42



Stray Notes



here. Mr. Heumann has bred, in addition to the Kagu, “ quite a lot,

such as Parrot Finches, Cordon Bleus, Lark Finches, Crested Cardinals,

and nearly all the Australian Finches, and many others.”


A New Book on Australian Birds. — Messrs. H. F. & G. Witherby

announce the publication immediately of volume i of A Manual of

the Birds of Australia, by Gregory M. Mathews, the author of The Birds

of Australia. It contains about 300 pages, and is illustrated with ten

coloured and thirty-six monochrome plates, and the price is £3 3s.

per volume. Volume i deals with the Orders Casuarii and Columb^:.


Mandarin Ducks and Japanese Teal.— During the past few

weeks both Mandarin Ducks and Japanese Teal have been imported

and offered at a reasonable price. These are wild caught birds and

unpinioned and a very valuable addition to the ornamental waterfowl

in this country, as none had been imported since pre-War days, and

stocks which have not died out altogether or been disposed of on account

of the impossibility of providing food during the period of food-shortage

have become in-bred. Moreover, these species are two of the most

beautiful of the ornamental ducks.


Carolina Ducks.- — Perhaps the most beautiful of all the ornamental

waterfowl is the Carolina, or Wood Duck, of North America. The War

has reduced its numbers in Europe in the same way as it has affected

all captive birds that were not considered useful as food-providers,

and it is not easy to obtain these birds now. In America, their habitat,

they had been nearly exterminated when the Bird Protection laws saved

them, and in parts the species is slowly recovering. But they will

never again be imported, and we must rely upon those bred in Europe

to keep up the stock in this country. Fortunately the species was well

established in Europe before the War, and probably it may be

obtainable on the Continent. I do not know what has happened to the

large numbers that formerly frequented the Berlin Zoological Gardens,

where they were full-wingecl and bred freely in nest-boxes and natural

hollows in the trees.


In the New York Zoo.— Mr. L. S. Crandall has kindly sent me

a copy of the latest issue of the New York Zoological Society’s Bulletin,

in which are described some recent collections of birds, and a splendid



