■exhibitors. Strictly speaking then, there is no such thing as a “ fancier ”

of British or foreign birds, for, with a few unimportant exceptions, those

birds are not bred for “ fancy ” points.



On the other hand, it is well to bear in mind that although aviculture

is a branch of ornithology, and an important branch, it is not identical

with ornithology; for classification, structure, and the habits of wild birds,

are not strictly within the province of aviculture. The aviculturist is always,

in some sense, an ornithologist, but the ornithologist is not necessarily

an aviculturist. Aviculture is the part and ornithology is the whole.

Unfortunately most ornithologists, in the past, have been ignorant of the

avicultural branch of their own science, but now there is good prospect of a

■change for the better in this respect, and one of the most important objects

of the Avicultural Society is to assist in bringing about this change. It is

■equally unfortunate that so many aviculturists are ignorant of all branches

of ornithology but their own, and this again is an evil which our Society

hopes to help in remedying.



The ignorance of some of the gentlemen who pose as judges is really

plienominal. After a recent Show an exhibitor enquired of one of these

learned persons why his pair of fine Saffron Finches had been entirely

ignored. “ Oh,” says the judge, “ they' are not a pair. That,” pointing to

the female, ‘‘is not the hen of that,” pointing to the cock. “They are two

different sorts of birds.” In this case the female was immature, and

therefore presented a greater contrast to the male than an adult bird would

have done. If the exhibitor had shown two cocks together he would

doubtless, under this judge, have been a prize winner.



CORRESPONDENCE.



THE TUI.


Sir, —I tried, time after time, to keep the Tui Tui or Poe or Parson-bird

in my aviary, but they invariably died very soon in a fit. The birds were

then rather dear, costing about £3 each, and I was determined- to succeed

if possible, but did not, though I tried every kind of food I then thought

suitable. Food on which Thrushes and Glossy Starlings did wonderfully

well meant death to the Tuis. Unfortunately I did not then think of

condensed milk : had I done so, there would have been a good chance, I

believe, of keeping alive one of the five or six Tuis which I had at

various times. When too late, I have often remembered the advice of a

very experienced bird dealer : avoid any too rich food if you want to keep

this pretty bird alive, and feed him on boiled mealy potatoes. I disregarded

this well-meant advice, because I thought mealy boiled potatoes could not

possibly contain sufficient nutriment for any bird. If I had occasion to try

again, I would offer the Tui as food a mixture of slightly' diluted condensed

milk and sponge cake and half of a mealy boiled potato. I should almost

be inclined to mix the potato with the condensed milk after a while and to

withdraw the sponge cake gradually. I found the Tui very fond of meal¬

worms, but this rich food is practically a slow poison for them.


Aug. F. Wiener.



