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Mr. E. W. Harper,



cake, also a little canar’y and hemp which they seem to enjoy, in

addition to this they have as much grass as they like to eat, a bit of

carrot, and any ripe fruit going, and, lastly, they have cocoa about

five o’clock; not a bad bill of fare either when one comes to think

of it.


If any one has been patient enough to read this account

of my lorikeets I will just tell them this : “If ever you want really

affectionate, tame and amusing birds, buy a pair of Swainson’s

lorikeets, but don’t blame me if their ‘ songs ’ get on your nerves,

just grin and bear it, they are worth it in the long run.”



THE BOMBAY BIRD-MARKET.


By E. Wm. Harper, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.


After an absence of about a dozen years from India, it was

with no small degree of pleasure that, having left British East

Africa thirteen days previously, I sailed into the splendid harbour

of Bombay early in 1915. When the usual Customs formalities

had been negotiated and hotel accommodation secured, it was not

long before I wended my way to the Crawford Market—a place

where everything edible in India can be purchased.


But the live-stock department, with which we are specially

concerned, is situate outside the main building. The old, long, low,

one-storeyed structure, which used to he devoted to cage-birds, is

now occupied by poultry and game-birds : turkeys, geese, ducks,

fowls, pigeons, partridges and quails. The new circular building

for birds, surrounded by its spacious verandah, is situate close to

the old one. It contains eight or ten lock-up shops, shaped like

the segments of an orange, each having its own share of the circular

verandah.


A stroll round the building revealed the following birds.

Commencing with parrots, the indigenous species included: Ring¬

necked, Alexandrine (Rock) and blossom-headed. Exotic: Green

and yellow Budgerigars, one Greater Vasa, one Lesser ditto, three

pairs of Rosellas, one pair of Many-colours, one or two Yellow-

fronted Amazons and African Greys, the latter being priced at £5.



