FOREIGN BIRDS AT LARGE IN 

 ENGLAND 



With the approach of winter those feathered 

 aliens which by escape or liberation have found 

 themselves at large in our English woods and 

 fields have their first serious problem to face, 

 especially if they happen, as is so often the case, 

 to hail from countries where snow and frost are 

 unknown. The remarkable ease with which 

 birds from warm climates will bear our climate 

 without the assistance of artificial heat has long 

 been a source of wonder and satisfaction to avi- 

 culturists ; but circumstances are rather different 

 when the exile finds itself with no roof over its 

 head and no table constantly spread for it, though 

 increased exercise probably compensates for these 

 drawbacks. There can be no doubt, considering 

 the vast numbers of foreign birds now sold at a 

 low rate, and the excellent condition in which 

 they arrive — bearing captivity so much better 

 than our English birds — that many out of these 

 by some accident regain their liberty, to say 

 nothing of purposed enlargements, and what 

 becomes of them is certainly a puzzle. 



i73 



