on his Visit io Australia.



213



birds of her own land are far more interesting from the avicultural'

point of view that the domestic Canary or the Java Sparrow, and

so she and her uncle, Dr. Horn, have made a study of Australian

birds, especially the very attractive insectivorous and honey¬

eating species. In quite a small back garden I was taken into

Miss Bowie’s aviaries which were thickly planted with growing

shrubs. In the first of these my old friend the Sacred King¬

fisher was perched supreme on an upper branch, and flew to his

mistress for a proffered grub. The charming Yellow-breasted

Robins came from their hiding places for a like attraction, and

Yellow and White-tufted Honey-eaters flew to the newly-filled

honey pots which were fixed 011 the branches, and sucked up the

syrup with the greatest eagerness. No less than four species of

Wood-Swallows ( Artamus ) were here also, most attractive birds

which do thoroughly well in captivity.


A splendid cock Blue-Wren ( Malurus ) shared an aviary

with some Gouldiau and other Australian Finches. This little

gem had been here for no less than three years, and for the last

two years had never gone out of colour but had moulted from

one full dress straight into another. The change of plumage of

this species is decidedly erratic in a wild state; possibly the older

the individual the shorter is the period during which it assumes

its undress plumage, and very possibly in very old males this

period is reduced to a vanishing point and the bird is always in

court livery. Miss Bowie’s bird, kept as it is under conditions

very nearly resembling the wild state, seems to point to this

conclusion. The excessive heat wave that had visited Melbourne

shortly before my arrival had been responsible for the deaths of

a number of Miss Bowie’s birds, the Honey-eaters especially

suffering, and the lady apologised for the small collection that

she was able to show me. I considered it a very fine collection

as it was, and what birds there were were certainly a very choice

lot. The beautiful little Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris')

was here, a delicate mite reminding one much of a Sunbird of

somewhat sombre hue ; so was the tiny Flower-pecker or Swallow

Dicseum (.Dictzum hirundinaceum ) a charming little creature clad

in shining blue-black coat with scarlet throat and breast.


In the run outside the aviary, associating with various



