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been destroyed, or whether they are not worth exporting, I do

not know : but I have come across them in the hands of private

persons, and not in bird-shops. I would much rather buy one

of these than a Blue-fronted, all other points being equal, but I

fear they are somewhat noisy. At present they are so seldom

met with that I should certainly advise any aviculturist who had

one offered him at a reasonable price, and had room—how often

one's purchases are stopped by want of that, even as much as of

money !—to buy it; he could always dispose of it, unless it was

wilder than any I have yet seen.


And so end my “Notes” on Amazons. I wish that

aviculturists who have kept any Amazons would take the trouble

to corredt my experiences and record theirs.



NOTES ON MY SHAMAH.


By Rosie Alderson.


When I first purchased my cock Shamah, rather more

than a year ago, his plumage was very ragged and the tip of his

upper mandible was broken off. His beak quickly grew again,

and he is now in lovely feather and song. Since I bought him

he has never had a day’s illness, so perhaps these few notes on

his diet may be of some interest to any member who is thinking

of keeping one of these delightful pets.


Every day in the morning “Phil” has a mixture of

bought insectivorous food, (I think it is only fair to the maker to

give his name—Mr. Arthur, of Melksham), and grated carrot ;

the latter carefully washed, and peeled thinly if the outside is at

all hard. During the first few months I tried crumbled sponge

cake moistened, as a foundation, but lound the carrot better. In

the afternoon, a few cleaned ants’ eggs, soaked in warm water

and strained. Of course, if the weather is hot, all the old food

left from the morning is taken away before it turns sour.


In addition to these, the staple articles of diet, “Phil” has

a variety of live insects that he greatly appreciates. Woodlice

can generally be found under old stones in rockeries, and, even

so early in the summer as this, an abundance of green aphides

can be brushed from the young rose shoots. We are the fortunate

possessors of a large garden, in one part of which, in summer, is

a long row of dahlias. On the stakes of these I place inverted

flower-pots half filled with crumpled brown paper, and these

shaken out every morning ydeld a rich harvest of scores of ear-



