Correspondence.


CORRESPONDENCE, NOTES, ETC.



135



THE TRUMPETER BIRD.


Sir,— I am much obliged to Mrs. Gregory and to Mr. Henry Scherren

or the quotations they gave in the Avicultural Magazine for January, re

the native name “Agami” for the Trumpeter Bird.


E. WiuhAM Harper



A CORRECTION.


Sir, —In my letter on the “Trumpeter Bird” in last month’s

Avicultural Magazine, “Whitaker in his Wanderings” ought to read

“ Waterton in his Wanderings.” Octavia Geegory.



BRITISH BIRDS SUITABLE FOR AVICULTURE.


Sir,— In your January number Mr. Tescliemaker puts in a plea for

British birds as suitable for aviculture, a sentiment which I most cordially

endorse, while his further remarks are extremely practical and to the point.

As I am just completing a list of our native birds that have been bred In

confinement for ‘British birds,’ I will not attempt to enter on the matter

here beyond stating that Mr. Tescliemaker is practically correct in the

list' he gives.


As regards that delightful bird the ‘Accentor,’ I have frequently had

this species nest and hatch in my aviaries, but I have never reared anv

as young, I could not afford to give them an aviary to themselves, or to

supply them with a sufficiency of insect food. To the best of my know¬

ledge Mr. Tescliemaker’s is the first recorded instance of the rearing of

the young in captivit}".


Unfortunately in the Zoological Society’s Gardens, where one might

expect to find records of birds that have nested, the records kept are so

meagre as to be absolutely unreliable, while practically no notes on the com¬

paratively few species they have bred are to be found either in print or

manuscript. J. Lewis BonhoTE.


Sir,—I n response to my request for information in the matter of the

breeding of the Accentor in captivity, I have received a most interesting

letter from our member, Mr. H. Wormald. Mr. Wormald tells me that last

summer he turned ten Accentors into his Waders’ Aviary (10 yds. x 8 yds.

X 8ft. high) and from these he had nine nests and reared three young birds

-—the remainder being killed.


No insect food was supplied.


I think there can be very little doubt that this is an easy species to

breed and probably success has been frequently achieved.



