Stray Notes



43



lot they make. The finest lot was received in November from that

well-known collector Mr. E. S. Joseph, and included species from

every part of Australia, as well as from Tasmania, New Zealand,

New Guinea, New Caledonia, and the Caroline Islands. Shipping

difficulties had prevented transportation since 1917, so that the

accumulation of several years was ready when space finally became

available, and the collection is the finest that has been received in

America for many years. Thirty-five species had never before been

represented in the Zoological Park, and several were quite new to

aviculture. The birds received include a pair of Prince Rudolph’s

Bird of Paradise (Paradisornis rudolfi), the beautiful blue bird from

the Owen Stanley Mountains in South-East New Guinea, three Six-

plurned Birds of Paradise (Parotia sefilata), two Rifle-birds, and a green

Manucode. Alexandra and Turquoisine Parakeets arrived, the former

having been thought to be extinct. Iveas and the rare Kaka came from

New Zealand, while the collection of Pigeons included the very rare

White-fronted Bronze-wing (Henicophaps albifrons) from New Guinea.


Mr. Joseph. — It is to be hoped that before long Mr. Joseph will

favour this country with a visit and bring with him a collection such

as he has recently conveyed to America. He is described as “ tall in

statue, big in heart, a marvellous engine of energy, intelligent, fair and

square”. He is said to possess an “almost fanatical devotion to

the pursuit and care of zoological rarities He had in his possession

in Australia a living Duck-billed Platypus, which he was about to

take with him to the States, but the New South Wales Government

prevented its leaving. “ Mr. Joseph is 48 years of age, stands 6 feet in

height, and weighs 275 lb. He is at home everywhere in the Southern

half of Africa, in Australia, New Zealand, England, America, Panama,

and the Pacific Islands. He handles all kinds of wild beasts and great

snakes, and he is as proud of a feather-tailed marsupial opossum as

some collectors are of elephants. To see him reach into a crate,

seize a big kangaroo by the tail, drag it forth struggling and kicking and

hold it up in mid-air for your admiration, is a daily incident possible

only to him.”



D. S.-S.



