ail enclosure available for it ; given individual treatment and 

 proper exercise I am convinced it would prove an ideal cage pet 

 and not a fragile one either. I shall certainly avail myself (un- 

 fortunately not likely to be soon) of the first opportunity to 



replace him. 



* # * 



Thk Water- Robin (Ruticilla fuliginosa) : also known as 

 the Water and Plumbeous Redstart. The body colouring is 

 plumbeous or slaty- or dusky-blue, and the tail a rich rufous ; 

 the front of the head is a little lighter in colour than the rest of 

 the bod}' as also are the shoulders, but only slightly so ; bill, legs 

 and feet blackish. My bird is a male but I have not yet heard him 

 utter a note. At first I kept him in an enclosure in the bird room, 

 but a week later I turned him into my general out-door enclosure; 

 here he has done well, though he does not secure quite so many 

 live insects as I would like, nevertheless, he is very fit, and sub- 

 sists almost entirely on the insectile mixture, mealworms, and 

 such gnats, flies, etc. (fairly numerous) as it catches. So adept a 

 hunter of small game is he, that a midge scarcely discernable to 

 the naked eye stands but a poor chance of escape once it comes 

 within the range of his vision. His flight is absolutely noiseless, 

 of lightning-like rapidity, and graceful in the extreme. In con- 

 tour and motion it is a true Redstart. His tail is a fine example 

 of perpetual motion, not only jerked up and down (all the same 

 the movement is not a jerky one), but the feathers are also worked 

 or opened out laterally fan-wise, from which it has received the 

 cognomen Scissors-tail since it came into my possession. My 

 regret is that I have not secured a pair, but Capt. Perreau only 

 succeeded in getting o*'s over. The Blue and White Capped Red- 

 starts (brightly coloured species) have passed into the possession 

 of our esteemed member Mr. J. H. Harrison. It is evidently a 

 shy and retiring species, as it keeps under the roofed-in portion 

 of the aviary most of the time ; at the same time it is more con- 

 fiding than nervous, and readily hops about you within a couple 

 of feet, flirting his perpetually moving caudal appendage about 

 and viewing you, apparently quite unconcernedly with his large 

 lustrous eyes ; gratefully accepting any living insect you may 

 throw him. I am of the opinion he also takes a few small seeds 



