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Mr. Hubert D. Asteey.



stood on end, and hop round and round in a circle of about eighteen

inches diameter, making' odd noises in his throat, and repeating all

his imitative sounds : he looked absolutely cracked, and when my

friend Mr. Frowhawk saw him I did not wonder at his remark “ I

say, what a fool! ” Poor old Jimmy ! he only lived thirteen years.


My Blue-bearded Jay was a great pet, but I have written fully

about him in this Magazine before (n.s. vol. 1, pp. 227-230, with

coloured plate). It was very fond of having its head scratched and

its chin tickled, and liked me to hold its bill between my thumb and

forefinger. I purchased it in 1895 and it died in 1909.


(To be continued.)



MY BIRDS AT BRINSOP COURT.


By Hubert D. Astley.


(Continued from page 255.)


Amongst my greatest treasures is a small flock of Cotton Teal

(Nettopus coromandelianus ), and I pride myself in being the first

person to succeed in keeping this pretty little waterfowl in captivity

out of India (its native country) with the exception of two which

lived in the London Zoological Gardens for nearly a year in 1897.

I have had one male since the 26th of January of this year (1914),

and Mr. David Ezra most kindly sent me several more in May from

Calcutta, a pair of which lot was presented by Mr. Alfred Ezra, his

brother, to the London Zoological Society.


The Cotton Teal is very small, a good size smaller than the

English Teal, and is said to be allied to the Geese. In certain

structural points this may be so, but in habits it is totally dissimilar.

The legs are very short, and the Cotton Teal is not a free mover on

land, although the idea that has hitherto been prevalent that it

cannot walk at all is quite a false one, which idea probably arose

from the fact that those previously imported were paralyzed. All

my Cotton Teal can walk about in their enclosure on the turf quite

easily, and, moreover, spend a great deal of their time out of the

water. They perch easily and naturally.


I had always supposed these birds to be divers, but I have



