ii9


invidious to select one name for special mention, still, I feel that

the hardest of the work fell upon Mr. Storey, and that it was he

who was the Secretary’s chief assistant, and without his aid the

Show could scarcely have been held.


It is satisfactory to be able to report that the Show

achieved its objeCt, and undoubtedly attracted to the Bazaar a

large number of people who would not otherwise have attended:

the “ gate-money ” was thereby considerably increased, and it

was not the fault of the Stallholders in the Bazaar if the money

expended by every visitor did not largely exceed the fee for

admission. It is to be feared that the enjoyment of those who

came simply to see the birds was considerably marred by the

Bazaar element, and especially by the touting for subscriptions

to raffles for articles which were invariably useless and not

always ornamental. The pertinacity of a few of the ladies,

although perhaps creditable to their perseverance, provoked

some unfavourable comments, and must have tended to drive

away visitors. One visitor from a distant county remarked that


he had always believed that touting at Bazaars in -shire


was carried to the extremest point, but that he found it still

worse in Brighton ! Although there was a very fair attendance

and over 1,000 people paid for admission in the three days, still

there were not nearty so many there as there ought to have been.

I lay the blame for the comparatively small attendance partly

upon insufficient advertising and partly upon the deterrent effeCl

of the Bazaar. After all, it requires more moral courage than

most of us possess to walk through a Bazaar, however much we

may want to see the birds. This makes me all the more grateful


to those who did attend. A good many members of the


Avicultural Society were present: for in addition to those acting

as Stewards I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Hopwood, Mr.

Frostick, Mr. Fulljames, Mr. Norman H. Jones, and Mr.


Maxwell, and possibly some others whom I have for the


moment forgotten.


After this long preface, I propose to put down a few notes

about the birds exhibited.


Class i (Goldfinches) contained eleven entries. One bird

was disqualified as a foreigner ; and another marked “ wrong

class” because it was a Cheverel, the Judge being of opinion

that it should have been exhibited in the Class for Pied, Albino,

and Rare-feathered specimens. The Cheverel Goldfinch is such

a well-known variety that it seems to me it can scarcely be

considered a rare-feathered bird ; moreover, in my opinion, as the

Class was open to all British Goldfinches, even an Albino might



