C)S r;ARDE\ -WT) AVIARY BTRDFi. 



Ill captivity, at all events, it shows oreat ])ower of miiniciy. 

 which is rather a doubtful iniprovenient to its natural 

 strains, as, like most mimicking hirrls. it has lint little 

 discrimination ! 



The Shama is one of the most ])opular cage-bird^ in 

 Calcutta, and ])ears captivity \('i\- well, living for many 

 vears if properly atteiKhvl to. The ca^•e^ in which these 

 birds are usually kept are. however, too small, and it is a 

 shame to cover them up as is usually done. The bird, if 

 covered, will sing louder, so Mr. E. W. Harper informs us, 

 in reprobatin.ii; the practice, but the subdued notes are 

 just as pretty ; and after all a bird is a livijig intelligent 

 being, and should be treated as such, and not as a musical 

 box ! 



The Shama is well ada})ted to cage-life, as it becomes 

 very tame and seems contented in a small space. More- 

 over, it is not at all sociable, being so extremely averse 

 to company that it will not even tolerate the society of 

 the other sex of its <»\vii species in the same cage ! 

 Nevertheless, it has been bred in an aviary in London 

 by a well-known amateur, Mr. R. Phillips, and no doubt 

 could be much more easily induced to propagate its kind 

 in its own country. 



There is in Calcutta a class of men who make a regular 

 business of feeding Shamas. For a small sum paid 

 monthly they will .su]>ply a daily allowance of maggots, 

 grasshoppers, and .sY//oo-paste to one's bird. But they 

 must be well looked after, for a day's neglect would be 

 disastrous to the poor captives. Where only a single 

 Shanui is kept, it is (piite easy to iiiak<' up the salon one's 



