195 



Hbout (BoulMaus. 



By Capt. PKRREAU, 2/4th Gurkha Rifles. 



IN Chitral in December, 1902, a Commissariat Agent 

 was going down to Calcnttaon two months leave, 

 and asked me if he could bring me back any- 

 thing. My thoughts immediately flew to Zebra 

 Finches, which I had been trying to get for some time 

 back, so, giving him a note to Baboo Saiiiyal of the 

 Calcutta Zoo, my commission was two pairs of Zebra 

 Finches. 



The Agent returned in the beginning of March 

 after a very bad crossing over the Lowari Pass 

 (10,000 feet), where he was delayed by snow storms. 

 No Zebras were procurable, but he hoped that" the 

 birds he had bought would please me. These birds 

 were a pair each of Red and Black-headed Gouldians. 

 I thought they were lovely birds ; I did not know then 

 what a really good Gouldian can look like, and these 

 birds were really very good considering their trying 

 journey, better in fact than any I have since bought. 

 Still my feelings were somewhat akin to awe as to my 

 ability to keep them alive and well, and I almost 

 wished that Zebras had been procurable. I had seen 

 Gouldians many years ago at Zoos, not in the best 

 condition, and I was told by the Agent that canary 

 seed was all that was required. Beyond this the only 

 ideas I had with regard to them were that Gouldians 

 were expensive, delicate, and required a high tempe- 

 rature. But I also knew that their price had dropped 

 considerably in the last few years and that many birds 

 formerly considered delicate were hardier than was 

 supposed. When I thought of their trying journey, 

 three days by rail and 14 by road, I cheered up a bit, 

 especially when I remembered the bitter cold they had 

 been through in a small open bamboo cage. 



Still the food question rather worried me, as I 



