460 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



were confined they seemed to have contracted some disease from other 

 birds, and practically all of them were reported to have died within 

 a few weeks. Of the popular Lady Gould finches, 816 arrived in one 

 shipment. Of the weaver birds, 600 black-headed nuns were entered 

 in one consignment, and about 200 in all of the rufous-necked weaver 

 birds were brought in, about half of which arrived in one day in 

 January. 



A marked decrease in the importation of some of the common 

 European and Asiatic birds was evident in the small number of 

 entries of skylarks, brown linnets, chaffinches, and nightingales, as 

 well as such of the cheaper oriental birds as Java sparrows, straw- 

 berry finches, nutmeg finches, sociable finches, diamond finches, and 

 tricolored nuns. 



A number of rare and interesting birds were included in the impor- 

 tations from the Old World, particularly from Africa, the Orient, 

 and the East Indies. Among these may be mentioned two eagle 

 owls {Bubo hubo), from Europe; two species of ground hornbills 

 {Bucorvus abyssinicus and B. cajfer). the red-collared wydah iPen- 

 thetria ardens)^ and the rufous-tailed wydah {Bathilda I'uflcauda) ^ 

 from Africa; the golden-headed mynah {Ampeliceps coronatus) and 

 knobbed geese {Cygnopsis cygiioides)^ from India; 8 fire-back pheas- 

 ants {Lophura diardi), from Siam; several species of pigeons from 

 the East Indies and South Pacific, including 2 bronze-winged par- 

 tridge pigeons {Geophaps smithi) from northwestern Australia, 30 

 Phlogoenas rubescens from the Marquesas Islands, 2 yellow-breasted 

 fruit pigeons (Leucotreron occipitalis) from the Philippines, one 

 nutmeg pigeon {Myristicivora bicolor) from the East Indies, and 

 12 bleeding-heart doves {Phlogoenas luzonica) from the Philippine 

 Islands. The Marquesas Islands pigeons apparently represented the 

 first importation of this species into the United States, and the bleed- 

 ing-heart doves were the first that had been received from the Philip- 

 pines for some time, although before the war considerable numbers of 

 these interesting birds were entered at Pacific coast ports. 



An attempt has been made to coordinate efi'orts by zoological 

 gardens and museums to obtain some of the rarer birds. Several 

 years ago an anomalous condition existed under which certain birds 

 which were entirely unrepresented, or very poorly represented, in some 

 of the largest public museums in this country were exhibited alive in 

 several zoological gardens, while the museums failed to realize for 

 some time the opportunity of obtaining desirable material in case 

 the birds died. Two notable examples are those of the golden- 

 headed mynah of India {Ainpeliceps coronatus) and a handsome 

 African weaver bird {Hyphantornis cucullatus) ,^h\ch. until recently 

 were represented in the United States National Museum by one or 

 two specimens, and yet 18 of the mynahs and more than 200 of the 

 weaver birds were imported alive during the year. This condition 

 has been partially remedied by checking up the lists of desiderata of 

 some of the larger museums, so that it is now possible to tell whether 

 or not imported birds are represented in museum collections as well 

 as in zoological gardens. 



Many inquiries are received from time to time in regard to the 

 importation of foreign game birds which may be useful for stocking 

 covers or increasing the local game supply. Unfortunately, it can 

 not be said that importations of game birds since the war have done 



