291



Correspo?idence, Notes, etc.



further remark about my recommendation of bread crumbs (as part of the

food-mixture) for Nightingales, it is quite evident that the latter gentleman

is his partner in the pronoun : let us then see what Mr. Perkins recommend¬

ed as “ the best I could give ” for feeding Warblers (that gentleman included

the smaller Thrushes among his Warblers); he says—“ soaked ants’ eggs, hard

boiled egg, and grated carrot, mixed together with a few bread crumbs;

milk sop, and a liberal supply of mealworms.” ( Avic . Mag. 1st ser., vol. IV.

p. 4). What with the egg and the breadcrumbs and the bread again in the

milk sop, I fear that even part of the we that did not take me seriously

would now be in little better case.t


Some little time since I was reading a series of articles by Mr. Fillmer

on the subject of food for cage birds, and I must confess that, with the

exception of an attack upon egg, and the fact that he had not experimented

with certain seeds, and therefore was not prepared to say whether he

considered them injurious or otherwise, I could have imagined that I had

prepared the articles myself; indeed they reminded me strongly of Chapter

III. in my “ Hints on Cage Birds.” It is therefore possible that Mr. Fillmer

may not take himself seriously on questions of food, and a man who has no

faith in himself is not fit to instruct others.


Why should Mr. Fillmer “ wonder ” that I, when I purchase a bird

out of a batch, should take the trouble to enquire after the health of the

others. ? Are aviculturists expected to be so self-centred that they can take

no interest in the possessions of their neighbours? One fact is certain—I

never make any statement in print which is not based upon careful

enquiries; so that, when I assert that a bird of mine is the only one or

seven imported in one batch which survived, and that it alone was fed upon

egg, I know that I am stating a positive fact. Never hint that your

opponent is fabricating proofs ; it is not a polite thing to do.


A. G. Butler.



A RARE CARDINAL.


Sir,—I s a red Cardinal, that I lately purchased, a specimen of

Cardinalis phceniceus ?


It is a male bird, and is said to have come from Venezuela. It is

smaller than C. virginianus, its total length being seven inches from the

tip of the bill to the end of the tail, when the head is in the ordinary

position in life, i.e. not stretched out. The bill, which is large for the size

of the bird, is lioru colour, there is no mask of black feathers round the

base, and the crest is perhaps more upright and longer in proportion than

in the common Virginian Red Cardinal.


This South American bird is also bright red, but the red is a different

tone: not so crimson I should say. Hubert D. Astley.


[The above description agrees with that of C. phceniceus in the


t By the way, as touching Mr. Townsend’s prize winners, the question is not how they

look now, but, if they live, how will they look six or seven years hence ? A.G.B.



