Thirty-two Years of Aviculture.



333



much pleased with them, they made nests in comers and laid, but

were disturbed by other birds so that none were reared : I found

these birds quarrelsome in the breeding-season, they are hardy and

long-lived, the last survivor of my birds was unhappily killed by my

man, who blundered into the aviary to change the drinking-water

one evening when it was growing dark and trod upon the poor little

mite, completely flattening it.


In 1899 I purchased a “pair" of the Barbary Partridge

which proved to be two cocks : their plumage was very handsome,

but they were stupid nervous birds : one of them went blind and

died in about a week, the other seemed healthy enough but died

about five weeks later. A British Bed-legg'ed Partridge which was

caught in Beckenham was brought to me some years ago and I

turned it out into my larger garden aviary : it was rather wild and

only lived for about a month after it came into my hands.


I never purchased any Hemipodes, but years back my col¬

league Mr. W. R. 0. Grant asked me to take care of some Black¬

necked Hemipodes which he had obtained from Mr. Abrahams until

he had a place ready to turn them into. I had them for about three

weeks, keeping them in a long runner: they were pretty active little

birds and I was sorry when the time came for me to part from them:

I think they would have done well in an aviary.


This completes the list of the species which have been in my

possession since I first began to keep living birds : it may perhaps

be some use to those beginning aviculture by indicating the dis¬

positions of various species, thus enabling them to decide what birds

to associate in the same aviary and what to keep alone or in pairs ;

but it must be borne in mind that as individual human beings differ

from their fellows in disposition, so in birds also one occasionally

meets with a saint in a family of sinners and vice versa : therefore

one must not judge of the nature of a species by the behaviour of a

single example ; but, in the case of notoriously pi’edacious birds, one

need not hesitate about keeping them apart from all weaker than

themselves.



