296



Mr. R. Philupps,



some of us who had been waiting waiting, patiently but fruit¬

lessly, year after year, for a Violet-eared Waxbill to come our

way were startled, nay, absolutely shocked, to hear that one of

our members in Madeira (O.S. III., p. 151) had been obtaining

without apparent difficulty several pairs from passing ships for

a song, whilst we could not obtain a single living specimen

either for a song, for love, or for money.


However, it is a long lane that has no turning ; and so it

came about that, early in 1902, an energetic member of the

Society swooped down upon South Africa, espied a pair of these

Waxbills in an aviary at Durban, promptly secured them by the

unromautic method of thrusting his hands somewhat deeply into

his trousers’ pockets, and, 011 May 26th of that year, presented

them to me—for a consideration. Here were the Violets at last;

but disappointment accompanied success, for the female was sickly

and shortly died : presumably the journey had been too much

for her ; and so from that time until September of last year I was

left with the one solitary male. On September 5th, 1905, how¬

ever, I received a really good female, and two days later a pair—

all fresh arrivals from South Africa ; and thus for the time being

I was the more or less happy possessor of two pairs of this

coveted species.


Books certainly do tell awful fibs about birds; and when

one book starts a fib a-rolling there is no stopping it—it is

trundled on from book to book and goes on rolling right merrily.

Granted that the Violet-eared Waxbill can be very tame, granted

that it can be very attractive, granted that it has many desirable

qualities—but if you are wise you will not take it for granted

that it is naturally peaceful and amiable. The bird is very

deceptive in this connection. At certain seasons when you see

them squatting or feeding with other little birds, neither

quarrelling nor wrangling, not standing up for their rights, even

allowing themselves to be hunted by smaller species, scarcely

troubling to move out of the way while their cage is being

attended to, it is natural that one should form certain opinions;

and in this lies the kernel of the mischief. Most of us are too

fond of founding opinions upon too limited experiences and

giving them forth as established facts, like newspaper touts who,



