7i



food containing ants’-eggs and a little, but not too much, egg.

The chief danger is that the bird should become too fat, there¬

fore the food should not be so appetising as to induce him to

over-eat himself—and the more he confines himself to fruit and

sop the less danger there will be of fits. Give a few mealworms

now and then—but the Blackcap is not very keen on them, and

almost any other kind of live insedt is more wholesome.


I do not know why Dr. Bradburn made the astonishing

statement that the Blackcap is “ a very much more delicate bird

than the Nightingale.” This is not my experience, nor that of

other aviculturists with whom I have discussed the point. Dr.

Bradburn, however, appears to recommend that the bird should

be fed just like the Nightingale, that is, mainly on ants’-eggs.

Now, I have never found the Blackcap to be fond of ants’-eggs,

and can quite believe that on such a diet he would not live long.


The female is readily distinguished from the male by a

reddish brown colour of the head—in fact, it is not a “ blackcap ”

at all.


A hand-reared Blackcap makes a most charming pet, but

is generally less robust than wild-caught specimens (a).



CORRESPONDENCE



THE “ LONG-TAILED COMBASOU.”


Sir,—I have pleasure in giving the fullest particulars possible, but as

the bird is now “ out of colour” I cannot make so complete a reply as I

could wish.


Our member Mr. Maxwell was the first owner of the bird, after the

dealer, and he bought it as a “ Paradise Combasou,” and entered it as such

at the February Show at the Palace, 1898, The bird’s tail was lost in

catching him out of the aviary, so the entry was marked absent.


I am sorry that I have not a very distindt recollection of the bird’s

plumage when “in colour,” but as my present collection numbers some

four hundred birds, and the bird in question is one of about a hundred

flying about in a very large aviary, I trust I may be excused.


Mr. Maxwell informs me that the bird has only two long tail-feathers

when in full plumage. To the .best of my recollection, the bird had, when

in condition, a reddish beak, and no white whatever in his plumage. Out

of colour, he is only to be distinguished from a Paradise Whydah in the

same condition by his red legs and smaller size.


In the hope that the exhibit may be of interest to our members, I

have entered the bird for the forthcoming Palace Show, and after the Show



(a). I quite agree with all that Mr. Perkins has written respecting this bird. I

should say that there was no difficulty in keeping a Blackcap, and though I should

not give sop myself, I daresay it would answer if frequently changed.—A. G. B.



