40



Reviews.



than adding to the stock of females. “ This guarantee of sexes,”

writes the author, “ is of little value, and for this reason—that

although you may purchase a bird at or near one breeding season,

it frequently happens that, owing to its inborn restlessness and

its new surroundings, it wall not settle down in its new home,

and it may be a year before you can tell which sex you have got

—too late to return it to the sellers, without difficidties."


The account of the Emus is probably the fullest that has

ever been published, and the author claims, probably quite justly,

to have been the first to breed these birds in Scotland. His

success may' be summed up in his own words : “ Emus are rather

an expensive stock to ‘ lay in.’ This, however, did not deter me

from purchasing a pair, as I hoped, if successful, to recoup my¬

self the initial outlay of £20, which was the figure charged me

by Mr. Charles Jamrach, of 1S0, St. George Street, East, London,

the world-famed dealer in wild animals. In the above hope I

was not disappointed, asjny readers will understand when I tell

them that not only did my breeding experiment succeed, but that

I sold my young birds, thirty-one in number, at from £8 to £10

per pair without guaranteeing the sexes ; and that when I sold

off all my birds in 1885, I received £16 for the original pair, or

only'' £\ less than I paid for them ; and, besides this, for ten

years I reaped the profit from the sale of eggs not required for

hatching purposes.”


An attempt was made to acclimatize Budgerigars, in a wild

state, at Castle O’er ; a dozen birds w T ere obtained and put into a

cage which was placed on a table below a tree growing on the

lawn. On a branch of the tree a bell was hung, which was rung

when the birds were fed. Eventually' the cage was opened and

the birds allowed their liberty'. The bell was sounded whenever

seed was placed on the table, and so long as they'remained in the

neighbourhood they never failed to answer the summons.


For some months all went well, until one day' the whole

flock took their departure and were never seen again.


Limitation of space forbids of a longer notice of this book ;

we can only advise our members to obtain it forthwith, and study

it for themselves.



