38



Dr. A. Gunthek,



Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla /Java, subsp. ?)


A female, imported from Russia; after having been kept

in an outdoor aviary for two years, was transferred to the

Zoological Gardens.


Tui (.Prosthemadcra n. Zelandicc).


When Tuis were brought to England more frequently

than they are at present, I obtained several, only to share the

common experience of aviculturists, viz., to lose them a few

months after they had been settled in their new home. The

birds became inordinately fat, lost much of their sprightliness,

and while seemingly still enjoying perfect health, fell into a fit

of convulsions and died. I had kept mine in a roomy, high

cage, allowed them almost daily exercise in a room, and fed them

on Abraham’s (the chief importer of Tuis) Insect-food with the

addition of raw soft fruit. Thinking the cause of the disorder

must be overfeeding, I finally reduced the quantity of food to

one-half, adding a small quantity of cooked fruit (in the form of

strawberry, or grape, jam). Under this regime my last two Tuis

survived two and four years ; and if I should ever again be for¬

tunate enough to possess a specimen, I should place it in a

covered out-door aviary. It would be impossible to give even a

vague estimate as to the age to which this species may live in

captivity in Europe, all the birds which I have seen having been

evidently adult when they were caught. Much as aviculturists

of the present day may regret its absence from the English

collections of living birds, it was a very commendable measure

on the part of the New Zealand Government to protect a type

of such great faunistic interest throughout the colony and to

prohibit its export to foreign parts.


Hoopoe {Upupa epops).


Old birds rarely survive the first year of their captivity

and retain their natural timidity and shyness, while young birds

taken from the nest, not only get reconciled to captivity, but, if

properly treated, become charming pets, which are never happier

than when in company of those who attend to them. Having

given elsewhere {Field, 1900, Jan.) an account of the habits of

this species in captivity, I have only to add here that of the



