THE



Avicultural Magazine


BEING THE JOURNAL OF

THE AVICULTURAL SOCIETY

FOR THE STUDY OF

FOREIGN & BRITISH BIRDS

IN FREEDOM & CAPTIVITY



Third Series .— Vol. XI.—No. 1. —All rights reserved. JANUARY, 1920.



THE PHCENIX


“ I will believe


That there are unicorns : that in Arabia


There is one tree, the Phoenix’ throne—one Phoenix


At this hour reigneth there.”— Tempest , iii, 3.


The Avicultural Society, seeking some emblem to symbolize its

activities, might well choose a Phoenix ; for as that legendary bird rose

reborn from its ashes, so does our Science—now no longer in eclipse,

no longer in pin-feather—soar upwards full-winged At the beginning

of a new avicultural year, with abundant record of good work behind

it, and free from the incubus of the War, the Society should adopt the

Phoenix as its crest.


The Bateleur Eagle figured opposite has been supposed to be the

original of the Phoenix. This smart little species, with maroon-

coloured back and tail and coral-red cere and feet, may usually

be seen and heard at the Zoo, uttering its cry in the early morning.

Thus in shape, colour, and habits it really does resemble the Eagle-

like Phoenix of Herodotus and others, which had golden or red plumage

and saluted the rising sun with a song. The Phoenix was reputed to

live for five hundred years ; perhaps this is a favourable omen for the

Society !


Those who have seen in Sir Harry Johnston’s Uganda Protectorate

the plate of a Bateleur standing with wings outstretched as it pins



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