on the Wall Creeper.



225



satisfactorily for three or four years in captivity. My first in¬

troduction to the bird was soon after its arrival in this country

last year: although it was by no means wild, it was exceed¬

ingly energetic, and the way in which it scrambled about over

and under the cork bark fixed up in its cage was, to say the

least, extraordinary. In spite of this, it always kept itself in

excellent condition until the day of its death, and upon examin¬

ing it, as I write these lines, I can hardly detect a frayed feather

in the whole plumage. Its death was somewhat disappointing,

as the bird was just assuming its black throat, but during its

whole career it seemed never to have an hour’s illness, and in

fact the owner was inclined to look upon it as anything but a

troublesome bird to keep. Its food consisted of the usual in¬

sectivorous mixture, which was supplemented by a little raw

meat, mealworms and other live creatures, and it was kept (for

convenience sake) in a cage not more than 30 inches long, 18

inches high and 12 inches deep.


As far as one could judge, I should imagine it was a well-

matured bird when received, and as it only became indisposed just

previous to death, it is just possible its end may not have been

untimely. I, unfortunately, have no account of how long it had

been kept in Germany, but the tarsi were heavily scaled in front;

much more so than would have been the case in a young bird ;

and, as its keeper there had supplied a little raw meat, this had

not been discontinued. Both Mr. Maxwell and myself are

inclined to think that possibly, owing to the sudden increase in

the temperature, a small piece hidden by the bird may have

become putrid and, if afterwards swallowed, would go a long

way towards hastening its end.


A rough description of the bird may^ be summarized as

follows:—Total length about 6‘5 inches; culmen ri ; wing 4-0 ;

tail 2’1 ; tarsus 0.95. Above pearl grey, slightly brownish on

crown, the upper tail coverts being blackish ; throat and upper

breast silvery white (becoming black during the breeding season)

breast downwards slaty grey verging into black on the abdomen

and under tail coverts. Lesser wing coverts white, tipped with

pale crimson ; the greater coverts pale crimson ; on the outer web

slate, black on the inner ; primary coverts and primaries exter-



