aviary : so that perhaps it would be as well to sink wire netting

round their cage, in order to prevent their possible escape. At

the Zoo they are kept in a large cage, in which several drain

pipes are laid in a heap of sand, which affords them plenty of

amusement, although of course useless if breeding is the object,

as the sand falls down as fast as they dig.


There is comparatively little else to write about this

mouth ; in cold and stormy weather birds are never seen at their

best, nor is the Zoo a very comfortable place for the onlooker.

The Uvaean Parrakeet, to which I called attention some months

back, has joined the majority. By the way, for those interested

in this bird, there is a short notice in Vol III. p. 130, from the

pens of the Hon. and Rev. F. G. Dutton and Mr. Phillipps.


The Bee-eater is still alive, but looks rather miserable in

a Parrot cage. I11 England we don’t understand the keeping of

such birds as they do abroad, where I have seen Bee-eaters,

Rollers, and Nightjars in good plumage and looking just as

healthy as in a state of nature.


At one of the Zoological Gardens abroad—I think Berlin,

but will not be quite certain—they have recently built a large

house solely devoted to the birds of the country, which promises

to be a great success ; I will, however, refer to it more fully next

month. At Hamburg they have also a house devoted to native

birds, and our Gardens might well take a leaf out of their book,

for I feel sure our native birds would be more appreciated were

they better known, and if it were shown that they could be

accustomed to a life of confinement as well as foreign species(c).


The Fish House is worth a visit to see a fine albino

Lapwing, which is of a pure white all over, except the under-tail

coverts, which are light chestnut ; the eyes are of normal

colour, but the legs have assumed the pink colour characteristic

of albinos.



CORRESPONDENCE.



DR. KARL RUSS’ WRITINGS.


Sir, — A mong the important works of the late Dr. Russ is one, not

alluded to by our mutual friend Mr. August Wiener, which (as it is the

latest, most up-to-date, and probably the least known of all his books)

should, I think, be called attention to.


After many years of study, this book seems to have been completed



( c ). I saw such a house at Frankfort-on-the-Maine in 1897; the birds were, however, too

closely caged.—O. E. C.



