THE



Bvtcultural fllbagasme,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VII. — NO. 6. All rights reserved.



APRIL, 1901.



“ CHRYSOTIS BOUQUETI.”


By the Hon. and Rev. Canon Dutton.


The subject of the accompanying plate had not much to

recommend it as a cage bird, except its rarity. It came into my

possession almost accidentally.


It is always my custom, when anyone comes from a

parrot country to preach for Foreign Missions, to ask them about

the parrots of their country. Two or three years ago, in 1897, it

happened that Mr. Berkeley, from Barbados, came to preach. I

asked him about Guilding’s Amazon, which is peculiar to

St. Vincent. He told me that if I wrote to Canon Branch, who

is a naturalist, he might get me one.


The result of my correspondence was that one was got, by

a shot, I think, which brought it down without maiming it. But

just as Canon Branch was looking out a ship by which to send it,

the bird escaped, and soon after, Canon Branch left St. Vincent

for Dominica, and my chance of getting a Guilding’s seemed to

be gone. I say “ seemed ” because, as a matter of fact, Dad}'

Thompson, whose very interesting letters to her father, Mr.

Bosworth Smith, of Harrow, on the hurricane at St. Vincent,

were published in the “ Times,” offered me one later. But I

pointed ont to Canon Branch that if he could no longer get me

Chrysotis guildingii, yet there was a still rarer bird peculiar to

Dominica, Chrysotis auqusia, and I should be glad to buy a

specimen, if one was for sale.


I confess I expected to hear no more, and so was agreeably

surprised one day at receiving a letter from him to say his son

had shot an augusta without injuring it, and he would sell it to

me if I would like to have it. I struck the bargain, and then Canon

Branch asked me if I would also take a smaller parrot they had.

I knew bouqueti was also peculiar to Dominica, and asked for the

description of the bird, and as the description seemed to be that

of bouqueti , I agreed to take that too.



