A rare Amazon.



133



“ When a bird over-eats it is generally due to enteritis. I

believe the poor wretch imagines that eating will cure the pain. At

such times a few grains of Epsom salts dissolved in the drinking-

water are more likely than any other remedy to restore it to health.”]



A RARE AMAZON.


By Allen Silver.


A I'are Amazon came to the London Docks some time ago.

It is not in Reichenow and I have not seen it; the owner, who

knows his Amazons and has had most species through his hands

alive, is not sure of it. From what I could make out it is the

Guatemalan species.


I remember getting a Cayman some years ago. No one knew

what it was; hut, curiously enough, a friend bought the companion

bird and at last got hold of a Cayman skin, so that we were able

to satisfy ourselves as to what it was. It was such a noisy brute

that I gave it to the Zoo, because, being in rooms at the time, it

was awkward to keep.


[We would urge all members having rare birds to preserve

the skins after death, as such specimens are very useful for reference,

and of enhanced value if presented to some public institution, where

they can be studied by all. Thus the rare Lesson’s Amazon formerly

belonging to Mr. Astley was presented by its owner to the Leicester

Museum, where it still is, its rarity still commanding interest, and

after death forming an attractive addition to the bird series of the

Museum. Similarly at the Zoological Gardens a number of skins

are presei'ved for reference; while in the great Zoological Park at

New York not only are the bodies skinned by the taxidermist, but

the carcases are used for pathological research.—G. R.]



