164 Sunhirds in Captivity. 



death. At the end of 1904 the monkey changed its home to 

 the Crystal Palare. where it was to be seen till recently, 

 labelled " presented by Master Hawkins." 



The little Purjole Sunbird did not live long after win- 

 ning the monkey, and this I put down to the failure of 

 our gas supply. The aviary was heated by some syphon gas 

 stoves, and one frosty night in March 1903, the gas went 

 out. It was not noticed at the time, and Ijy the morning 

 the birds had been submitted to severe cold and also to the 

 efTects of escaped gas for some hours. Both the Sunbird and 

 a Yellow -winged Sugarbird looked very ill, and both 'died 

 withhi two or three days, the Sunbird liaving been with me 

 for fourteen month*, 



My only other attempt to keep Sunbirds was in January, 

 190G, when I obtained from Mr. Hamlyn two male Malachite 

 Sunbirds, and a pair of Double-collared Sunbirds, which he had 

 brought with him from South Africa. They were unfortunately 

 in very poor condition, and tliree of them died Avithin a few 

 days. The survivor, a Malachite Sunbird, however, picked up 

 and soon commenced to sing, and I am confident it would have 

 lived and done well if I had not been foolish enough to send 

 it to the Crystal Palace Show of February, 1906, within a 

 month of its arrival. The poor bird was in very bad plumage 

 and got itself messed up with its honey and milk mixture. 

 I sent a request to the Show Manager to allow me to remove 

 the bird during the show, but it was against the rules, and 

 so many people were asking to see it. I believe it lived 

 throughout the show, but it arrived home dead I 



In spite of its wretched condition the judge gav^e it 

 first prize, but the award was most unpopular, a so-called 

 Black-backed Tanager in exquisite condition being the favour- 

 ite, and perhaps justly so under the circumstances. 



In the Avicultaral Magazine for April, 190(i, I sugg- 

 ested that the name Black-backed Tanager is wrong for Calliste 

 melanonota, the right name being the Black -shouldered Tana- 

 ger, as the true Black-backed Tanager is quite another bird, 

 namely Pipridea melanonota, a skin of which is labelled Black- 

 backed Tanager at the British Museum. My statement, how- 

 ever, was not accepted as correct. This, of course, was not 

 surprising, but as, later on, such an authority as Dr. Butler 



