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length, but noticeably .shorter than the narrow-billed males:

now if a young bird did not acquire its full adult colouring in

any species, and was found to be constantly smaller and with a

broader bill, it would not be surprising if it were regarded as a

well defined distinct species.


So far as I have examined them, I should assume that in

the Coi-vidce the form of the bill is the reverse of that in the

Turdidce, the male bill being broader and shorter than in the

female; whereas in Gymnorhina, the group of so-called Piping

Crows, the male has the longer and more slender bill.


Aviculture and scientific ornithology should walk hand in

hand, as twin studies ; each is of importance to the other. The

study of the soft parts cannot be pursued in the cabinet, only in

life ; and in many instances the colours of these parts have been

incorrectly described ; either owing to the neglect or careless¬

ness of collectors, or to the attempt to reconstruct the living

colouring from skins. Perhaps one of the most remarkable of

these errors, frequently repeated, is that relating to the colour of

the iris in the young and adult of our common Jay ; a young

bird which I received as a nestling some years since had pale

blue eyes (just as the young of many other animals have) but

these changed to vinous brown with the first moult, and are of

that colour to the present time: that this is the correct colouring

has been since confirmed by the observations of other avi-

culturists ; and that this colouring should have been reversed in

text-books, is sufficient to prove that the study of living birds

is as much a branch of ornithological science, as the study of

bird-skins.



THE HARMLESS NECESSARY DEALER.


By the Rev. C. D. P'arrar.


What the dealer wants to be is what they call in Africa “ a

devil man.” He must betray no weakness, but possess a character

which I should describe as a compound of Cardinal Richelieu,

Brutus, Julius Caesar, Prince Metternich, and Mezzofanti: the

better to carry on “ the bird dealer language ” part of the

business. He must stand no nonsense, and strictly adhere to

the motto “No admittance here except on business.” This may

cause unpleasantness, but in the end the dealer will flourish and

be regarded as “ a devil man.”


The shop I have in my mind is a typical one : the space

all round the walls is lined with store cages, thus enabling the



