168 Some Interesting Birds. 



ing into a line of flue nets, they were wonderfully quick at 

 slipping under the nets; one really ought to have set the nets 

 right on the ground for them but that means a great deal of 

 clearing. The third died because he was the third, and the 

 pair (now in the possession of 'Our memT^er, Lord Poltimore) 

 objected to his presence in the same cage. As a rule this 

 class of bird do well enough together, though the pairs do 

 keep together in the aviary. In 'the wild state a flock runs 

 from a dozen to twenty birds, but I fancy that they keep to 

 their pairs. It is a very hard bird to describe briefly. Most 

 of the feathers of upper parts and breast have black centres 

 of varying sizes and shapes on a background varying from 

 chestnut to ruious, and from pinkish to grey. The wings 'and 

 tail contain slaty blue with a liberal display of bright golden 

 yellow. A very desirable bird. Length about 10 inches. 



All the four above-mentioned are, I believe, new to 

 English aviculture, as is also the charming and teautiful 

 Eastern Variegated Laughing -Thrush (T. variegatum), a pair 

 of which I caught in Bakloh and brought home; these are 

 now in the possession of our member Mr. Shore -Baily. I also 

 brought home a pair of the Himalayan Streaked Laughing- 

 Thrush {T . lineatum), and I rather regret having left a pair 

 of the well-known Kui'ous -chinned in Lahore. 

 To be continued. 



British Owls. 



By Frank Dawson-Smith. 

 The majority of people who go in for aviculture give 

 the Owl family " a miss in baulk," owing to the prevalent idea 

 ^hat these birds are troublesome, uninteresting, and difficult 

 to cater for. iMy own personal experience, however, is strongly 

 opposed to these ideas. In my opinion an Owl makes a nice 

 pet— quaint and interesting, and, provided one lives in the 

 country, easy to keep. For obvious reasons it would l>e un- 

 wise to attempt keeping an Owl in a town; for one reason, 

 one's neighbours might strenuously object to the serenade 

 they perform at times 1 It may interest some Bird JS'ofcs 

 readers to know my experiences in keeping Owls of difleretit 

 species. This article, being on the subject of British Owls, 



