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Mr. Hubert D. Astley,



very tame, after the manner of their kind ; but in an aviary they

are somewhat shy ; but only ‘ somewhat.’


I have not had these extremely handsome Rock Thrushes in

my possession long enough to be able to write much about them ;

as far as nesting goes, the hen was seen carrying hay about in May,

but she was not very serious over it, and if all is well we hope for

another year to bring more definite results in this direction.


Of course these Rock Thrushes are not true Thrushes, as are

the species Turdus (represented by our Song Thrush) and Merula (e.g.

the Blackbird) and Geocichla —the so-called Ground Thrushes, of

which the Orange-headed Ground Thrush is an example. The

Rock-Thrushes are nearer to the Chats and Redstarts : indeed the

European Rock Thrush (P. saxatilis ) much resembles, in his move¬

ments, a large Redstart, quivering the tail in exactly the same

manner. The Italians call him ‘Codirossone,’ which signifies the

Great Red-tail, in distinction to ‘ Codirosso,’ which is the Common

Red-start; the termination ‘ one ’ meaning something large.


Major Perreau brought a pair (?) of the Chestnut-bellied Rock

Thrush to England in March, and Mr. Frost (in Major Horsbrugh’s

collection) also imported one or two.


These Rock Thrushes, if kept in a cage, need exercise, a daily

bath, and a good insectivorous food, with fruit mixed in it, and fresh

insects. In this way, I kept a European Blue Rock Thrush for

thirteen years. I believe that my birds, and the pair that went to

the London Zoological Gardens were the first to be imported alive,

probably to Europe, and certainly into England.



SUN-BIRDS.*


By Hubert D. Astley.


With the advent of the beautiful Himalayan Yellow-backed

Sun-birds (Gdtliopyga seherice ) which Major Horsbrugh imported, we

aviculturists, now that we have discovered how easily they can be

kept, when once acclimatized, look eagerly for the importation of

some of the other species of this lovely family.



Mr. A. Ezra is writing for the Magazine on several species which he keeps'

successfully.



