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Breeding of the Pink-crested Touraco.



proached it was quite alert, fixing its beautiful golden eyes upon

the intruder. It IS A MISTAKE TO DESCRIBE THESE BIRDS AS

ASLEEP DURING DAYLIGHT, AS IS DONE IN BOOKS ON NATURAL

HISTORY. The resting attitude of Cuvier’s Podargus is entirely

different from that of a nightjar: the Podargus half stands, half

clings, pressing closely against the trunk of the tree in which it

shelters, whereas the nightjar squats ALONG the branch on which

it perches. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing—the writer

recollects a stuffed Podargus in a provincial museum which had

been mounted in a nightjar attitude—perched ALONG a branch—

by the taxidermist, who no doubt prided himself on his special

knowledge. The tongue of Cuvier’s Pogargus is very curious, like

a filament of horn protruded from the mouth.


In captivity, the present species may he fed on raw meat,

which should he previously soaked in water. It will also take meal¬

worms and cockroaches, and even houseflies, though the latter,

engulfed in its enormous mouth, recall the familiar needle in the

bundle of hay! When the beak is opened, the enormous gape

extends so far backwards as almost to appear to split the head in two.

If alarmed the Podargus elongates and stiffens its body, and thus in

its mottled plumage simulates the stump of a branch. The illusion

is perfected by the bird’s grasp of the bark, as it clings in a slanting

posture to the rough wood.


So rare is Cuvier’s Podargus in captivity that in many years

experience of European Zoos, the writer has never come across it.

Some ten years ago, however, a single individual was advertised for

sale in this country.



BREEDING OF THE PINK-CRESTED

TOURACO.


Turacus erythroloplius.


One pair of my pink crested touracos have nested, one young

bird being hatched, which lived until it was feathering nicely; but

unfortunately, I think owing to desertion on the part of the parents,

I found it dead in the nest on the 5th of September.


It was the size of a big thrush, with black down, and blackish



