SOUTH AFRICA Ly 
everything was settled and I handed over the entire collection. 
Buyers flocked to the place to restock their war-depleted aviaries, 
so the birds were soon comfortably settled. The whole venture, 
if somewhat trying at times, had been a great success. I cabled the 
news to my brother and he, too, left with a consignment while 
I loafed in England. His collection was disposed of to the same 
firm, but as he decided to get married I made the voyage back 
to Africa alone and continued on my own account. 
This time I went to the Rustenburg district of the Transvaal 
and stayed on a farm doing most of my own trapping. I think I 
must have had a natural aptitude for keeping birds in captivity, 
for quite early in my career J found myself looking after a number 
of things usually regarded as difficult or impossible to keep. 
I stayed with the storekeeper, of German origin, who had sup- 
plied me with the birds for my first consignment. In his possession 
was a Gray Parrot whose powers of mimicry I have never known 
in any other bird. His best effort, when his cage was outside, was 
to throw out seed from his food-pot and cluck in the manner of a 
cock calling hens to some dainty morsel he has found. When the 
hens arrived he invariably went through the courtship display of a 
cock, spreading one wing and pirouetting in a half-circle, then 
giving vent to a lusty crow. 
Another amusing trick he had, when the storekeeper’s baby was 
nearby in its cot, was to mutter sweet lullabies in German, in the 
mother’s voice, until the baby went fast asleep. Then, as if pos- 
sessing a distorted sense of humor, he would let out a prolonged 
ear-splitting screech which was quite alarming in its intensity. 
This not only woke the baby but caused it to cry aloud, which 
always set dear Polly off into a fit of laughter lasting until mother 
came and quieted the two of them. 
I had an introduction to many families of birds, different species 
of which I was to meet in later years in other African territories. 
In setting out to trap these for the first time I learned a tremen- 
dous lot about their habits and their requirements in captivity. 
My collection comprised a number of beautiful insectivorous birds, 
and their arrival in England in tip-top condition put me on the 
map in the avicultural world, especially as they came so soon after 
the war when few exotic birds were available. 
