months mealworms are out of season, and without these it is

hopeless to keep insectivorous birds ou a sea voyage of such

duration.


I meant last voyage, to visit all the Australian Zoo¬

logical Gardens, and thought to have some pleasant recol¬

lections thereof. My first and last outing was at the Adelaide

Zoo, where I spent a “ woefu’” half hour; the ground inside

all enclosures seemed very hard and thoroughly dried up;

and about one-third of the enclosures were empty. As for birds

they were few and far between, and all , without exception, in a

miserable state. I have often seen them better cared for in an

East-end dealer’s shop.


One aviary contained about 30 of the Cockatoo family,

comprising Lemon-crested, Rose-breasted, Slenderbills, and

Leadbeaters ; another aviary contained a few Cockatiels,

Rosellas, Adelaide Parrakeets and Pennants ; another contained

three Blue and Yellow and one Red and Blue Macaws “ all in a

row,” depending one on the other for support on the perch, and

all in a half-nude state. The largest and most interesting aviary,

if one could centre a little interest in any of them, contained a

mixed collection of common Australian Finches and a few

Cardinals, with one or two Pectoral Rails and a few Plovers. Two

more aviaries, with fronts covered in, were shaped to imitate the

doors of a marquee drawn on one side, and the whole was painted

in a very inartistic way with broad bands of blue and white and

red and white, and contained a few Doves and Pigeons, and were

tenanted on the ground with an abundance of mice, which

seemed to attract more attention from visitors than the winged

inhabitants. A great deal of time and expense has apparently

been spent in trying to decorate the different houses outwardly:

for instance, a wooden house built to represent a cottage or villa,

and painted to imitate a brick erection with windows painted in

and curtains half drawn, and a miniature fence run round and

painted green—all seemed to be got up to please the juvenile eye.

I am sorry to have to write in such a deprecatory manner of a

spot where one would most expect to see the rarest of the rare

Parrakeets. After this experience I could not be tempted to

visit either the Melbourne or Sydney Zoos. I did visit the

Melbourne Zoo some three or four years ago, and it was then far

ahead of what Adelaide is now.


[We forwarded the sample of millet seed to Messrs. Sutton and Son,

of Reading, who very kindly inform us that the botanical name is Setaria

germanica —German, or Hungarian Millet.—E d.]



