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could not expect to be higher than third, considering that Mrs. Hobbs’

famous “Victor” was only second.


I quite agree that a Raven is not a cage-bird at all, and should never

be admitted into competition as such.


I must ask the privilege of replying to Dr. Butler’s remarks upon the

Weaver and Whydah class (No. 105). Dr. Butler, referring to my Giant

Wliydali, says, “ being a young bird, it has not yet attained its full

colouring.” This bird won 1st at the Crystal Palace in 1895, and was then

full} 7 matured — he cannot, therefore, be a young bird. My experience is

that the “colouring”-—by which I presume Dr. Butler means the shoulder

markings — deteriorates with age, not improves. The Crimson - banded

Whydah I have had since 1894, and he was in full plumage when I bought

him. He can scarcely be less than four years old, and his colouring gets

paler with each moult.


Further, my other Whydahs do not conform to Dr. Butler’s statement

that most Whydahs are in February losing their summer dress. My

Paradise and Pin-tail Whydahs were just coming into colour at the date of

the Palace Show, and are now nearly in full plumage.


Everyone will agree with Dr. Butler that “foreign” Bullfinches and

Goldfinches have no business amongst the tropical birds. Moreover,

wherever they are, they should be judged by the British bird judge, and

not by a foreign specialist.


The query by Mr. Seth-Smith, “ where are the pretty little Red-sided

Tits ? ” brings home to one the memory of lost opportunities. These birds

came over in considerable numbers in 1895, and could have been bought for

nominal prices. I bought two pairs, and I think my pair at the Crystal

Palace last year was the only pair exhibited at any show. One of my four

died, and the other three were improving daily, until one unlucky morning

when the door of the aviary was left unfastened, and they escaped,

together with some thirty other foreigners, not one of which I was able

to re-capture. I should be glad to pay several times the 1895 price for

some more Red-sided Tits, but I have not been able to find any since losing

my own. They are most interesting birds in an aviary, and after they have

got over their first troubles are not at all difficult to keep, always providing

the door is not left open.


Classes 112 and 114 were worth a day’s journey to see. Such a

collection of beautiful rarities was surely never before got together, and

fully proved that among the foreign bird owners there are plenty who will

exhibit their acquisitions for our edification and instruction if reasonable

classification and prize-money be offered.


Referring back to “ distinctive marks ; ” while I am sure it would be

the last wish of Mr. Humplirys to show his birds in “distinctive” cages,

yet I must take exception to Mr. Seth-Smith’s appreciation of the “ very

roomy cage” in which Mr. Russell Humphry's Garrulous Honey-eaters

were shown. I did not measure the cage in question, but it approached

nearer to the dimensions of a compartment of a railway carriage than to a

reasonable show cage, and in close competition would in some minds give

the impression that the cage unduly drew the attention of the judge. I

wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not agree with the too

frequently expressed opinions that judges are influenced by “distinctive”

marks, but at the same time, I would deprecate the showing of birds in



