THE PIN-TAILED NONPAREIL. 163 



twittering note, which they continually titter when roosting. At 

 Malewoon, and along the banks of the Pakchan, I again observed it. 

 The bird is only a seasonal visitant coming in towards the end of 

 November, and departing before the end of January, as soon as the 

 rice crops have been all harvested. The Siamese capture the birds by 

 placing limed twigs about the rice, but the birds do not thrive in 

 confinement." 



Wiener says : " In former times the Pin-tail Nonpareil arrived 

 much more freqiiently, and generally via Holland, but as the birds 

 mostly died after a few weeks, they acquired a bad reputation, became 

 difficult of sale, and were rarely imported. In the very earliest days 

 of my keeping foreign birds, I purchased a Pin-tail Nonpareil, and it 

 died after a few weeks. Regretting the loss of the handsome bird, I 

 consulted one of the most celebrated authorities on the subject of 

 foreign birds, and received the unsatisfactory reply that the bird 

 ' never lived in confinement.' Not satisfied with this negative 

 information, I set myself the task of discovering why this bird should 

 not live, and completely succeeded. It was easy to find out that the 

 Pin-tail Nonpareil lived chiefly on rice in his native Java. Cleaned 

 table-rice the birds do not care for ; but rice with the husk on, the 

 so-called paddy-rice, was accepted by them as their natural food, and 

 on that, with a little canary and millet seed the Pin-tail Nonpareils, 

 which were supposed never to live long, endured in my aviary for six 

 or seven years in perfect health and unimpaired beauty of plumage." 



That paddy-rice is good for these, and all birds that feed upon it 

 naturally, cannot be doubted ; but, unless a bird is received in good 

 health, its natural food will not save its life. In my opinion, the 

 death of these, and many other imported birds, must be attributed 

 principally to the crowded and unhealthy state of the cages in which 

 they are brought to Burope, and subsequent neglect when they arrive. 

 It is easy to discover (to use Wiener's own words) that many of the 

 Mannikins feed chiefly on rice in their native country ; nevertheless, 

 they will live for many years in perfect health without a grain of it ; 

 on the other hand, my Pin-tails which had plenty of it, died quite as 

 quickly as Wiener's first example which had none. My advice is, 

 therefore, give to this and to all birds, as far as possible, the food to 

 which they have been accustomed ; and, should they die, open your 

 birds and discover the real cause of death that way. As a rule birds 

 are fairly accommodating in the matter of food, but they object to 

 defective sanitary arrangements. The pair I purchased, in 1897, never 

 had a grain of rice ; for, although I sought far and wide, none was to 



