io6


even prettier bird, and sings exquisitely. In appearance, the Bulbuls are

not unlike the Bohemian Waxwing, with a black conical top-knot, cinnamon-

coloured backs, red-and-white or yellow-aud-white cheeks, and white breasts,

with some bright colour near the tail. The note is most liquid and

beautiful, and the bird has a pretty habit of varying the volume of the sound,

singing loudly in the open, and almost whispering its song to its master or

mistress if confined in a room. We might do worse than follow the example

of the Persians, and make the Bulbul our favourite cage bird, instead of the

canary.”


Mr. Cornish has a high opinion of the talking powers of the Mynah.


Our readers will be interested in the following account of a young

Razorbill, found “ swimming by itself in a small lagoon left by the tide off

the Norfolk coast. Razorbills are not common near this low shore, and this

young bird had probably come in pursuit of a shoal of fish, and had been

unable to find its companions again. In any case, it was quite alone, and

in the absence of any of its own kind, made itself one of a bathing party

of young people who frequented the part of the beach where it was

first seen. It allowed itself to be caught aud taken up to the house,

where, on the arrival of the elders from a drive, it was found in the stable-

yard, sitting in the middle of a large preserving-pan which had been turned

into a temporary stew-pond for a number of small eels, which the children

had amused themselves with catching when paddling in the stream the day

before. ‘It has eaten all the fish ! ’ was the first intelligence of the ways of

the new arrival; as a fact, there were one or two eels left, at which the

Razorbill, looking like one who had greatly dined, now 7 and then aimed an

apathetic peck. To be carried inland by children, and then, surrounded by

a whole family of humans, to catch and eat about twenty live eels in a

stew-pan, is good evidence of the confidence which those birds have in

man. From that day, until its lamented death, the bird was as much a

member of the family as the fox-terrier or the cats. Next da}’, it w ? as

carried down to the beach, aud placed on the wet sand by the breakers. It

waddled down to the w'ater, took a sw 7 im round, and came back to the

shore. This happened twice or thrice, and as it showed no disposition to return

to the sea, it was carried back once more to the house. Every day the bird

was taken down to the beach and set free, while the whole part} 7 bathed

from tents set on the shore.” For the further history of this strangely

tame bird, and its unhappy fate, we must refer our readers to Mr. Cornish's

entertaining pages.



CORRESPONDENCE.


THE REPRODUCTION OF BIRDS.


Sir, — I have been much interested in the July issue of the Avicultural

Magazine : it seems to me to be one of our best numbers.


I don’t think that Mr. Savage, or any one else, will ever rear Virginian

Cardinals on mealworms — they stimulate the old birds too much, and cause

the massacre of the nestlings.


Dr. Williamson’s article upon Ow 7 ls is most entertaining. Did his cat

really let the Owl ride on his back ? If so, he was a very uncommon cat.


The translation from L’ Avimilteur contains a greater number of

questionable statements than have ever before appeared upon a single

page of our Magazine. So far from sterility being the “ cause of serious

organic derangements” in captive birds, it is w T ell known that many species,

which seldom or never breed in confinement, are particularly healthy

and long-lived. For example, the Combasou and the Weavers. Food

is "certainly not “ the least important point ” in breeding. It is true that

some insectivorous birds, such as the Hedge Accentor and the Japanese

Robin, can support existence upon seed alone ; but the unqualified state¬

ment that “ an insectivorous bird will not die if fed solely on seeds,” is too

absurd to require contradiction. Will a Nightingale live for even a week on



