an Aviculturist in Portugal.



187



The first time I saw these little foreigners I wanted them all

and bought none; before the next Show, a year later, my aviary

was built. I suppose the Portuguese are the most wonderful car¬

penters in Europe; it comes natural to the lowest of them to do

the most intricate piece of w T ork, yet they are hopelessly unpractical,

and I really think my aviary was the least practical thing they ever

made. Very small, octagonal, enormously high, with a miserable

little excrescence on one side, which did duty for a shelter, it

bore no resemblance to the plan I had drawn up; withal it was

fearfully and wonderfully made in sections, and could be put up or

taken down without even the use of a hammer. Of course, the

unpracticability did not so much matter in such an ideal climate,

and the inmates had as perfect a spot to live in as could well be

found: on a hill outside Oporto, sheltered by orange trees and

oleanders, yet looking out to the west over the bar of the river

Douro across the Atlantic.


I went to the Show armed with a large rough cage, and pro¬

ceeded to give that Lisbon dealer the time of his life, though to my

surprise he would not be beaten down or bargained with after the

manner of the country, but stuck out for Es. 2,000 per pair for his

cheapest birds—about six shillings at the then rate of exchange. I

started with a few Red-faced Lovebirds (from the Portuguese Cocoa

Island of S. Thomb, he said), then several pairs, of Blue-breasted

Waxbills, a Cardinal or two (these cost more), later on a mixture of

Gold-breasted and Common Waxbills, and I finished with a pair of

pretty little Green-winged Doves (whose correct name I never knew)

and one or two odd cock Whydahs, Paradise and Pintailed ; the last

mentioned I soon got rid of, as I found them unpleasant and quarrel¬

some to a degree.


I went home in triumph and turned the lot into the aviary,

except the Whydahs’ tails, which stayed behind in the cage. I

should have said before that I was not ignorant of their habits and

feeding ; I had kept most of them years before in England.


The next day I re-visited the Show and was greeted as a

brother by the dealer, but I would have none of his blarney, though

I nearly fell to a wonderfully tame Toucan—what I should have

done with it Heaven knows—and refused to buy any more, nor



