40 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
this includes those who buy some newly introduced bird merely 
to keep it for the show-bench. Aviculture itself suffers from the 
sad fact that some of its adherents are people who simply must 
keep birds but who have only the vaguest idea of their pets’ 
requirements in captivity. The same food out of packets is given 
every day of the year with no thought that some variety might be 
beneficial. Often public sentiment is roused against the activities 
of these well-meaning people, which is not good for aviculture 
as a whole. 
The advancement of the finer side of aviculture is suffering 
through the breaking up of country estates, as many of the lead- 
ing exponents have been compelled to give up. There is still, 
however, a great interest in the keeping of small birds, and those 
that are kept under ideal conditions, as in most zoos, are probably 
better off than in the wild state. Longevity records in these institu- 
tions show that many small birds live for more than twenty years. 
It is the importation of birds that leaves much to be desired; 
many arrive sick through being overcrowded and not having 
expert attention on the way home. All too often they are written 
off as a necessary loss, in the same way as rotting fruit in a con- 
signment, and are doomed to a miserable end. It is the unscrupu- 
lous type of dealer who is mainly responsible for this traffic—the 
type who has no real love for birds but is concerned solely with 
his own selfish interests. He, of course, could not survive without 
patronage from buyers who are not greatly concerned about 
methods of importation so long as their requirements can be satis- 
fied at a reasonable price. 
Attempts to remedy this state of affairs have met with little 
sympathy from a number of aviculturists, mainly because putting 
the importation of birds on a wholly humane basis would in- 
evitably mean a slight rise in prices. 
For my own part I can say, with some pride, that I have never 
let such things as the saving of freight interfere with my deter- 
mination to keep everything in my charge in perfect health, and 
such things as personal comfort when traveling long distances 
on trains, or on stormy seas, have invariably been sacrificed to 
the welfare of my charges. In this way, I think I can say, they 
