BIRD NOTES ™d NEWS 



Circular letter issuctt (Quartcrlrj brj trje itogal ^orietrj for trje 

 $rotertton of litres. 



Vol. II.— No. 5.] 



London : 3, Hanover Square, W. 



[MARCH 25, 1907. 



WHERE BIRDS ARE TAME. 

 An Interview with Mr. Meade-Waldo. 



HE yachting expedition, covering 

 about twenty thousand miles,recently 

 enjoyed by Mr. Meade-Waldo in 

 company with Lord Crawford, took 

 the travellers to such exceptionally interesting 

 regions, from the naturalist's point of view, that 

 a book might well have been written to record 

 their experiences. In a paper read before the 

 Zoological Society of London, Mr. Meade- 

 Waldo roused much attention by his account of 

 the voyage and a monster encountered, and 

 the Zoological Gardens have been enabled to 

 add to their collection, among other acquisitions, 

 new ibises and bulbuls, strange pigeons and 

 penguins from remote islands, and birds of 

 brilliant plumage from the forests of Brazil. Mr. 

 Meade-Waldo was therefore asked if he would 

 not tell readers of Bird Notes and News 

 something about the birds seen in his journey- 

 ings, a widely different avifauna in both appear- 

 ance and customs from that familiar to the 

 dwellers in the British Isles. It was understood, 

 for example, that the yacht had touched at 

 a Guano Island, off Cape Colony, one of the bird- 

 colonies protected for purely commercial 

 reasons ; possibly the self-same island where 

 the diamond-hunting ship " Xema " was for- 

 bidden to land prospectors for fear of disturbing 

 the important Penguins ! There are several of 

 these islands under Cape Government ; they are 

 very strictly protected and watched, and no-one 

 may land without a special permit. Mr. Meade- 

 Waldo's party, not being concerned with 

 diamonds or having evil designs on the birds, 

 landed on Dessen Island. 



" The chief birds here," said Mr. Meade- 

 Waldo, "were of course the interesting Pen- 

 guins ; they were everywhere ; you could 

 scarcely set your foot down without inter- 



fering with them ; but the most remarkable thing 

 about them was their extraordinary familiarity. 

 Living without any fear of man they are abso- 

 lutely heedless of his presence, and will hardly 

 get out of your way." They were not, however, 

 so objectionably fearless as the Penguins of 

 Kerguelen Land, which are said to have attacked 

 the naturalists of the " Challenger" Expedition 

 so viciously that they had to be fought with 

 clubs. This Guano Island bird was merely 

 indifferent, familiar, and a little curious. 



" Besides the Penguins, which are all over the 

 island, are large colonies of Cormorants, and in 

 the midst of these the Sacred Ibis nests, ready 

 to make a meal from the young Cormorants. 

 The Ibis is therefore in bad repute and is not 

 protected, but the only effect of a raid upon 

 them is to frighten away the Cormorants, which 

 are much shyer birds than Penguins ; then down 

 come the Black-backed Gulls to make off with 

 the Cormorants' eggs or young ; so that the 

 interference does more harm than good. 



" Aldabra, one of the Seychelles group, which 

 we visited, is the only habitat of a member of 

 the Ibis family interesting on account of its ex- 

 treme rarity, Abbotts' Ibis. In fact, the island 

 is leased by Mr. Walter Rothschild for the sole 

 purpose of preserving this species and the giant 

 tortoise, of which it is the original home. There 

 are not more than about forty of these Abbotts' 

 Ibises, and they are utterly fearless of man 

 and stalk up to inspect him as coolly as 

 possible. They let you take them up in your 

 hand without a flutter, and peck in your pockets 

 to see what they can find there. When you put 

 them down they transfer their attentions to your 

 boots and peck your ankles. We found it 

 difficult to photograph them, because they in- 

 sisted on settling on the camera and examining 

 it. One person had to keep them at sufficient 

 distance while another tried to take their 

 portraits," 



