Stray Notes by the Editor.


STRAY NOTES BY THE EDITOR,



43



The experiment, organized by members of the Avicultural Societ3 r ,

of liberating a number of Crested and other species of foreign doves in the

Zoological Gardens, seems to have been quite a success, so far at least as

the Crested species ( Ocyphaps lopholes) is concerned. These birds have

apparently bred freely during the summer, one nest, in a tree near the

Goose paddocks having produced at least three pairs of young birds. The

keeper who feeds the doves told the writer that one morning no less than

fourteen Crested Doves were feeding together on the corn he had thrown

down. They allowed him to approach to within a few yards, and he esti¬

mated that about half of these were young birds.



The Roulroul Partridge, or Red-crested Wood-Partridge, of whose

nesting habits in captivity Sir William Ingram gives so interesting an

account in this month’s Avicultural Magazine is perhaps the most beautiful

Partridge in existence. The prevailing colour is bright green, with a steel

blue gloss in the male ; the wings are rich brown, and the head black, but

ornamented with a long hairy maroon-coloured crest and a white band

between the eyes. It is a purely forest-loving species, inhabiting Siam, the

Malay Peninsula, Java and Borneo, and in a wild state it lives on berries,

seeds, green food of various kinds and insects. So far as I am aware no

account of the nest has previously been published.



A Correspondent of The Standard who, if I mistake not, is a well

known Zoological writer and a member of the Avicultural Society, des¬

cribing Herr P'ocklemann’s interesting collection of wild animals, etc., at

Hamburg writes :—“ Of late there has been in England a quite justifiable

outcry against the condition of some of the bird shops. If all such estab¬

lishments were conducted on similar lines to those adopted at Gross-

Borstel there would be no cause for complaint. The guiding principles are

extremely simple—ample space, absolute cleanliness, and plenty of fresh

air.” Let us hope that the English dealers will take the hint.



In Canary arid Cage Bird-Life of September 20, a correspondent

records the successful breeding of Avadavats in his outdoor aviary, three

3’oung birds being reared.


“ The birds built a domed nest of dry grasses, warmly lined with

feathers in the outer portion of the aviaiy some time about the end of July,

in a small privet bush, thick with undergrowth, about 6 in. from the ground,

and laid four small white eggs, three of which proved fertile.”


The young birds, up to about nineteen days were fed by both parents,

chiefly on insect food, which they caught amongst the vegetation in the



