5—EFFECT OF THE WAR ON BIRDS 
EIN©. CAPTIVITY, : -AND DURING 
SEVERE WEATHER 
IRDS in captivity became more and 
B more difficult to keep as the supply 
of cereals, bananas, eggs, bread, etc., 
were restricted as the War went on. Never, 
for example, were so many PARROTS freely 
offered on loan to the Zoological Society of 
London, and never were the offers so system- 
atically refused. Incidentally may I say 
that it was even more difficult to maintain 
the animals, and the more common varieties 
were reluctantly put down. The week before 
the rationing system came into force in Lon- 
don, on February 24th, 1918, the Society’s 
bull bison was killed and was apportioned 
out to the garden’s staff. In all the zoo- 
logical gardens in Germany and Austria the 
animals were reported to have been killed 
early in I9g16to save the cost of their upkeep, 
67 
