F. D. Welch—Interesting Birds; even though Plain-coloured 8P


Mannikin with white underparts inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and

Borneo.


Perhaps the most charming birds in the whole collection are the

Crowned Wood Partridges, in which the male is of a rich bluish-green,

the wings rich brown, and the head decorated with a crest of purplish

red and a vivid white patch on the crown. The hen is nearly as pretty,

being grass-green with chestnut on the wings and a greyish head.


In the Avicultural Magazine for November, 1907, Sir William

Ingram wrote an account of the nesting of this species in his aviaries

at Monte Carlo, and this was illustrated by a drawing of the chick by

Mr. Collingwood Ingram. The chicks were unfortunately not reared,

but Sir William believed them to be the first ever seen by a civilized

human being. They are described as being covered with down of a

uniform dark chocolate brown. This is a bird of the dense Malayan

jungles, which, judging from its habits in captivity, probably never

comes much into the open, but spends its time in scratching amongst

decaying vegetation in search of insects and small seeds.


D. Seth-Smith.



INTERESTING BIRDS; EVEN THOUGH

PLAIN-COLOURED !


By 'Frederick D. Welch, M.R.C.S.


Some people prefer birds which have bright colours in their

coloration—a plumage in which is a large proportion of blue, yellow,

green, and such-like—and the Parrots seem to have become favourites

with many persons chiefly for this reason. It has sometimes seemed to

me that certain birds were too gaudy in coloration ; and, on the

other hand, I have found several birds at one time or another exhibited

in aviaries which were interesting and attractive in appearance, although

there was no gaudy colour in their general plumage. In this paper have

been mentioned a few of the latter, with some description added in

order that any reader unacquainted with them can recognize a specimen

if he or she should later on see a living one offered for sale, and like to

try it in the aviary.


Among the Asiatic birds, one called the Collared Jay Thrush



