338 Notes on Birds and Aviculture in Portugal.


(the red-legged kind) also abound. The “ Alemtejo ” seems to

produce a larger kind of Partridge than those that inhabit the

rest of Portugal. At a bird-show recently held here I saw a pair

of them, and was much struck by their size and really fine

appearance.


Aviculture asascieuce is still in its infancy here in Lisbon.

Bird-shops are not wanting, and I must add they are clean and

singularly free from the unpleasant odour which makes a pro¬

longed stay in such establishments in England, to say the least,

undesirable, and one can see that the birds are well kept and

attended to. The drier climate and greater amount of sunshine

probably contributes to this satisfactory state of things. But

when one seeks for the varied kinds of seeds for one’s pets, so

easy to procure in England, one is doomed to disappointment.


Lisbon boasts of a population of about half-a-milion ; yet,

in a city of this size, it is impossible to obtain any of the ordinary

white French millet so common with us; I actually had to send

to Oporto for some, where it is sold. Spikes of the brown millet

are likewise conspicuous by their absence, Dari is simply un¬

known. As to special mixtures for Doves, Finches, or other

birds, you are simply stared at as eccentric it you do but ask for

them.


I may include in the same vast catalogue of “ necessaries”

that are “wanting”: flint-grit, calcined oyster-shells, nesting

material, ants’ eggs, soft-food mixtures and numberless other

articles which I cannot recall to mind at the moment, but that

I have to find substitutes for constantly.


The seeds that can be obtained aie the following: Wheat,

Indian corn (but never crushed), hemp, Canary seed, rice, and

the universal “ Painco,” that is the brown Indian millet, with

which all the smaller Doves, Parrakeets, or African Finches are

fed. Lastly, there is “Limpadura”—mill sweepings—which

contains tares and many other wild seeds that grow in the

wheat, barley or oat crops. Of this I give a certain quantity

to all my Doves, even the small ones, mixed with the richer

seeds. But I always have to sift it carefully fiist, as it is full of

such refuse as husks, small bits of straw, much dust, etc.


So the aviculturist here has to exercise some ingenuity to



