on Oriental A viculture.



111



to the open sky the Lark—for the favourite cage-bird is un¬

doubtedly the Mongolian Calandra Lark (. Melanocorypha viongo-

lica )—will soon spread its wings and burst into a joyful song,

to the evident delectation of its admiring owner. I have been

told by English residents in Shanghai that this is by no means

an uncommon sight, and I have myself, on several occasions,

seen numbers of Chinese indulging their pets in a similar

manner. I wonder how many Europeans would trouble them¬

selves to this extent over the welfare and comfort of their

feathered friends?


To judge by appearances the inhabitants of Shanghai must

be exceptionally fond of cage-birds, for I saw great quantities

being offered for sale in a certain corner of the old native city.

Among these I was pleasantly surprised to see two or three

examples of that beautiful species, the Siberian Ruby Throat

(i Calliope camtschatkensis), one of which was being kept on an

open perch, where it was held captive only by means of a fine

silken brace. This individual was so tame, and in such perfect

plumage, that I was sorely tempted to buy it there and then,

but upon reflection I realised it would be quite impossible for

me to keep it alive during my travels, and refrained from so

doing.


Another charming species was the diminutive Chinese

Suthora, a little bird, that was being offered for sale at a very

low figure as, indeed, were most of the other birds, almost all of

which were either quite new to me or birds that I have very

rarely seen alive in Europe.


So far as could be ascertained, in China the soft-billed

species are not given any special food. They are apparently fed

on raw meat and egg, with some kind of dried insect that looked

to me like a Cicada. On the other hand, the Japanese—who are

really skilled aviculturists—rely almost entirely upon a specially

prepared food, which they seem to give with like success to

Warblers, Tits, Buntings, Robins, Thrushes, and, in fact, to any

bird that is either partly or wholly insectivorous. The same

recipe is, I believe, used in almost all parts of Japan, and is as

follows:—A fresh-water fish (usually a Carp) is first roasted over

a fire and afterwards thoroughly dried and then ground into a



