34



Dr. A. Gunther,



NOTES ON SOME BIRDS IN CONFINEMENT,


ESPECIALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR AGE.

By Dr. A. Gunther, M.A., F.R.S.,


Hon. M. Avic. Society.


All Aviculturists will have studied with interest our

Editor’s long list of birds, of which he was able to indicate from

his own experience the ages to which they have lived in confine¬

ment (Avicultural Magazine, igio, p.p. 259, 299). I accept, with

pleasure, his invitation to contribute some of my records, aud

hope that other aviculturists will do the same.


Considering the great variety of factors, by which the limit

of life of captive birds is determined, generalisation from isolated

experience is not of great value, and the more numerous the

observers are who would contribute to the enquiry initiated by

Mr. Bonhote, the nearer and sooner we should arrive at the truth.

Thus, although my experiences as regards the Wryneck uni¬

formly point to this species being unsuitable for confinement,

other aviculturists may have followed a different treatment with

very different results. I have kept many birds, but only a small

number at the same time, having made it a rule to attend to them

myself. Only of the most interesting did I keep more or less

complete records, and of them I offer on the present occasion

the following selection.


Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaus).


Once only I had the opportunity of rearing this bird from

a nestling. It was a historic specimen, being one of the two

nestlings figured by Gould in his “ Birds of Great Britain ” ; it

was barely a week old when Gould gave it to me. I had no

difficulty in rearing it, having a sufficient supply of moths,

beetles and mealworms, to which, after a week or two, I added

small pieces of raw beef. Being absent from home during

the day, I could feed it only in the course of the evening, giving

it one meal in the morning. But this was quite sufficient, and the

youngster grew into a very handsome (male) bird. He was never

confined in a cage, but was allowed full liberty to roam about in

my study, where he eventually selected the top of a bookcase



