The enclosure on the left is devoted to British birds and 

 contains, amongst others. Goldfinch, Linnets, Twite, Redpoll, 

 Greenfinches, and Bullfinches, the latter being so tame they will 

 hardly move out of your way when you are cleaning. One of 

 them was the first prize winner at the Crystal Palace this year, 

 among the keenest competition. 



On the right is an aviary in which I have hen British and 

 cock mules ; one a six-pointed light Goldfinch-Canary mule. 



To the right of the entrance is a large cage containing a 

 Green-billed Toucan {Ramphastos dicoforus).* He is a very in- 

 teresting bird, useful as well as ornamental, for he acts the part 

 of a watch- dog with great zeal, and when anyone passes the 

 aviary greets them with his discordant bray. When roosting he 

 manages to lose his huge beak in his night flue, and hoists his 

 tail as a shield. He is very fond of soft fruit and possesses a 

 healthy appetite. Underneath him is a Magpie Tanager; he is 

 very tame and will readily take mealworms and fruit from your 

 hand. 



To the left of the entrance are two aviaries, in one of 



which is a Gold-fronted Chloropsis, and in the other a pair of 

 Black-headed Gouldians, a beautiful little couple, but I am sorry 

 to say I have not yet succeeded in breeding with them. 



The last but not the least of my avian friends is a Blue- 

 fronted Amazon Parrot ; a born gossip he takes the greatest 

 interest in all his neighbours' concerns. The slightest squabble 

 among them instantly arouses his ire, and he scolds, admonishes, 

 and rumbles long after the trouble is over. When he sings it is 

 in a high cracked voice, so like to an old woman's that visitors 

 who can only hear and not see are invariably deceived. Though 

 garrulous in his own language he is very saving of his English, 

 but I make no doubt that like another noted bird he "thinks a 

 lot." My latest acquisition is a Hoopoe, of which I have not much 

 to say at present, save that it is very tame and a beautiful bird. 



» There was a coloured plate of this species in Vol. VI. Bird Koies. 



