THE



201



Hvicultural flfoagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCI ETY.



7 hird Series —VOL. II. — No. 7. — AlL righis reserved.



May, i9ii.



THE PURPLE SUN BIRD.



[We have received the following notes oil this bird, which forms our

frontispiece for this month, from Mr. C. T. Maxwell, whose success in keep¬

ing these delicate birds is well-known. Ed.]


Sir, — I am indeed pleased to bear that you contemplate

giving an illustration of my Purple Sun Bird in the Avicultural

Magazine. I have had the bird now about a year; it came into

my possession out of colour, and apparently a young one.


My method of feeding this and all the more delicate Sugar

Birds is to place as much Mellin’s Food as can be heaped up on

a salt spoon into a cup, and then pour on to it about a quarter of

a pint of boiling water and well stir, then add a salt spoonful of

honey and a good tablespoonful of Nestle’s milk, again well

stirring together. After first putting a little crumbled stale

sponge cake into each bird’s food pot I fill it up with the above,

which is sufficient for about eight birds. For fruit my Sun Bird

likes nothing so well as Tangerine oranges, and I endeavour

to get these nearly all through the year.


I keep it in a cage, about two feet long, in which it seems

perfectly happy and contented, singing lustily—for it has an

extraordinarily loud song for its size—whenever the weather is

at all bright.


I know of hardly any desirable bird, if any, to equal it for

exquisite beauty and adaptability to cage life ; but of course it

needs great care, and I have found specimens most difficult to

obtain, if it were not so the charm of possession would diminish

infinitely. C. T. Maxwell.



