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Dr. M. Anwler — General Notes on Aviculture



they begin to clamour at 6 a.m., and can be heard at a distance

of 50 yards. They ate anything and everything, and grew

amazingly fast.


Having at the time only a small garden, I had to cut their

wings to keep them at home, and even then they were very

troublesome. A large clump of German iris would be demolished

in a few minutes, then one of the dogs would be attacked, or

they pecked the baker’s legs when he called for orders, and he

refused to come again. Finally, I gave two of the birds away

to two Eton College masters who had admired and coveted them.

One of these was a keen rock-gardener, and he soon found that

his raven had an eye for his rarest plants, so the bird was relegated

to the stable yard, where he ended his days by drowning in a

rain-water tub.


The other bird, which I gave to one of the science masters,

was kept in a small aviary of which he showed his disapproval by

cawing from morning till night. Some hoys in the neighbouring

house became so incensed by the noise that one of their number

was chosen to “ poison ” the bird. This boy crept along the coping

of the wall against which the raven’s aviary was built and gave

the bird its dose, which it swallowed quite happily. The result

was nil, which is not surprising seeing that the most potent drug

these boys could produce was a couple of cascara tabloids !


My own bird remained Avith me for a couple of years; he

could kill a half-groAvn rat in an instant, and Avas an inveterate

thief and very destructive to garden plants, as I never liked keeping

him in a cage. Still, if I had a very large garden, I should certainly

get another. This bird Avent to Devonshire, and Avas still alh T e

a couple of years ago; if he has not since died he Avould hoav

be about 16 years old.


Shortly after this I began to build aviaries, and my first venture

in the crow tribe Avas a pair of Chinese Azure-Avinged Magpies

(Gyanopolius cyaneus). These birds are not much larger than a

Missel Thrush, and Avere quite the most delightful of the Pies

I have ever kept. They made no attempt at nesting, and I

unfortunately lost the male in the autumn.



