264



Practical Bird-Keeping.



a bully. It gives, however, no trouble in itself, and at present I

have a pair nesting. Red-necked Phalaropes I have only kept a

short time. I brought some from Iceland a few years ago to give

to friends, whilst with me, the birds flourished on maggots and

were tame beyond belief. I would strongly urge on lovers of

small Waders the desirability of having red-necked Phalaropes,

which are not so difficult to obtain as is sometimes supposed.

Not many people have practical experience of them, but I have

known one live for two months kept in a large bedroom in a

house in the North of Iceland. In the end I believe it was

killed by accident. When I saw it, it was running about the

floor apparently quite contented. Snipe and Woodcock give

infinite trouble and are very difficult to keep in captivity. They

should only be attempted by experts.


If anyone could give the space, a good way to keep Waders

would be to have one large aviary for marsh birds, another large

aviary for sea-shore birds (imitating natural conditions so far as

possible in either case), with several smaller aviaries in which to

put birds from which it was desired to breed. Where many birds

are together in one aviary they usually disturb one another at

nesting time. I have had, within the last four years, two Reeves’

nests spoiled from this cause.



