48 N. Taka-Tsukasa—Aviculture in Japan


beautiful song at its best. This bird rears its brood in the late spring,

and passes the summer in the cool mountain forest, and comes down

to the plain in autumn in great numbers, uttering lovely notes as it

searches for its food among the bushes and woods. As a cage-bird it

lives on the common paste, and is quite healthy and very active, always

jumping from branch to branch or from the branches to the bars at

the side of the cage, then to the top, and then to the branch again,

and all the time it utters its cry “ tsi-tsi The bird-lovers select

birds which always repeat their note twice, i.e. “ tsi-tsi ”, because

such birds become good singers in the spring. The meeting of the lovers

of this bird is often held not in a house but in a garden or park, where

the cages are hung on the branches of trees, and there the judges can

hear the lovely song of the birds to advantage while the spectators

sit quietly on a bench and drink tea, because the White-eye endeavours

to sing better when it hears the song of other birds. For this bird a

high price is asked if it is a good singer, though it is not so high as that

asked for the Japanese Bush Warbler.


This bird is fed simply on boiled sweet potatoes, or persimons when

this fruit is in season. If some members of the White-eye are kept in

one cage or aviary they live quite peacefully. When they roost they

always perch very close together, so the Japanese often say if men sit

close together they sit like the “ White-eye The Temminck’s Red¬

breast is a very beautiful bird which has light-red upper parts, jet black

face, throat, and breast, and pure white belly. It is a very hardy and

active bird, and thrives well in a cage. It was bred by many bird-

lovers in aviaries about 100 years ago. The birds which appeared

at the bird fanciers’ shops of that time were, it is said, nearly all bred

in aviaries. This bird’s song is inferior to that of the Japanese Robin.

It is now brought from the Loo-Choo Islands. The Eastern Robin is

a sober-coloured bird, whose upper parts are olive-brown and the lower

parts Avhite, and the throat, breast, and sides have olive-brown

splashings. This bird is a good singer, and is very much loved by the

Japanese bird-lovers, but it is rather rare.


The Ruby-throat is a little larger than the Japanese Robin, and has

a beautiful crimson throat, but its song is not so good as that of the

Robin. This is also a rare bird and delicate.



