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On Oriental Aviculture.



fine powder; which, by the way, is said to keep good for a long

time. To one part of this “fish-powder ” is added two parts of

rice-bran, and a small quantity of pulp from the cooked leaves

of a Japanese radish. The whole is mixed into a soft paste

with a little water and is then ready for use.


Owing to the difficulty in procuring the ingredients for

this preparation, the recipe will be of little practical service to

the European, but at the same time it is of value, as it serves to

emphasise the importance of fish as a food for delicate insect¬

eating birds. I feel confident that fish could safely be introduced

into the diet of almost all soft-billed birds, when it would no

doubt prove a very useful substitute for their natural insect food.


During my stay in Japan one of the handsomest species

that I met. with was Temminck’s Robin (.Erithacus komadom )—a

quaint-looking bird that is a strange contradiction to our common

Redbreast, the orange-ch'estnut colour being on the back instead

of the breast. Curiously enough, for many years this Robin was

only known to ornithologists as a cage-bird and for a long time

no one could be certain of its exact habitat. It seems that these

birds were brought to Japan from somewhere in the South by

native boats, an assumption that has subsequently been proved

correct by the fact that collectors have now procured them on the

Yaye-yama group of the Liu-chiu Islands. I saw perhaps a dozen

examples in all and these were mostly in the bird-shops of the

more Southern towns—Nagasaki, Kobe and Osaka.


After the pretty little White-eye (Zoste?ops japo?iica), it is

difficult to affirm which is the most popular cage-bird with the

Japanese, as so man)'’ varieties are kept by them in captivity.

The beautiful Varied Tit is, of course, a great favourite, but

Buntings, Bullfinches and Larks are also commonly seen, as are

many others. Perhaps the most beautiful Finch that came under

my notice was a newly-caught example of the Japanese Rose

Finch (Carpodacus sanguinolentus'). This bird (together with its

mate) I afterwards brought home with me to England, but alas!

it has since moulted its bright rose-red livery and has acquired a

dull greyish-brown plumage, like that of the female from which

it is now barely distinguishable.


It may not be out of place to mention that some Sacred



