THE



Hvtcultural flftagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VII. —No. 2. All rights reserved. DECEMBER, 1900.



THE L. AND P. 0. SHOW,


AND SOME THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY WHAT

I SAW THERE.


By Reginald Phillipps.


I invariably make a special effort to attend the London and

Provincial Ornithological Society’s Annual Exhibitions of Birds,

for they are always, I think, held from a Tuesday to Thursday,

thereby saving unnecessary Sunday labour. This year was no

exception, the Exhibition taking place at the Crystal Palace on

October 30 and 31 and November 1. I paid my visit in the

forenoon on the Wednesday.


The collection of foreign birds (there were also British

birds and Canaries) was not a large one, the withdrawal of Mr.

Fulljames from the show bench making a marked difference in

the number of the exhibits. Nevertheless, there was a very nice

little Show, placed in a snug place free from draughts, and part,

but not all, in good light.


Most of the exhibits were humanely caged (I inspected

only the foreign birds, and classes 51 and 53 of the British), but

I must except No. 2 in class 53, a fair Missel Thrush in a

regulation show cage so shallow that it could not but be restless,

and it could not flutter backwards and forwards without bruising

its flights. Can an exhibitor suppose that any judge would

award a prize to a bird in such a condition ! Not only is it

larger, but the Missel Thrush is a much more nervous and rest¬

less species than the Song Thrush, and requires a respectable

cage.


A few birds, not marked absent, I could not find ; and an

empty cage was a pathetic epitaph in one instance ; and plurals

in the catalogue were sometimes represented by single specimens.

Let us hope that the latter were but printer’s errors, of which

there were sufficient, such as “ Lui ” for “ Tui,” “ Lanceolated ”■

for “ Liueolated,” “ Blue-pointed ” for “ Blue-fronted, etc.



