on Bird-keeping in China.



27



picks a good singer, he will be able to sell his bird later on for

twenty shillings or even thirty shillings, but only on rare occasions

will a Chinaman part with a really good bird. The Hooamee is

generally kept in a neat bamboo cage and fed on crushed rice.

Attached to the cage is a small wicker-box in which grasshoppers

and other insects are concealed in order that the bird may be pre¬

sented with such a tasty morsel after a good performance. One

often sees several Chinese take their birds in the morning to a garden

or an open place where they hang the cages up in a tree. The

birds are then uncovered and a real singing competition starts, while

the owners listen attentively to the concert. I have never kept

Hooamees.


They cannot be put together with small birds and their song

is too loud for me, at least when the bird is caged up. I should

however think they would make a suitable bird for turning out in

Europe, as they are hardy birds and their song in a large park

must sound lovely.


The Mongolian Lark is a great favourite with the Chinese.

One often sees them in dome-shaped cages in public tea-houses and

restaurants where they are taken by their owners, so that they may

enjoy the song of their birds while drinking a cup of tea and having

a friendly gossip with a neighbour.


In the middle of the cage there is a small platform on which

the bird stands when singing its song, which to my taste is however

too loud and shrill. I once saw a perfect Albino of this lark in the

native city. The price asked for it was £5, but probably a serious

buyer would have bought the bird for less than half the money. A

good singing specimen costs however never less than 20/-.


The little Suthora is kept exclusively for fighting purposes.

Two friendly owners will put their birds together for a fight and bet

on one of them to win. The little birds fight desperately but do not

kill each other, and after a time one of them will try to escape, when

the adversary is removed. Of course the birds are trained for fight¬

ing, when in freedom they are very sociable and peaceful birds. I

have never seen the Suthora in a Zoological Garden or private

collection in Europe- I have kept a pair in my aviary for a few weeks

and they proved very good and harmless companions to the other



