246 Correspondence. 



OBTAINING OUR SUPPLll':.^ ()!■ I'OK' ICKiN J'.IKDS I!Y HUMANE 



MliTlJUDS. 



Sir. — Now that the importation of fc^rrii^n \)\vd< has again become 

 possible, 1 have been wondering wliether the members of b'.B.C. cannot, 

 by co-operative action, do something to put an end to two very great 

 drawbacks attending avicuhure at the present time. 



(i) Tlie extreme difKicuhy of securing a greater variety of exotic species 

 for our aviaries ; there are liundreds and liundreds of lovely birds, 

 enn'nentlv suited for ihe ])nrposes of axiculture, and <[uite common in 

 their own countrw which are never imported, or oidy come over at 

 rare intervals, to b.e offered for sale at a])i)alling prices. 



(2) The verv great disadvantage and wastefulness of their sojourn in small 

 cages in the various dealers' shops, from win'ch many reach us in a 

 very unsatisfactory condition. 



We are just beginning to emerge from the era when every bird-shop 

 was a dirty, gloomy, stinking, disease-infected purgatory for its unfortunate 

 inmates, but the conditions under which liirds are caught and shipped are as 

 bad as ever. The actual catching is mostly done l)y natives and professional 

 trappers, who care nothing for the birds so long as they make something out 

 of them ; the travelling boxes are usually of .such a kind that it is impossible 

 even to clean them, and the care of the birds on the voyage is left to the 

 ship's butcher, who may know nothing about liis ch.arges, and has other duties 

 to attend to. Tlic result is that for every bird which reaches us, to gi\'e 

 pleasure by its beauty and interesting ways, many die en route. 



This state of affairs is most di.stressing to a true lover of birds ! It is 

 not inevitable, and it and the first-mentioned drawback could be eliminated if 

 the members of F.Ii.C. could agree to club together and finance expedit'ons, 

 where the collecting was done by really humane and experienced bird-keepers, 

 whose salary did not dejiend on the number of birds thev brought back. 



The superiority of the special expedition over the ordinary trade 



channels as a means of securing rare birds has .already been abundantly 



demonstrated, and the appointment of the right kind of men as collectors 

 would rule out the cruelty element altogether. 



T should be plc;ised to hear the views of members upon the above. 

 Tlavant, November 4th. iqtq. (Till' M AROUl.'^ f)F) T.WISTOCK, 



