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Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker,



THE PARADISE FLYCATCHER.


Terpsiphone paradisea ajjinis.


By E. C. Stuart Baker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.


I fear that my experiences respecting the keeping of this

most beautiful little Flycatcher in captivity will not be of much

assistance to those who wish to do the same, for my captive was

almost as free as its brethren of the woods and forests.


It was brought to me at Gungong in N. Cachar by some

Nagas in the early Autumn, September to be exact, of 18S6 and

had evidently been kept by them for some months, for the string

attached to the tarsus was worn quite smooth next the leg and the

latter had a distinct mark all round where it had been rubbed and

healed. It was kept in the way so many birds are kept in India,

that is to say, fastened by the leg to a small perch over which

was fastened a loop of bamboo by which it could be carried

and at either end of which was placed a small bamboo cup for

food and water.


It was quite tame when it arrived and greedily took flies,

grasshoppers, etc. from the Naga who owned it, flying on to his

wrist or holding on to the sheet by which his body was covered.

The enormous sum of one shilling and fourpence transferred the

ownership to myself and my first act was to promptly cut off the

string and let the bird loose in a small outdoor aviary, about 6ft.

by 4ft. by 6ft., when he at once flew to a perch, preened his

feathers and commenced to call for more food.


I soon found that imprisonment was unnecessary for the

little chap except at night. Within three days of his arrival he

would eat out of my hands through the wire netting of his cage,

following me from one side to another as I passed round it. Then

I tried entering the cage and after his first fright at this novel

manoeuvre he promptly alighted on my head and then scrambled

down on to my arm where he stayed and picked up some flies I

had brought for him from the palm of my other hand. Two or

three days after this I ventured to take him out of his cage into

the open and he followed me round occasionally flitting into the

air but sitting most of the time on my shoulder eating, as I

caught grasshoppers for him. He made no attempt to fly away



