130



A T otices of New Books, etc.



acclimatised. He is a very pretty bird, though an odd shape,

something like a Kingfisher but rather larger, with a very big

head and heavy bill. The top mandible is almost straight, and

the bottom line of the lower mandible very curved, which makes

it look as if the beak was fixed on upside down. The Blue¬

cheeked Barbet is a very brightly coloured bird. His body is

grass green, the head scarlet and black, and the cheeks and upper

part of the throat a most lovely shade of turquoise blue, finished

off by two little red patches just below the throat. The lower

part of the breast is a very soft green, lighter than the back, the

wing quills are black and the eye deep brown with a black iris.

It is very pretty to watch “ Barbie ” when I bring him his dish

of fruit. I put it down on the floor and he eyes it with his head

on one side, then he flies down to a lower branch still and pauses

again (he seldom flies down at one swoop) and then descends to

the floor. Once on the ground he progresses by a series of hops

and then sitting on the side of the dish, begins his feast. But

he is a shy little bird. You must keep very still or he will fly

off and wait till you are gone, but it is the same in watching all

aviary birds, you must keep very still if you want to notice them

in a natural condition.


The Barbet deserves a good conduct mark for his very

peaceable disposition. He has lived in quiet with Doves and

Parrots and never injured anything, but he looks as if a taste for

eggs might be in him if he had the chance, and in this respect it

might be well not to place him in temptation.


(Fo be continued).



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS, ETC.


Birds of Britain. By J. Lewis Bonhoxe, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

M.B.O.U. Containing 100 full-page illustrations in colour selected

by H. F. DRESSER from his “Birds of Furope,” 399 pages of text.

A. & C. Brack, Soho Square, London.


A delightful volume, pleasantly written, by one of our most

industrious members ! It would be absurd for the owner of a

volume so splendidly illustrated to consider that he had not

received far more than his money’s value if the text had been



