on Aviculture at the Manchester Zoological Gardens. 95



aviary were in excellent condition, no doubt attributable to the

generous space allowed for exercise. Among the exhibits we noticed

Budgerigars, Cockatiels, a Conure, a Californian Quail, an Australian

Crested Pigeon, a Blue and Yellow Macaw, a Blue and Red Macaw,

a bright green Love-bird, a Song Thrush, a Saffron Finch, and a large

yellow Weaver. There was a good series of Psittacines in the Lion

House annexes, and we noticed besides some Macaws, the Greater

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Leadheater’s Cockatoo, Pennent’s Parra-

keet, Senegal Parrots, Black-headed Carque, and some Amazons.

In this building there is a long-tailed Glossy Starling, which

shows no sign of age though it has been several years in the

collection.


In another part of the gardens there is an ideal installation for

water birds. It consists of a circular well-grassed island, with a tiny

shrubbery at the top, which serves as a wind-screen. There are five

well-grown trees, including two weeping willows. The moat running

round the island is wide enough to allow plenty of swimming exercise,

and the whole is encircled with a neat, low railing. At present the ^

tenants are Demoiselle Cranes and a Flamingo. In the summer the

bright red plumage of the Flamingo made a beautiful and striking

picture, set off by the green grass and a vivid blue sky. Swans have

also been kept in this enclosure, where they are seen to great

advantage.


Not far off is the Ostrich House, a wooden structure with two

paddocks, containing an Emu and a very tame cock Rhea, which

feeds from the hand. The Pheasantry is divided into several out¬

door flights, each with an inner apartment, and contains Swinhoe

and Silver Pheasants; also a Gold-Amherst cross, Peafowl, and a

Crowned Crane. One compartment is reserved for Cormorants, whose

blooming plumage shows them to he in the best of health. The

Cabypbara shares his enclosure with an Egyptian Goose, and in the

Waders’ Aviary are Sarus and White-necked Cranes, a Violet Gallinule,

and Sea-Gulls.


Other interesting birds in the collection are a pair of Indian

Blue Magpies, very smart with their black heads and necks, azure

blue backs, long blue tails, and orange bills and feet. Alert and very

wide awake, they utter curious metallic, half-piping notes, flying



