54



Mr. Philip H. Bahr,



cigar box, which was his home, on to the floor, a distance of

some four feet. The fall seemed to knock all the breath out of

his body, his legs became paralysed and useless. He vomited all

food, but recovered temporarily and lingered on for another week.

I was greatly distressed at losing this bird after having succeeded

in rearing him from such an earl)'' stage.


I was told I should have considerable difficulty in bringing

these birds home via Canada in March. The hot weather was

reigning when I left Fiji. The five “Kulas” were placed in a

cage in the stern of the ship under cover. For the first week all

went well and they seemed to enjoy the ship’s porridge and ship’s

milk. One morning, after having crossed the line, and when

still three days from Honolulu, no less than four were seized with

cramp in their feet and one died in convulsions. There was no

heating on board ship and indeed the weather was quite warm

enough. They were taken into the cabin and placed in a drawer

where they huddled together for warmth.


After Honolulu a great storm arose and lasted three days,

during which I feared I should loose all my birds. I only man¬

aged to save them by placing the four survivors in a small box

and taking them to bed with me to keep them warm. An electric

radiator was provided in the saloon, and by placing them in

front of this in the day time I managed to reach Vancouver with

three, another having died suddenly in convulsions. These

three, two with their feet hopelessly cramped, I managed to

snuggle across the Canadian Pacific. Though the temperature

outside registered twenty degrees of frost, they kept warm over

the steam-heating apparatus, and one recovered from the cramp

during the journey.


On the Lusitania a steam-heated room with a temperature

of 70° Falir. was provided, where they felt themselves quite at

home, but one more invalid died soon after reaching this country.

The two survivors have now assumed magnificent adult plumage,

with an outstanding ruff of red and green. Their beaks, which

at first were brown, became bright yellow when three months of

age. In May they underwent a partial moult of the head and

breast feathers and a complete moult in August (i.e . when eight

months old). All summer they have been kept in a large cage

in the house, and on warm days in the open.



