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bird to keep, but the writer does not believe in “ difficult ” species.

He considers the food problem to be the key to the situation. The

longest duration of life recorded in captivity is two years, but in

view of the well-known longevity of its congeners this limit should

be capable of considerable extension. In confinement these parrots

have been fed on apples, grapes, tomatoes, oatmeal and water,

cabbages, and lettuce. This range of food, though extensive, bears

little resemblance to the diet of the wild birds—broom-tops, moss, and

bracken. Such wild food could be closely imitated in this country,

but whether British aviculturists will ever have any owl parrots

to experiment with is a problem that is indeed problematical.



NOTES ON HONOLULU BIRDS.


By Mrs. C. E. Maud.


Bird-lovers who come to the island of Oahu, on which

Honolulu is situated, are usually much disappointed at the few

birds to be seen. For, with the exception of mynahs and sparrows

in plenty, there are few others to be either seen or heard. Now

and again out on the plantations one may catch the song of an

English lark, or up the Nuuanu Valley on the golf links a Chinese

thrush lilts its throaty song through the late afternoon air.


At night, down on Waikiki beach, one hears the raucous cries

of a mud hen, and that is about all. These birds were all imported

here at one time and another, and before their advent there were a

number of varieties of native birds, all of which the Chinese mynahs

have killed off. At present, these aggressive and noisy birds over¬

run the whole place in partnership with the sparrows, with whom

they appear to live in comparative harmony, roosting in the same

trees and quarrelling over the same food.


The mynahs are pretty birds, with a brown body, black head,

wings and tail and white fan on tail and wings when flying. Their

eyes are yellow and they walk and behave much like parrots. Their

voices, while loud, are melodious, and they have an unlimited variety

of calls.


While walking out in the pretty little park beyond Waikiki, I



