42 



Short 1Hotc5. an& Xetters to tbe iB&itor. 



THE BIRD OF DEATH. 



Sir, — The following paragraph was taken from a Tyondon 

 paper a sliort time ago : — 



"But one specimen of the venomous bird is known to the 

 "student of ornithological oddities— the Rpir N'Doob, or Bird 

 "of Death, a feathered paradox of New Guinea. Persons 

 "bitten b}' the creature are seized with maddening pains, 

 "which rapidl}' extend to every part of the body. Loss of 

 " sight, convulsions and lockjaw are symptoms which follow 

 "in rapid succession." 



The idea of a bird's bite causing such an agonising death 

 is weird and horrible in the extreme. It would be very 

 instructive and interesting if any of our Ornithological 

 Members could give us further particulars of this wonderful 

 creature. I have been unable to identify the bird through any 

 of my books. 



J. A. Swan. 



THE EGG QUESTION. 



vSiR, — I read Dr. .Creswell's article in last month's Bird 

 Notes with much interest, and in answer to Dr. Creswell I 

 should like to state that I do not deprecate " any adaptation or 

 science to aviculture," but appreciate and welcome it : at the 

 same time I believe that the truth cannot be established 

 unless evidence from both sides is considered. To-day I was 

 reading in a weekly avicultural paper a doctor's advice to a 

 correspondent whose vSkylark was ill through improper 

 feeding, and the doctor said, " proper food must be given with 

 plenty of ^%^ and ants' eggs in it. With egg insectivorous 

 birds are healthier than seedeaters." Now, how are we 

 fanciers to act, under such diversity of opinion, from leading 

 men of science. 



For my part, I think egg cannot be dispensed with 

 altogether, and whilst we eggists (as we are styled) can rear 

 healthy young birds on ^%^ food it would be foolish to discard 

 it until there is a more unanimous opinion against its use, just 

 because John Chinaman does not use it. What proof have we 

 that the Chinese are such adepts in the art of keeping the 

 delicate species of insectivorous birds alive .? Does their system 

 of feeding commend itself to a reasonable and intelligent 



