157 



After this I contented myself with looking through 

 the advertisement columns of the various " bird}' " 

 papers, and one day, about the middle of last December, 

 a well known northern dealer stated he had a Madagascar 

 Weaver for sale, and I was not long in replying. I was 

 dreading the answer would tell me the bird was sold ; 

 but no, I could have it for a trifle less than the amount 

 mentioned, if I liked, as some of the feathers of the 

 head had come out. The man appeared to be ultra 

 careful, and said he would send the bird after the rush of 

 the Christmas traffic. He kept his word as far as sending 

 it, and it turned out to be a Crimson-crowned. I felt 

 quite despondent. Evident!}' it was not intended that I 

 should have a Madagascar Weaver, and life seemed so 

 empty without one. I partly consoled myself with a 

 satirical letter, and was met with the reply that he (the 

 vendor) had " handled considerable of them," and he 

 thought he had made no mistake. Still, if it was not 

 the bird I wanted, he would rather I returned it, and he 

 would refund the money. I then wrote again, giving 

 him a detailed description of the bird, and quoted 

 several authors, and also drew his attention to the fact 

 that there is a coloured plate of it in Cassell's " Canaries 

 and Cage Birds." The reply was apologetic enough, and 

 '• it puzzles me 3-et to know how the mistake occured," 

 he wrote. The admission cleared the air, as it is only 

 human to err, so I kept the bird. 



Still trying, I wrote another dealer, who invites you 

 to "state your wants," in his advertisement, and he also 

 had a INIadagascar W^eaver. I called next day, and found 

 the man busy writing. He motioned me to a cage con- 

 taining Weavers, but there was no IMadasgascar amongst 

 them. On enquiry I learnt that it had been sold yester- 

 day. Of course it had : I knew that before I started out. 

 Hadn't he one that had not been sold yesterday .= No, 

 he had not. 



Now I have come to the end of my adventures— for 

 the present. The most irritating part of it all is that, 

 about three years ago, I could have bought a pair in full 

 colour, for less than T shall probably have to pay for 



