82



Review.



Moreover, in the autumn of 1896 one of my Goldfinches

moulted out with a golden instead of crimson face, and the late

Rev. H. A. Macpherson assured me that this was a common occur¬

rence in captivity. Now, the moult being completed, this colouring

should have been retained if the feathers were physiologically dead;

but, as a matter of fact, it was very gradually replaced by crimson ;

just as the buff on the heads of the young Grey Cardinals slowly

assumes the scarlet hues of the adult plumage. The change of

colour in the bill develops much more rapidly in some individuals

than in others, being perhaps affected by their condition of health.


Lastly, I cannot regard the presence of sheathed feathers

scattered over the body, in birds so combative during the breeding-

season as males of Pyromelana are well known to he, as conclusive

evidence of a general moult; I should rather consider them as

replacing those which had been plucked out. Of course I may be

wrong, but why, then, have solitary males in my aviaries not exhibited

a similar condition ?



REVIEW.


BIRD PROTECTION IN EGYPT.*


The Egyptian Government has been well advised in issuing

the pamphlet before us. Written by two members of our Society, it

gives the names—English, French, Arabic, and scientific—of the

principal species protected by law, with concise descriptions of

plumage and markings. Numerous coloured illustrations, reproduced

by the Survey of Egypt, accompany the text and add considerably to

its value. It is, indeed, fitting that this work should he connected with

our Society; for to every bird-lover aviculture is by no means limited to

the mere keeping of pets, but embraces a field that widens almost daily.

Especially are we interested in bird protection, for if all the birds

were destroyed there would be none, indeed, for our aviaries.


Even the very names given in this publication are interesting.

Some are obviously derived from the cry of the bird they designate—



‘ The Principal Species of Birds Protected by Law in Egypt,’ by Capt. S. S.

Fi.owek and Mr. M. J. Nichole. Cairo: Government Press. P.T. 5.



