Garden Flowers. Descrip-
tions, alphabetically arranged, of the most desirable Plants for Borders,
Bockeries, and Shrubberies, including Foliage as well as Flowering
Plants. Profusely Illustrated. By J. WOOD. In cloth, price 5s., by
post 5s. 4id.

HAWK MOTHS, BOOK OP BRITISH. A Popular and Practical
Manual for all Lepidopterists. Copiously illustrated in black and white
from the Author's own exquisite Drawings from Nature. By W. J.
LUCAS, B.A. In cloth, price 3s. Qd., by post 3s. 9d.

HOME MEDICINE AND SURGERY: A Dictionary of Diseases
and Accidents, and their proper Home Treatment. For Family Use. By
W. J. MACKENZIE, M.D. Illustrated. In cloth, price 2s. Qd., by post 2s. 9d.

HORSE-KEEPER, THE PRACTICAL. By GEORGE FLEMING, C.B.,
LL.D., F.R.C.V.S., late Principal Veterinary Surgeon to the British
Army, and Ex-President of the Eoyal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
In cloth, price 3s. Qd., by post 3s. lOd.

HORSE-KEEPING FOR AMATEURS. A Practical Manual on
the Management of Horses, for the guidance of those who keep one or
two for their personal use. By Fox EUSSELL. In paper, price Is.,
by post Is. 2d. ; cloth, 2s., by post 2s. 3d.

HORSES, DISEASES OF : Their Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment.
For the use of Amateurs. By HUGH DALZIEL. In paper, price Is.,
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INCUBATORS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. By J. H.
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INLAND WATERING PLACES. A Description of the Spas of
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JOURNALISM, PRACTICAL : How to Enter Thereon and Succeed.
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LAYING HENS, HOW TO KEEP and to Bear Chickens in Large
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LIBRARY MANUAL, THE. A Guide to the Formation of a Library,
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MAGIC LANTERNS, MODERN, A Guide to the Management
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MICE, FANCY: Their Varieties, Management, and Breeding. Third
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MILLINERY, HANDBOOK OP. A Practical Manual of Instruction
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MODEL YACHTS AND BOATS: Their Designing, Making, and
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MONKEYS, PET, and How to Manage Them. Illustrated. By ARTHUR
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MOUNTAINEERING, WELSH. A Complete and Handy Guide to
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MUSHROOM CULTURE POR AMATEURS. With Full Direction
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NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES among the Carnivora— Wild and
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NEEDLEWORK, DICTIONARY OF. An Encyclopaedia of Artistic,
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ORCHIDS : Their Culture and Management, with Descriptions
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PAINTERS AND THEIR WORKS. A Work of the Greatest
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living) from the 13th Century to the present date, the Market Value
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FAINTING, DECORATIVE. A practical Handbook on Painting and
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PARCEL POST DISPATCH BOOK (registered). An invaluable book
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PARROT, THE GREY, and How to Treat it. By W. T. GREENE,
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PARROTS, THE SPEAKING. The Art of Keeping and Breeding
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PATIENCE, GAMES OP, for one or more Players. How to Play
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FEN PICTURES, and How to Draw Them. A Practical Handbook on
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PHEASANT-KEEPING FOR AMATEURS. A Practical Hand-
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PHOTOGRAPHY (MODERN) FOR AMATEURS. New and
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PIANOFORTES, TUNING AND REPAIRING. The Amateur's
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PICTURE-FRAME MAKING FOR AMATEURS. Being Practi-
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PIG, BOOK OF THE. The Selection, Breeding, Feeding, and
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FIG-KEEPING, PRACTICAL: A Manual for Amateurs, based on
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paper, price Is., by post Is. 2d.

PIGEONS, FANCY. Containing Full Directions for the Breeding and
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PIGEON-KEEPING FOR AMATEURS. A complete Guide to the
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POKER BOOK, THE. How to Play Poker with Success. By R.
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POLISHES AND STAINS FOR WOODS : A Complete Guide to
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POOL, GAMES OF. Describing Various English and American
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POULTRY-KEEPING, POPULAR. A Practical and Complete
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POULTRY AND PIGEON DISEASES : Their Causes, Symptoms,
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RABBIT, BOOK OF THE. A Complete Work on Breeding and
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RABBITS, DISEASES OF: Their Causes, Symptoms, and Cure.
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ROSES FOR AMATEURS. A Practical Guide to the Selection and
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SAILING GUIDE TO THE SOLENT AND FOOLE
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ST. BERNARD, THE. Its History, Points, Breeding, and Rearing.
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SEA-FISHING FOR AMATEURS. Practical Instructions to
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SEA-FISHING ON THE ENGLISH COAST. The Art of Making
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SHADOW ENTERTAINMENTS, and How to Work Them: being
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SHAVE, AN EASY : The Mysteries, Secrets, and Whole Art of, laid
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SHEET METAL, WORKING IN : Being Practical Instructions for
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SNAKES, MARSUPIALS, AND BIRDS. A Charming Book of
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STAMPS, POSTAGE, and their Collection. A Practical Handbook
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London, Leeds, and Bradford. [In the Press.

TAXIDERMY, PRACTICAL. A Manual of Instruction to the
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THAMES GUIDE BOOK. From Lechlade to Eichmond. For Boating
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TOMATO AND FRUIT GROWING as an Industry for Women.
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TOYMAKING FOR AMATEURS : Being Instructions for the
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TRAPPING, PRACTICAL: Being some Papers on Traps and
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TURKEY, THE. A Handy Manual for both the Amateur and Pro-
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TURNING FOR AMATEURS : Being Descriptions of the Lathe and
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TURNING LATHES. A Manual for Technical Schools and Apprentices.
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VAMP, HOW TO. A Practical Guide to the Accompaniment of Songs
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VEGETABLE CULTURE FOR AMATEURS. Containing Concise
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VENTRILOQUISM, PRACTICAL. A thoroughly reliable Guide to
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VIOLINS (OLD) AND THEIR MAKERS: Including some
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VIOLIN SCHOOL, PRACTICAL, for Home Students. Instructions
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WINDOW TICKET WRITING. Containing full Instructions on the
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WIRE AND SHEET GAUGES OF THE WORLD. Compared
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Contents :

Mechanical Drawing; Casting and Founding' in Iron, Brass, Bronze, and other Alloys;
Forging and Finishing Iron; Sheet Metal Working; Soldering, Brazing, and Burning:
Carpentry and Joinery, embracing descriptions of some 400 woods ; over 200 Illustrations of
Tools and their U^es; Explanati9ns (with Diagrams) of 116 Joints and Hinges, and Details of
Construction of Workshop Appliance* ; Rougn Furniture, Garden and Yard Erections, and
House-Building; Cabinet-making and Veneering; Carving and Fret-cutting; Upholstery;
Painting, Graining and Marbling; Staining Furniture, Woods. Floors and Fittings; Gilding,
Dead and Bright, on various Grounds; Polishing Marble, Metala and Wood; Varnishing;
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with Thatch, Tiles, Slates, Felt, Zinc, &c. ; Glazing with and without Putty, and Lead Glazing ;
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Electric Systems ; Lighting ; Warming ; Ventilating ; Roads, Pavements and Bridges ; Hedges,
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Principal Contents:

Hints for selecting a good House; Sanitation; Water Supply; Ventilation and Warming ;
Lighting; Furniture and Decoration; Thieves and Fire; The Larder; Curing Foods for
lengthened Preservation ; The Dairy ; The Cellar ; The Pantry ; The Kitchen ; Receipts for
Dishes; The Housewife's Room; Housekeeping, Marketing; The Dining-room ; The Drawing-
room ; The Bed-room ; The Nursery ; The Sick-room ; The Bath-room ; The Laundry ; The
School-room; The Playground ; The Work-room ; The Library; The Garden; The Farmyard;
Small Motors ; Household Law.

London: E. & F. N. SPON, 125, Strand.
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ROWLANDS' ARTICLES

For the HAIR, COMPLEXION, & TEETH, are the

PUREST AND BEST.

ROWLANDS' ODONTO,

An antiseptic, preservative, and aromatic den-
tifrice, which whitens the teeth, prevents and
arrests decay, and sweetens the breath. It
contains no mineral acids, no gritty matter or
injurious astringents, keeps the mouth, gums,
and teeth free from the unhealthy action of
germs in organic matter between the teeth,
and is the most wholesome tooth-powder for
smokers. It is most beautifully perfumed,
and is a perfect luxury for the toilet-table of
everybody. 2s. 9d. per box.

ROWLANDS' MACASSAR OIL

Is the' best preserver and beautifier of the hair of children and adults ; prevents
it falling off or turning grey, eradicates scurf and dandruff, and is also the best
brilliantine for ladies' and everybody's use, and as a little goes a very long way
it really is most economical for general use ; is also sold in a golden colour for
fair-haired ladies and children ; it contains no lead or mineral ingredients, has
a most delightfully fragrant bouquet of roses, and is considered the most perfect
toilet luxury ever produced. Bottles, 3s. 6d., 7s., 10s. 6d.

ROWLANDS' KALYDOR,

A most*cooling, soothing, healing, and refreshing preparation for the Skin and
Complexion of Ladies, and all exposed to the summer sun and dust, or the cold
and damp of winter ; it is warranted free from all mineral or metallic ingre-
dients, or oxide of zinc, of which most Cosmetics are composed, and which ruin
the skin. It effectually disperses Chaps, Chilblains, Freckles, Tan, Sunburn,
Stings of Insects, Redness, Roughness of the Skin ; relieves Irritation of the
Skin, Prickly Heat, &c., renders the

SKIN SOFT AND SMOOTH,

and produces a ^beautiful, pure, and delicate complexion. Size 4s. 6d. and
8s. 6d. ; half-sized bottles, 2s. 3d.

ROWLANDS' ESSENCE OF TYRE

effectually dyes red or grey hair a permanent brown or black. 4s.

ROWLANDS' EUKONIA.

A pure Toilet Powder in three tints, White Rose, and Cream, for ladies of a
Brunette complexion and those who do not like white powder. Boxes, Is. ;
large^boxes, 2s. 6d.

Ask Chemists for ROWLANDS' ARTICLES, of 2O, HAT TON
GARDEN, LONDON, and avoid spurious imitations.

ol all Luctg Dogs

SPRATTS PATENT

DOG CAKES.

Pamphlet on CANUTE DISEASES GRATIS.

SPRATTS PATENT LIMITED, BERMONDSEY S.E.