2 l6



Correspondence, Notes, etc.



Among the interesting additions during 1902 were a white

variety of the Weka Rail, six Ruddy Flamingos (. Phoe?iicopterus

ruber') from Cuba, two Mountain Ka-Kas ( Nestor notabilis), the

alleged Sheep-killing Parrot of New Zealand, a Great Bird of

Paradise (Paradisea apoda, see Avic. Mag., Vol. VIII. p. 245), a

Spotted Eagle-Owl ( Bubo matulosus, see Vol. VIII. p. 39), and

two Eastern One-Wattled Cassowaries ( Casuarius aurantiacus).


The following species bred in the Gardens during 1902 :


3 Black Swans, Cygnus atratus.


5 Variegated Sheldrakes, Tadorna variegata.


3 Spot-billed Ducks, Anas pcecilorhyncha.


5 Hybrid Ibises (between Eudocimus albus

and E. ruber).


2 Spotted Pigeons, Columba maculosa.


5 Graceful Ground-Doves, Geopelia cuneata.


1 Herring-Gull, Larus argentatus.


2 Jameson’s Gulls, L. novce-hollandice.


3 Glossy Ibises, Plegadis falcinellus.


3 Rosy-billed Ducks, Metopiana peposaca.


2 Swinlioe’s Pheasants, Euplocamus swinhoii.


1 Argus Pheasant, Argus giganteus.



CORRESPONDENCE, NOTES, ETC.


THE MISUSE OF THE MEALWORM.


Sir,—M ay I be permitted to make a few remarks with regard to Mr.

Phillipps’ note (p. 144) at the foot of my article on the Ruff, in which he

states: “Mr. G. C. Porter does not believe in the misuse of the mealworm,

which is just as he thinks fit, but his arguments to the contrary are not

convincing, etc.”


About last Christmas time, I visited the London Zoological Gardens,

and curiously enough, noticing several of these birds had not yet shed all

their nuptial plumage, I sought the obliging keeper of the Western Aviary

and asked him how he accounted for it. He stated that it was a most

unusual occurrence, and in his opinion, the abnormal season we have just

experienced would amply account for it.


Now this was exactly my opinion, and I would humbly submit that

this retaining of the ruff is not caused by the food supply, as Mr. Phillipps

supposes, but by the weather. The Ruffs in this Western Aviary get very

few, if any mealworms, yet several of them have almost exactly the same



