on Sunbirds in captivity : Past, present and future. 155


attempted to bring over on his last return journey, although he

attended to them himself. Of the few that arrived I received

four on January 15th last.”


Two of them were Malachites, the other probably Double-

collared. All were dead within a month, the one shown being the

longest lived. It appears that they were fed on honey, on which the

then editor remarks that he is by no means convinced that this is the

correct or best food for these birds. Present day knowledge shows

he was right, while another note he makes, “ with care it should not

be at all impossible for a skilled aviculturist to bring home several

specimens ” may be called prophetic of what Mr. Frost and other

importers were so soon to do.


In December of the same year (1907) another Sunbird

appeared on the bench. This was Mr. Maxwell’s “ Indian Sunbird,”

an Amethyst-rumped, I believe, and the same exhibitor showed a

Purple Sunbird at the L.C.B.A. Show in November, 1910. Of this

bird Mr. Seth-Smith wrote in his notes on the Show (‘ Avicultural

Magazine,’ 1911, p. 76), “a Sunbird of any species is a unique cage-

bird.” It is interesting to compare this remark, so true at the time,

with another more recent one, also in our pages (1915, p. 392), by

another expert, the present editor, “ as easy to keep as Sunbirds.”

In 1910 “ unique,” “ easy to keep ” in 1915. That shows how great

is the gulf between the past and present of Sunbird treatment, though

so narrow in point of time.


On p. 201 of the same volume (1911) Mr. Maxwell gives a

short account of his bird, in the editorial note to which his well-

known success in keeping these delicate birds is referred to. From

this we may presume that between his first in 1907 and the 1910

Purple he had others of which our pages contain no record. I think,

too, that I remember to have seen at least one other on the show-

bench about this time. Of one thing we can be quite certain ; others

were imported, but in most cases in those days of ignorance not to

have a dog’s chance of more than a short and miserable existence in

their new homes. Mr. Maxwell tells us the food he used consisted

of Mellin’s, Nestle’s milk, and fruit, especially Tangerine oranges.


Another query. When was Mellin’s first used and by

whom ?



