Dr. Buss on sundry ivarblers and other birds. 299


he fled screaming. He disdained cats, and dogs usually gave him a

wide berth, though I doubt if he would have stood up to one, Kites

not being remarkable for courage.


Alas that I should have to write of him in the past tense!

He lived six or seven years with us, happy and contented and grow¬

ing in beauty with every moult. One morning he could not be

found, and though a hue-and-cry was raised and diligent search

made, it was not until a week later that his mangled remains were

found under a thick rhododendron bush. A mangy fox was the

murderer, and it was some small comfort to learn that he met his fate

the same day from an irate poultry-keeper, among whose birds he was

found. “Taffy” has never been replaced, but his memory is still

green and held dear by many friends who sincerely mourn the

beautiful, gentle creature and miss his engaging ways.



DR. RUSS ON SUNDRY WARBLERS AND

OTHER BIRDS.


By Dr. E. Hopkinson, D.S.O.


The following is a translation of a small portion of the

‘ Lehrbuch der Stuben Vogelpflege, etc.,’ which forms the fourth

volume (published in 1888) of Dr. Karl Russ’ great work on Foreign

Birds, ‘ Die Fremdlandischen Stubenvogel,’ which remains to date

the Encyclopaedia of all things avicultural.


The other three volumes deal exhaustively with different

groups of birds, vol. i (1879) containing the “ Hard-bills ; ii (1881),

the Parrots; and iii, the last published (1899), the “Soft-bills”;

while in the fourth the author covers the entire field of bird-keeping.


The extract here given is a translation of a few (commencing

on p. 470) of the 900 odd closely-printed pages the volume contains.

As far as I know they have never previously appeared in English, and

as they give an interesting, though perhaps rather idealised, picture

of the groups concerned, I do not think that the fact that they are

of enemy origin, need even to-day, debar us from any pleasure or

information they can give us.



