342 Bird Notes from the Zoological Gardens.


dition. But do not despise the common birds of a foreign country

because they are common there; they may be, and often are,

particularly uncommon in the bird trade, or even new to avicul¬

ture. Insectivorous birds are of course the hardest to manage,

but on that account the most likely to be worth taking. Fruit-

and honey-eaters are on the whole the best speculation, being

usually attractive and not unduly hard to carry with good atten¬

tion. Finally, on the whole, a small bird is to be preferred to a

large one, a bright-coloured species to a dull one, and a collection

of several sorts to a large lot of one kind. I am speaking, of

course, for people who want to sell their surplus ; for scientific

aviculture I should say, specialize on birds of types not usually

kept at all.



BIRD NOTES FROM THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.


By The Curator.


During the past two months several of the birds in the

Summer aviary have nested and reared their young. Bronze¬

winged Pigeons, Scaly Doves, White-fronted and Senegal Doves

have bred freely. The two young Magpie Tanagers mentioned

in the August number progressed well for a time. While I was

away in August I heard that one had disappeared, but that the

other had left the nest and was feeding itself. On my return we

searched for the one young bird. The cover was so thick that it

was difficult to find anything in this particular compartment, and

although we did not discover the young Tanager I still had hopes

of seeing it later. But now I have given up hope, and fear that

the cold wet weather of August was too much for it.


In spite of the bad weather the pair of Crimson Finches

brought off three young birds, which are now full grown and

closely resemble their mother. A pair of Peale’s Parrot-Finches

have also reared two young birds. These are green with yellowish

bills, exactly like the young of the New Caledonian Parrot Finch

(E. psittaceaf). Both the Crimson Finches and Parrot Finches are

nesting again.


The Douglas Quail (Lophortyx douglasi) from Mexico is an

extremely rare bird, and the male with his plume of long reddish



