191 



UraTv Ovvi.. (Mr. Beech). A remarkably fine (female) 

 specimen. The cause of death was violent and extensive 

 pneumonia of both lungs. They were almost completely 

 hepatized. 



Budgerigar. (Mrs. Toye). The spleen was enlarged, and 

 the liver was thickly studded with minute caseous nodules. 

 There were also some extravasations of blood on the 

 surface of the brain. vSepticaemia therefore was the cause 

 of death. This will explain the recurrent losses complained 

 of in this aviary. W. Geo. Cre.sweI/L. 



Xetters to the lEbitor. 



MR. FINN ON CHINEvSE AVICULTURE. 



Sir, — I have never posed as a traveller in China, but as 

 long ago as 1901, in a paper on " Cage-birds of Calcutta," in the 

 Ibis, I said, " Many birds are iniported from China, and come 



over in excellent condition The insectivorous 



birds are fed on shelled millet and small insects, mixed 

 together and given quite dry and plain ; they thrive excel- 

 lently on this diet, which is far better than the mess of ' satoo,' 

 and repulsive maggots given here." I have never stated 

 anywhere that the Chinese never give egg, nor that what they 

 did not know about bird-keeping was not worth knowing, nor 

 have I said anything at all about Japanese methods of feeding 

 birds, or about Chinese methods of feeding breeding finches. 



Dr. Creswell has not explained what he means by dragging 

 my name in in connection with Japanese bird-feeding, or by 

 exaggerating his " never" into " never by any chance." 



P'rank Finn. 



Valuable space cannot continue to be devoted to 

 correspondence so little edifying to my readers as this. The 

 above letter is admitted only to avoid any accusation of unfair- 

 ness, and not for its possession of any argumentative value. 

 It therefore will be the last. 



Mr. F'inn has never been accused of "posing" as a 

 traveller in China. The existence of a statement made in the 

 Ibis (a book I have never seen^ in 1901 is no proof that the 

 statement was not verbally amplified in October, 1903. No 

 one has ever accused Mr. Finn of stating anything "about 

 Chinese methods of feeding breeding finches." It was my- 

 self who alluded to that. If Mr. Finn objects to my "drag- 



