Our Coloured Plate. 77


OUR COLOURED PLATE


By arrangement with La Societe d'Acclimatation de France the

Council of the Avicultural Society hopes to be able to reproduce from time

to time plates of birds already published in the organ of the French

Society, which most of our members will have little opportunity of

seeing. For this highly appreciated privilege we are greatly indebted

to the Executive of la Societe d'Acclimatation, and more especially

to our esteemed member, Mons. J. Delacour, the distinguished president

of the section of ornithology of that body.


The plate in our current number is a beautiful representation of the

Long-tailed Roller (Coracias caudatus) in the possession of Mons. J.

Delacour, who gave us an account of it in our February issue for this

year. This Roller from Central and South Africa appears to be a rare

species in captivity. The Zoological Society, at all events, has never

been so fortunate as to secure it for exhibition.



AN APPEAL TO MEMBERS


The delay in the publication of this number of the Avicultural

Magazine, which the Editors greatly regret, is entirely due to there

being no contributions in hand at the time when the issue for May

was due to go to press. While gladly taking this opportunity of

expressing their grateful acknowledgements to the authors of the

articles above printed for their kind and prompt response to the urgent

appeal for " copy " that was made — a response which shows there is

no lack of interesting subject-matter to write about — the Editors feel

compelled to impress upon members the fact that they are both busy

men, with so many other calls upon their time and energies, that they

cannot undertake, in addition, the combined duties of editorship and

authorship of the Avicultural Magazine. While fully realizing that

" aviculture " has not as yet reverted to pre-war conditions, the

Editors feel sure that out of the several hundred members of the

Society there must be many with interesting items to record about

their birds, who from timidity or dilatoriness or the mistaken opinion

that the facts are of no importance or well known, refrain from putting



