344 Some Foreign Birds I have kept. [Sess. 
widening, and under its influence in a few short years the 
simple legends of natural history,—the peculiar heritage of 
country children,—which have passed from generation on to 
generation, will gradually fade out of memory. It was only 
last summer that, listening to some children playing among 
themselves, I heard one being scolded for having killed a 
red spider, or “red sodger”—for in their innocence they 
believed that its slaughter would be followed by a “sunny 
shower.” And who would like altogether to see such simple 
stories die out. Do we not rather like to picture the times 
such as are described by Longfellow in “Evangeline,” when 
the old notary in amusing the children told— 
“How on Christmas Eve the oxen talked in the stable, 
And how the fever was cured by a spider shut up in a nut-shell, 
And of the marvellous power of the four-leaved clover and horse-shoe.” 
X.—NOTES ON SOME FOREIGN BIRDS 
I HAVE KEPT. 
By Mr G. M. BROTHERSTON. 
(Read March 26, 1902.) 
I WIsH to-night to exhibit several foreign birds which I have 
kept, and to make a few remarks or notes on them. The first 
bird to which I will draw your attention is the Pekin robin 
(Liothri« luteus). It is called by dealers the Sun-bird, Lesser 
Pekin nightingale, or Japanese nightingale. The German 
name is “Sonnenvogel.” This bird is a little larger than a 
cole tit. The back is olive brown, changing to an olive- 
yellowish tint at the head, and to greyish brown at the 
sides. The throat and breast are dark; each wing-feather 
is edged with bright deep orange colour. The female is very 
similar to the male, and only to be distinguished by the orange 
tints being a shade less deep and a trifle less spread over the 
breast. China, Japan, and the Himalayas are the home of 
this bird. In India he is seldom found at a lesser altitude 
