22



Allen Silver—Foreign Birds at Olympia



Indian Silver Bill, Three-coloured Nun, Chestnut-breasted Finch,

Sydney Waxbill, Cherry Finch, Ribbon Finch, and Pin-tailed Nonpareil

are often inported, but not so numerous as the former mentioned birds.


Generally the African Finches are imported less than those of

Tropical Asia and Australia. All these birds and "Weavers and

Whydahs are quite hardy in the Japanese winter, especially after their

first winter. I Rave had some Weavers and Whydahs in my outdoor

aviary without any heat in winter for ten years, and they are now in

quite the same condition as they were when imported. Of course, this

aviary has glass screens for protection against the bad weather.


The Japanese generally keep the newly imported birds in box-

cages during the first winter and the rainy season, which is as bad as

the cold winter for the delicate and weak birds in Japan, as well as

newly imported birds.


We put the cage in a sunny place in the daytime and a warm room

at night or on chilly days, and from my personal experience it is not

necessary to heat this room unless the weather is damp. Generally

the front of the box-cage is covered with a paper screen.


Personally I advise that it is better to remove the nest-boxes from

the aviaries in which birds are kept that have come from the southern

hemisphere, because they are apt to breed in winter, and they will

often get egg-bound.


{To be continued.)



FOREIGN BIRDS AT OLYMPIA


By Allen Silver


The resumption of the pre-War Crystal Palace Bird Shows took

place in January, 1922, at Olympia, Addison Road, W., being the

56th Annual Show of the L. & P.O. Society. The foreign section was

guaranteed by the Foreign Bird Exhibitors League, and although a

small trial classification was only possible, a remarkable collection of

first-rate exhibits were benched.


Budgerigars .—A poor class of indifferent specimens from a show

standpoint. The yellows being of ordinary merit and the greens just

commonplace examples; nothing approaching ideal standards,



