Stray Notes



27



occasion last January, when an evening party had been given to the

employees, I ivas seeing some guests off at 12.45 a.m., and as it was

freezing very sharply I walked out in the brilliant moonlight to have

a look at the Flamingoes, when I descried two grey forms (looking

almost white) in the ice of the moat vdiich surrounds the house. It

was the pair of Stanley Cranes already frozen in ! What horrible

moments these are ! It was noAV or never, for before morning I could -

see that the ice rvould be too hard for them to break ; consequently

I threw stones at them, which shot over the ice with resounding ringing

chimes ; and to my relief first one crane and then the other struggled

out and made for the shore. This roosting in the water is perhaps

resorted to in Africa, where they would be safe from animals of prey,

and would probably be in some lagoon where there were no crocodiles.


AnyhoAV it proves that Stanley Cranes, once acclimatized, are

extremely hardy.



STRAY NOTES


Copy for the Magazine.— The greatest difficulty the Editors of

the Magazine experience is to find sufficient copy to fill the journal.

There are many members who keep birds, and who must have had

interesting experiences, who never write them down for the benefit

of their fellow aviculturists. We appeal to those members to send

us their avicultural notes whether they think they are worth publishing

or not. We can judge as to this when we receive them, and probably

we shall find that they are most useful.


The Commoner Species. —Many members seem to imagine that

the commoner birds, such, for instance, as Zebra Finches, Cordon

Bleus, or Budgerigars, are not worth writing about, but that all that

the members want is matter dealing with very rare species. We

want to impress upon our members that this is not the case, for it must

be remembered that there are a number of new members who are quite

beginners in aviculture, and the experience of others in the keeping and

breeding of the commoner species would be of the greatest value to

them.


Pioneers in Aviculture.— We most of us remember the pride



