Ornithological and Other Oddities 



harmless little things, with an insignificant little 

 song, and always remind me somehow of domestic 

 mice. I found both the Bengalee and the white 

 Java sparrow common in the shops of Calcutta 

 bird-dealers, and in both cases it was easier there 

 to procure specimens of a perfectly pure white, 

 not marred by " foul " feathers, than it is in 

 England. 



The gold and silver pheasants, so familiar in 

 our aviaries, are said to be bred freely in Japan 

 in captivity, and exported to China for sale, as 

 are also the above-mentioned finches. The 

 Japanese also have the two species of peacock, 

 the green or Javanese {Pavo muticus), which is 

 the only one appearing in their art, for which 

 its scaly-looking plumage and quaint long crest 

 peculiarly adapt it, and the black-winged form of 

 the common peacock {Pavo ?i7gripennis), which 

 is often known as the Japan pea-fowl. In the 

 male of this bird the wings are black, with a 

 gloss of purple and green, not speckled, as in 

 the common variety of the species ; and the 

 hen is white, with a grizzled back, so that it 

 has all the appearance of a distinct species, 

 though known to arise as a "sport" from the 

 ordinary kind. 



Particularly well known in Japanese art is the 



beautiful Manchurian crane {Grus japonensis), 



which appears to be kept as a captive in Japan, 



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