Japanese Avieulture 



and sometimes to have bred there. It is cer- 

 tainly the readiest of all cranes to breed in 

 captivity, and has done so both in the London 

 Zoological Gardens and with the great Dutch 

 aviculturist Mynheer F. Blaauw of S' Graveland. 

 So identified is this bird with Japanese designing 

 that a friend whom I was showing- round the 

 Calcutta Zoological Gardens some years ago 

 remarked when he saw one there, " Why, is 

 that a real bird ? I thought it only existed in 

 Japanese art ! " 



The lovely little Pekin robin (Liothrix luteus), 

 however, though often sold here as the "Japa- 

 nese nightingale," is a Chinese, not a Japanese, 

 bird, and seldom breeds in captivity. I have no 

 doubt that the Japanese do keep it, for they are 

 particularly skilful in managing "soft-billed" 

 birds, and this one, combining beauty of song 

 and plumage with unusual intelligence, can hardly 

 have escaped the attention of a nation who show 

 as much good taste and judgment in selecting 

 birds and plants for cultivation as they do in so 

 many other matters. 



»93 



