26 



FOREIGN BIEDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



young bird in one mouthful. The first time that i 

 observed the old birds swallowing the insect* put into 

 the aviary for the benefit of the young one, I felt much 

 annoyed, as it was not easy work to keep up a supply of 

 insect food, even in the summer, in the suburbs of 

 London ; but presently I saw a convulsive movement in 

 the throat, and the in.-ects reappeared in the beaks ot 

 the parent birds, each of which in turn carried the 

 food to the nestling. The young bird left the nest when 

 twenty-three days old. I had been led to suppose that 

 he M'ould resemble the hen, but, in addition to his 

 greatly inferior size and spotted breast, he was alto- 

 gether of a far more cinereous tint. In about eight or 

 ten days he was perfectly able to feed himself, and the 

 parents then absolutely disregarded all his cries for 

 food." 



I found that my birds were unable to pass the winter 

 in an outdoor aviary without shelter ; two small shelters 

 were provided, which were taken possession of by the 

 parents, but the young bird, having no snuggery, died on 

 the night of December 9th, and upon a post-mortem 

 examination being made it was found that his liver and 

 splden were covered with tubercle. 



Dr. Russ in his big work OP cage-birds includes cer- 

 tain species of what he calls wood-singers, apparently 

 MnintUtuhe (a family related to our Warblers), which he 

 says are kept as cage-birds in the United States ; but 

 it seems to me that if all birds kept in cages in their 

 native countries are to be recorded as recognised cage- 

 birds there will be no limit" to their number; therefore, 

 until these birds are freely imported into the British 

 Isles, we must ignore them. 



WARBLERS (Syhiince). 

 Bush= Warblers (Cettia}. 



JAPANESE BUSH-WAHBLER (Cettia cantons). 



Above dull olive-brown, below greyish white. Habitat, 

 Southern Japan, visiting Yezzo in the summer ; also 

 Loo-Choo Islands. 



Seebohm says of this species : " In its habits it 

 evidently resembles its European representative, Cetti's 

 Warbler, being found along the banks of streams and 

 in brush heaps. It utters a harsh, scolding note when 

 disturbed, and has a Wren-like habit of cocking its tail 

 over its back. (Jouy, Proc. Un. States Nat Mus., 

 1883, p. 283.) 



Blakiston and Pryer state that it is a favourite cage- 

 bird with the Japanese, who value it for its song, which 

 is not extensive, though the few notes are sweet (The 

 /',;.-, 1873, p. 237.) 



Tliis species has been exhibited in the London 

 Zoological Gardens. 



MOCKING=BIRDS (Mimina). 

 Typical Mocking=birds (Mimus). 



COMMON MOCKING-BIRD (Mimus polyglottus). 

 This graceful bird is of about the size of an English 

 Song Thrush, but its longer bill, legs, and tail give it 

 more nearly the aspect of a Wagtail. Above it is 

 ashy brown in colour, the feathers having darker 

 centres; the under parts are white slightly tinted 

 with brownish, excepting on the chin, and with an 

 ashy shade across the breast ; there is a pale eyebrow 

 stripe, but the lores are dusky ; the wings are dark 

 brown, almost black, with the exception of the lesser 

 wing-coverts, which are coloured like the back ; the 

 middle and greater coverts are tipped with white, 



forming two bands ; the basal portion of the primaries 

 is white, this colour extending on the inner ones; the 

 tail is blackish brown, with the outer feathers white, 

 sometimes a little mottled ; the second mostly white, 

 excepting on the outer web and towards the base, the 

 third with white terminal spot ; the remainder except- 

 ing the central pair sometimes very slightly tipped with 

 white ; the bill and legs are black. The range of this 

 species extends over North America, from about 

 40 degrees, southward to Mexico, and perhaps to Cuba. 

 A warm climate and low-lying country near the sea 

 appear to be preferred by it. The food of the Mocking- 

 bird consists chiefly of insects in all stages, spiders, 

 worms, etc., and in the winter of berries of the red 

 cedar, myrtle, holly, etc. ; it is very expert at catching 

 insects on the wing. In cultivated districts it is very 

 destructive to grapes, of which it is extremely fond, 

 and consequently great numbers of these charming 

 birds fall every year to the gun of the fruit-grower. 

 The natural song of the Mocking-bird, as well as its 

 imitative power, exceed (according to Ridgway) those 

 of any other species, its voice being full, powerful, 

 musical, and capable of almost endless variety of 

 modulation. " The wild scream of the Eagle and the 

 soft notes of the Blue-bird are repeated with exact- 

 ness, and apparently with equal facility." The natural 

 song is bold, and uttered with rapidity. The time of 

 nidification varies, according to locality, from March 

 to June. The nest is constructed with a basal plat- 

 form of coarse sticks, frequently armed with large 

 thorns; its height is usually five inches, its diameter 

 eight inches, the egg cavity five inches wide, and 

 three inches deep. The inner^ nest is formed of fine 

 soft roots. The eggs number from four to six, usually 

 of a light greenish blue, but varying in depth of 

 colour, with yellowish brown, purple, chocolate, russet, 

 and black-brown markings. The nest is rarely more 

 than seven feet from the ground, and is placed either 

 in a solitary thorn bush, a dense bramble thicket, an 

 orange tree, or holly bush. In confinement this bird 

 is usually fed on a mixture of potato and egg, but I 

 give my usual mixture of breadcrumbs, biscuit, egg, 

 ants' eggs, and " Century Food," a mealworm or two 

 every day may be given, but caterpillars or spiders are 

 more relished. I purchased a Mocking-bird from Mr. 

 Abrahams early in 1892, and for nearly two years 1 

 kept him in a cage, where he got so abominably dirty 

 that, although from time to time he sang a little, he 

 was evidently not happy, and always looked disrepu- 

 table ; therefore in the spring of 1894 I turned him into 

 an aviary with two English Starlings and a pair of half- 

 collared Turtle Doves. In T/IK Feathered World for 

 April 5th, 1895, I gave the following account of the 

 result : 



" An aviary is certainly the place for a Mocking- 

 bird, but it must be borne in mind that he is essen- 

 tially by nature a mischievous fellow, fond of practical 

 jokes, and therefore a perpetual source of annoyance 

 to all the other inhabitants of his domain. He sits 

 quietly on a branch observant of all around him, look- 

 ing not unlike a huge, dusky Wagtail. Presently, a 

 hungry Starling or Dove flies down to the food-pan ; 

 but before it has swallowed a mouthful, silently and 

 lightly as a flake of snow, but with the rapidity of an 

 arrow shot from a bow, the Mocking-bird is upon him, 

 usually scaring him away by the very suddenness of 

 his advent. 



" The flight of this bird is one of its greatest charms, it 

 is so wonderfully easy and graceful. He seems to be 

 able to pause in the air almost with closed wings, to 

 turn almost head over heels without the least effort, 

 and without a single clumsy action ; but his song 

 well, it is only second to that of our Nightingale, not 



