148 



THE OSPREY. 



Still less is the fact that a Cypac/iis barlniliis 

 ill Switzerland or a Corviis coiax frequented 

 one secure precipice for a quarter of a century, 

 without any others of the same species beini,'- 

 seen, a proof tliat it was always the same indi- 

 vidual. Neither can we admit as more than 

 presumptive evidence the return year after year 

 of sucli a bird as the Miiscirapa ,iiiisolci to the 

 same nestin<^-place. To show how unsafe this 

 conclusion would be, Hawfinches {Coccolhraus/i's 

 -i'iil,!;aris) nested almost every year on a certain 

 boufi'li on an apple-tree in Norfolk, thouf;"h both 

 the old birds were frequently shot (F. Nori^^ate, 

 Norw. Nat. Tr. ii. p. 201), and therefore they 

 could not have been the same. 



In the same catepfory is the evidence of the 

 keeper of the Bass Rock who "recog'nized from 

 particular and well known marks certain" 

 Gannets for upwards of forty years. (Selby, 

 Brit. Urn. ii. p. 4S7). 



There are eight Orders of Birds about which 

 for various reasons I should like to say some- 

 thing before beginning my List. 



Passeres. 



In the order Passeres. with which the list com- 

 mences, 24 years seems to be about the maximum 

 in confinement, and only five in the list reach 

 that, l)ut six others get as far as 20. Several have 

 lived long enough to refute Brehm's opinion that 

 the smaller sing-ing-birds can scarcely live more 

 than ten years. Mr. Meade-Waldo's pair of 

 Ervthrosf'iza i:;ithai(inca even produced and 

 reared 22 young- ones in one season when they 

 were twelve years old, an instance of what skill 

 and care can do with cag^e-birds in a country far 

 colder than their own. As to how long the 

 Passocs can live in a wild state we are quite in 

 the dark, and must remain so apparently, none 

 of those in my list being wild ones. 



Dr. A. G. Butler has succeeded in keeping the 

 following Weaver-birds for nine years: — Foudia 

 mad agascarie lists, A'csacaiit/iis I'lniucn/issiiini. 

 Qiielca yussi, O. qucica, I^yromclana fraiicis- 

 caua. and /'. afra, and they were all two or three 

 years old when we first had them. Many other 

 small cage-birds, such as Lio/lnix tukus and 

 Sialia sia/is, have also been kept for about the 

 same period by Dr. Butler and other bird- 

 fanciers. The Raven's attribute of long life 

 dates to earh' times and have given rise to some 

 amusing stories. On the Faeroe Islands is an 

 old saying: — "A human being lives as long as 

 three horses, a Crow as long as three human 

 beings, but a Raven as long as seven Crows". 

 Willughby sa)'s their reported age exceeds all 

 belief, "yet", he adds, "doth it evince that these 

 birds are very long-lived" — having, it may be, 

 in his mind the (ireek poet Hesiod, who averred 

 that a Raven would live nine times as long as a 

 man. But neither Francis Willughby nor 

 Bacon nor Kj;erbolling, who says "Ravens in 

 confinement have lived over 100 years", gives 

 verified cases. Montbeillard is one who says it 

 seems well ascertained that Ravens .sometimes 

 live a century or inore, adding that in manj' 

 cities of France they have been known to 

 attain to that ag^e: probably an assumption 

 from the circumstance of a pair of them, pre- 

 sumably the same individuals, continuing to 



liaunt one rock or one eyrie for an indefinite 

 number of yeai .^, which is absolutely no i)rcjof. 



PSITTACI. 



Le Vaillant's oft-quoted anecdote of a (irey 

 Parrot, /'si/Incus critlianis. which liegan to lose 

 its memory at (i>», to nmult irregularly at ().s, and 

 to bec<mie' blind at 'Ml. and died at 'i.i'(Hist. Nat. 

 des PerroquetsI is probably true. These familiar 

 pets have repeatedly lived to be five-and-twenty 

 and scunetimes thirty, though the stock now 

 commonly imported are so unhealthy that they 

 die in two years. James Jennings refers to one 

 of seventy-seven; he does not say it was J'sitfaciis 

 rri/lniCKS ('Ornithologia,' ]). ,i'i()), but probably 

 such was the case. 



In 'The P'ield' of April 10th and 24th, 1860, Mr. 

 J. Jones and "W. H. M". wrote of a Cockatoo 

 of 70, and still alive, which announcement 

 immediately evoked a Scotch Parrot of 72 (/. c. 

 May ,Hth), but in neither ca.se is the name of the 

 species given — probably Cacaliiu i^alrrila and 

 Psil/afiis i-rilliacus are intended. 



The Ciicalnidir are indubitably long-lived, es- 

 pecially the familiar Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 

 which, chained to its stand year after year, 

 never seems to get older, and I have two other 

 credible records of this bird at iSl and 50. But 

 if the members of a certain family at Leck- 

 hampton, in Gloucestershire, are to be trusted, 

 a Cockatoo once lived 120 years ('Land and 

 Water', 1870.) The old sexton of Leckhampton, 

 whose veracity was supposed to be unimpeacha- 

 ble, told Mr. E. L. Layard he had liimself known 

 it "nigh 80 year," and Mr. Layard was not the 

 man to accept such a story witliout enquiry. 



Mr. Abrahams, the well-known dealer, commu- 

 nicated to Dr. A. G. Butler particulars of a 

 Surinam Amazon credibly believed by him to 

 be 102 years old. An Amazon Parrot well 

 known to Dr. W. T. Greene was more than half 

 this age. The Black Vasa [Coracof>sis] of Mada- 

 g-ascar has in three or four instances lived to a 

 good old maturity, one in the Zoological 

 Gardens, vouched for by Mr. Sclater, having 

 been there .54 years. In spite of all the.se in- 

 stances there is no real proof that the Psittaci 

 live longer than other birds; the only thing 

 they realh' do prove is that Parrots are easier to 

 keep ill confinement. See, for a curious Pari'ot 

 story. Humboldt's 'Ansichten der Natur,' i. p. 

 285. This bird remained the sole possessor of a 

 literally dead lang-uage, formerly spoken by the 

 Aturians. an Indian tribe in South America. 



Striges. 



Certainly Eagle-Owls (Bubo maxiinus) attain 

 a very g-reat age. as is befitting birds of such a 

 wise and patriarchal countenance! Theirlongev- 

 ity has been abundantly demonstrated by many 

 kept by my late father. Lord Lilford, aiul Mr. 

 Fountaine, but above all by Mr. Meade-Waldo's 

 marvellous old pair, now 68 and 53 years old. 

 What is very remarkable and an extraordinary 

 proof of vigour is that Mr. Meade-Waldo's Owls 

 have bred regularly since 1864, namely 32 years, 

 haying in that time reared no less than 03 

 young' ones. They are still in the best of health, 

 showing what care and personal attention can 

 do. But old as Mr. Meade-Waldo's Owls are, 



