Bird Notes from, the Zoological Gardens.



47



the field of a half-plate. He then began to wonder how near he

really could get, so crept slowly on until at length the Shag allowed

him to stroke it on the back. This took quite a long time, for

nothing scares a bird more than sudden movements.


The Oyster Catcher lives principally on small marine insects,

Crustacea, limpets, etc., and the young when hatched are piloted

down to the edge of the water within a few hours of drying. The

parents are very solicitous of their offspring, and if you should by

chance be close to the young, which will “ squat ” down by a stone

and almost defy detection, the old birds will keep flying round

and calling, sometimes coming to within a few feet.


The wonderful red eye of the Oyster Catcher gives it a fierce

look which is in keeping with its character. When defending its

young it is afraid of no birds frequenting its realms, not even the

Greater Black-backed Gull.



BIRD NOTES FROM THE ZOOLOGICAL


GARDENS.


Since my last instalment of these notes appeared in the

August number, interesting new arrivals to the collection have been

few. Five examples of the Seed Snipe ( Thinocorys ) were received,

four of these being males, apparently the first consigment of these

very interesting and puzzling little birds. Mr. Astley secured the

other two, and as both he and Dr. Gosse have written about them

in these pages I have nothing further to add, except that they

seem as though they are likely to do well, and I hope that both our

Editor and the Zoological Society may be successful in breeding

from them next year.


In the Summer Aviary we succeeded in breeding the Spotted

Tinamou (Nothoprocta maculosa ), a common bird in the Argentine,

but one seldom seen in aviaries. It is very small for a Tinamou,

not much larger than a quail, and the sexes are just alike. We had

three birds of which we did not know the sexes. A nest, composed



