S3 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE - GO S SIP. 



[ArML 1, 1870. 



the cage ; but this device was useless— the ungal- 

 laut little songster proved as obstinate as ever." 



Here again is something about the pretty little 

 Waved Parrot (Melopsittactis imdulatus) so deser- 

 vedly a favourite as a cage-bird in this country. 

 " A pair of waved parrots in our possession occu- 

 pied a large cage, in which they seemed very com- 

 fortable ; but perhaps the bright sun, as it laughed 

 at them through the windows, made them sigh for 

 freedom. One day the female cleverly made her 

 escape, and, before we discovered it, had flown 

 through the window. "We now learned to admire 

 this bird, from another point of view, as we watched 

 its glorious flight, and may say with truth that we 

 forgot to feel angry at our loss. The fugitive rose 

 high into the air, and screamed with delight as it 

 wheeled round and round with incomparable ra- 

 pidity over a neighbouring garden. It flew quite 

 differently to any parrot we ever saw — indeed, more 

 like a falcon or a swallow, and was soon out of 

 sight; but in a few minutes reappeared in the gar- 

 den, apparently in consequence of the anxious cry 

 of its mate, — for we had at once placed the latter 

 near the window. The lovers of these birds know 

 that their tone is deceptively like that of our spar- 

 rows. It was the height of summer, and all the 

 roofs were covered with young sparrows, who ex- 

 hibited the greatest agitation as soon as the beautiful 

 stranger appeared. The parrot had placed itself 

 upon a plum-tree near the window, and from thence 

 conversed with its mate. The young sparrows, who 

 thought that the enticing chirp was intended for 

 them, ventured near in flocks, regardless of the 

 warnings and cautions of their elders ; for, though 

 the latter seemed astonished, they were far too old 

 birds to be deceived, and would not approach. The 

 young ones, on the contrary, surrounded it in crowds. 

 It took not the slightest notice of them, but they 

 were not to be repulsed ; they became most pressing 

 in their attentions — hopped quite close to it, looked 

 at it with the greatest delight, and answered its 

 chirp with all their little strength. When it became 

 angry, and flew off to another tree, the whole army 

 followed, and it was only when the stranger began 

 to exhibit its splendid powers of flight that the 

 sparrows were compelled to remain below abashed. 

 This comedy lasted for about half an hour, and the 

 whole length and breadth of the garden was filled 

 with sparrows ; when, at last, love for its mate 

 made the fugitive return to its room. On this it 

 was seized and put into the cage, where it was most 

 tenderly received by its companion, and the crowd 

 outside dispersed." 



If birds have any charm for our readers, young 

 or old, but especially the young, we commend them 

 to this book as just the one to suit them. In the 

 course of its progress towards completion we may, 

 perhaps, have something more to say. 



DEATH OF 'NATIVE BIRDS IN NEW 

 ZEALAND. 



IT is not often that our self-expatriated country- 

 men condescend to furnish us with any fresh 

 facts bearing directly upon the natural history of 

 their adopted homes ; but too frequently they leave 

 our shores full of good intentions, and if they do 

 remember our wants at all, their description of 

 the specimens they forward are so vague and 

 unsatisfactory, and so frequently selected without 

 judgment, or are so indifferently preserved, as not 

 to be worth the cost of postage and carriage im- 

 posed upon us. 



More than once it has been my misfortune to 

 have to pay heavily for cases of bird-skins sent 

 from North America, which upon examination 

 proved utter wrecks, from damp and careless 

 packing ; and I have a painful recollection of one box 

 in particular, which I discovered to be so fearfully 

 infested with the common clothes-moth, that I was 

 compelled at once to burn or bury nearly every 

 specimen it contained, including a magnificent white- 

 headed eagle that had been shot floating over Indian 

 Island in the Bay of Passamaquoddy. 



These are trials and disappointments which might 

 be easily remedied by a little forethought. We do 

 not desire to put our friends to unnecessary expense 

 or trouble, or yet look for birds from all parts of 

 the world, as Reaumur received them, preserved in 

 spirits of wine. A simple skin, well coated inside 

 with arsenical soap, and folded in a paper bag, is 

 all we ask for. 



But it is time I should now pass on to a strange 

 little scrap of bird history which has reached me 

 from New Zealand, and my object now in making it 

 more generally known is to elicit information. It 

 has often been remarked by reliable observers in 

 that colony that the small native birds were 

 gradually but certainly lessening in number, and 

 that many causes are attributed for this decrease. 

 Amongst them, that they have become the prey of 

 wild cats, an animal I understand now a source of 

 trouble and annoyance to the settlers in the interior; 

 but if I am correctly informed, the small birds have 

 a more treacherous and deadly enemy in our indus- 

 trious old friend the honey bee. This very singular 

 discovery was first made by the natives, and from 

 them we learn that the smaller birds which dwell 

 principally in the wooded districts of New Zealand, 

 are in the habit of collecting their food, or a large 

 portion of it, by dipping their tongues into the 

 nectaries of blossoming trees. Since bees have been 

 introduced by our colonists, and this I believe is of 

 quite recent date, the birds have sought the same 

 blossoms, and while being concealed in the flowers 

 the bees have stung their tongues, which has caused 

 their death. 



