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Mr. Hubert D. Astley,



MY BIRDS AT BRINSOP COURT.


By Hubert D. Astley.


(Concluded from page 281 .)


In concluding my account I must conduct you from the bird

room out of the house across the old stone bridge which spans the

moat, and so along a broad flagged terrace which leads into an apple

orchard where there is an aviary. Not much in it ; but what there

is, attractive.


A pair of very tame Yucatan Jays ( Ci&solopha yucatanica ),

which used to be in the Bird Boom, but evidently required more

space, and moreover were dangerous there, for if any small bird was

flying about and happened to settle on the bars of the Jays’ cage,

they would instantly do their best to catch it, and that would have

been the finish. So they are in this roomy aviary with a natural

floor of grass, and a snug house to go into.


These Yucatan Jays are a very beautiful unbroken ultramarine

blue on back, wings and tail, the head and underparts being pure black.

They are smaller than a Hunting Cissa, and of a graceful shape with

longish tails. Like all their family, very mischevous, they are ex¬

ceedingly tame, delighting in having their head’s scratched in Parrot

fashion.


A male Senegal Bustard ( Trachelotis senegalensis ) and a pair

of Cuban Quails are, as yet, the only other occupants. The Bustard

is small as Bustards go, looking more like a large Courser, and

uttering at times a very loud note, not unlike that of a Guinea-

Fowl’s ‘ Come back,” but with a distinct pause between each call,

and a stress on the second word.


It is a great pity that his mate, which was in poor condition

when she arrived, should have died in the winter. The male’s

principal colouring is sandy-chestnut.


The Aviaries ("proper) are close by, divided from the orchard

by a stone wall, standing in their own ground, a spacious lawn, and

are surrounded on three sides by a hedge of Fuchsias {Gracilis).

The building is sheltered on the north side by old barns, and in the

autumn, various shrubs will be planted between the barns and the

aviaries.



