The Red-Spotted Bluethroat. 51 



Mr. Reginald Phillips says: — "This bird is always to be found near a marsh. 

 What spot in the fjelds of Norway does not answer to that description ? It is 

 always heard on dry spots among short scrub, thoi;gh hardly ever among trees." 

 Avic. Mag., ist ser., vol. iii., p. 72. 



Why one hardly ever sees this lovely bird in captivity* is a puzzle which I 

 have never been able to solve ; not only are its plumage and song admitted to be 

 well-nigh perfect, but it is itself naturally tame and confiding. Gatke says, for 

 instance : — " If, during one's garden occupations, one pays no special attention to 

 the bird, or pretends not to notice it, it will for hours long hop around near one, 

 at twenty, fifteen, or even a less number of paces off, sometimes in rapid, some- 

 times in more measured leaps, catching insects the while ; at each of its many 

 pauses it gives a jerk with its tail, which it has raised above its wings, and looks 

 around with clear, dark eyes. If, however, it becomes aware of being watched, it 

 vanishes swift as lightning, in long bounds, under some shrubs or among some 

 bushes, only, however, after a few moments, to again make its appearance as 

 simple-hearted as before." 



As regards the practicability of securing plenty of examples of this species, 

 Gatke says: — "I remember one occasion, in May, 1845 or 1846, when there were 

 some sixty of the most beautiful male birds of this species, all picked specimens, 

 lying on a large flat dish in my cellar ; and I might easily have doubled that 

 number had I accepted all that were offered me on the same day. Aeuckens 

 obtained nearly as many, all these birds having been caught by boys, in nets." 



There is therefore not the least reason why this bird should not be as readily 

 procurable, and when reconciled to captivity, make as delightful an aviar}^ pet, as 

 the universall}' beloved Pekiu Nightingale (Liothrix luteusj : it ought to be quite 

 as cheaply obtainable ; possibly the White-spotted Bluethroat may be purchasable 

 from the Dutch dealers, but I never saw a specimen of a Bluethroat exposed in 

 the shop of any bird-dealer, either in England or on the Continent. Dr. Giinther, 

 the late keeper of the Zoological Department in the Natural History Museum, 

 informs me that he has had several Bluethroats, but he found them very delicate 

 and difiBcult to keep alive : this may perhaps be the reason for the rarity of this 

 species in the market. 



The Bluethroat is sometimes obtainable, for I know of two aviculturists 

 who have kept it ; Mr. Abrahams said that it had never come into his hands, 

 but Mr. Dresser informs me that he has seen it offered for sale in the market 

 of St. Petersburg. 



* An example of the Dutch race was exhibited at the Crystal Palace in I'eljruary 1896: it was somewhat 

 knocked about ; possibl3- freshly imported. 



