70



Practical Bird-Keeping.



pond should be wired, and if the water can be given a serpentine

form, so as to ensure as much swimming exercise as possible, it will

be all the better.


I have always fed Grebes on fish, adding insects for Dab-

chicks, but I have seen the Great Crested Grebe recently kept in the

Wader’s aviary at the Zoo taking meat on shore, and even robbing

the Waders when they took a hit to the water to wash it. As

Grebes also take vegetable food, rice and chopped lettuce might well

be offered with advantage. An aviary is not a suitable place for

them, as they require water-range above everything, and cannot rise

on the wing in a small space, so they may as well he clipped or

pinioned, except in the case of Dabchicks when on water that is not

running and so liable to freeze. Divers and Auks could no doubt be

kept in the same way.


Among Waders, I took particular interest in the curious

Jaganas {Parridee), though my fondness for especially beautiful

birds led me to specialize in the Pheasant-tailed species {Hydro-

phasis chirurgus), albeit this is the least typical of its family, being

more Plover-like than the rest.


These I found lived well on boiled rice mixed with chopped

raw fish or hard-boiled egg, but soon became dry and cracked about

the hocks if kept long away from a pond, for they did not seem to

have the sense to make much use of a mere shallow tray of water.

In nature they keep mostly on floating vegetation, swimming occa¬

sionally but not often enough to keep their legs wet, so that this

peculiarity of the skin puzzles me. It indicates, however, that their

legs should be frequently wetted with fresh water in a travelling cage,

either by spraying or sluicing, or better by immersing the bottom of

the cage in a bath whenever possible. When established they should

be kept where they must wet their legs to get food, and ought to be

taken indoors in winter ; I fancy, however, that if the lot I sent to

the Zoo for the first time in 1901 had been kept in the excellent little

aviary in the Fish House instead of in the Western Aviary, they might

have lived longer. Combining the grace of the Crane with the size oJ

a Collared Dove, they are beautiful even in winter plumage, and in the

long-tailed summer garb so exquisite that they make the daintiest

ducks look coarse in comparison. Their huge long-toed feet do not



