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Aviculture at the Zoo.



Psephotus (Blue Bonnets being especially interesting; my two

pairs play and run about like young kittens) I would, however,

like to see some of their near relatives imported, such as the

Turquoisine and Splendid. I am the proud owner of one

Turquoisine (perhaps the only one in Europe) which is mated to

a Bourke, and nesting, but Ido not anticipate successful results

as they have had many previous clutches of eggs.



AVICULTURE AT THE ZOO.


By Frank Finn.


Two arrivals during the last month are so remarkable that

everything else seems insignificant by comparison. One is the

Great Monkey-eating Eagle of the Philippines ( Pithecophaga

jejferyi ) a bird only recently discovered, and so rare that even the

known skins in collections can be easily counted on the fingers

of one hand. The Zoo specimen, the first to be imported, is

dark brown above and white below, with the thigli-coverts and

the long liackle-like head-feathering streaked with brown and

white. The eyes are pale grey, like those of the South American

Harpy-eagle, to which this species is supposed to be allied. In

size, the Zoo specimen about equals the Golden Eagle, and its

feet are about equally powerful, but the large bill must be quite

twice the size of the Golden Eagle’s; the unfeathered shanks and

short wings give the bird much the appearance of a gigantic

Goshawk.


The other bird, though not new to the collection, has not

been represented there for many years, and is of more interest

from an avicultural point of view, being the splendid Ocellated

Wild Turkey of Honduras, ( Meleagris ocellata). In this bird the

prevailing tint is green, not bronze as in the ordinary Wild

Turkey, the tail feathers and their coverts being grey, with blue

and copper tips. The head is bare and blue, with red and yellow

warts, and the legs red. Although not so splendid as the fine

stuffed specimen at South Kensington, the Zoo bird is yet a

magnificent creature, and will no doubt be finer as it improves in

condition. Although it is considerably smaller than the common

Turkey, this bird is so beautiful that if it could be domesticated

it would certainly become very popular.



