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very severe weather of January and February, 1895, though we

were reduced to very great extremities once, by inability to

obtain live fish, and the birds’ reluctance to eat anything else,

even dead sprats being carried about and only eaten at last in

desperation.


Eventually, rats found their way into the aviary, and both

my Kingfishers fell victims to their greedy ferocity.


It was a considerable time before I could replace them,

but ultimately I obtained a fine cock bird which soon made

himself at home, and so much so, that he will not brook the

presence of a companion, and has killed off three in rapid

succession. As I have mentioned in a previous communication,

this propensity is one of the greatest difficulties the aviculturist

has to contend with.


But it is not the only one. Among the birds that I

obtained after the rats had been disposed of were two or three

various Gulls and a pair of Tesser Bitterns—most interesting but

retiring birds, these latter. They all evinced a marked preference

for live minnow over raw beef, and there was soon a race among

them which could secure the bowl first. The poor Kingfisher

had hardly a look in, for if he got a fish he had to carry it away

and kill it before he could swallow it; the others just sailed

around the pan or sat on its edge and gorged themselves so long

as there was a fish left—110 wonder that the fecundity of fish has

to be so remarkable !


The Gulls being pinioned and only able to swim were soon

circumvented, but the Bitterns were quite a different kettle of fish.

They flew on to the edge of the pan, and being extraordinarily

light for their apparent size, could balance themselves there

without oversetting it. The addition of a sloping coronet of net

wire did not trouble them—they stood upon it with their big

spreading feet, and stretching out a telescopic neck from between

their high shoulders, reached out the fish without difficulty.

Finally, it was found necessary to cut a wing, which completely

cowed the birds and rendered them more retiring in their ways

than ever. I never saw birds so spoilt by the operation.


The Kingfisher itself is an interesting bird, altogether

beyond the beauty of its plumage. We have no other bird in the

aviary that attracts so much attention from the general public.

It is, however, extremely dirty in its habits, and in that respedt an

undesirable inmate ; but this renders it a suitable companion

at least for Gulls. It is a difficult bird to cater for, and eats

voraciously, diving into the bowl and fetching out two or three fish



