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Dr. M. Amsler — General Notes on Aviculture



have put them in a nice big airy cage, only to find them dead in

a day or two. These birds, in many cases, were hut newly imported,

and did not die from any septic disease, but from cold.


Baily, that very able and observant keeper at the Zoological

Gardens of London, pointed out this explanation to me some time

hack, and I have since verified it. If one puts one’s hand into

a dealer’s box-cage containing anything from a dozen to a hundred

birds, it will at once be noticed that the air in the cage is quite

hot, perhaps 80° or 90°, and over and above this the birds are

usually huddled together; is it wonderful that they get chilled

when put into a travelling box for a few hours and then have to

spend the night in a temperature which perhaps falls to 50° ? The

remedy is obvious. All newly bought birds, if they come from

a dealer, must be kept in a specially heated cage. I propose making

such a cage this year, and shall have more to say about it later.

These remarks apply with much less force to Soft-hills and the

larger birds which are not kept crowded together before we buy

them. To my mind, the Soft-bills or insectivorous birds are by

far the most interesting and intelligent of our aviary inmates,

and if I had to plump for one genus I should choose the Thrushes.

Let anyone who disagrees with me glance through Seebolnn’s

Monograph of the Turdidse. There is scarcely a bird illustrated

which is not beautiful, and many are gems which we would

almost sell our souls to possess. Already a fair number of beautiful

species have reached us alive, and have done well in captivity ;

perhaps the Blue-headed Rock-thrush ( Petrophila cinchloryncha )

from the Himalaya mountains cannot be beaten. There is a fine

male in the small bird-house at the Zoo. Another handsome species

from the same locality is the Chestnut-bellied Blue Rock-thrush

(Petrophila erythrogastra). I have a pair of these at the time

of writing which have been in my possession some five months,

but both birds have some difficulty in producing flight and tail

feathers, and I much fear I shall not succeed in breeding from

them. Less rare than the above, hut very beautiful also, is the

Orange-headed Ground-thrush ( Geocichla citrina). I have a pair

nesting at the moment, the male kindly lent me by Mr. Teschemaker.



