318



Correspondence, Notes, etc.



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR LONDON PARKS.


Sir, —I read a statement in the Magazine last autumn that it was

proposed to turn out some Pekin Robins in the London Parks. I have since

learned that some of these birds were seen there in the late autumn, but I

should be glad to know if the}' have survived the winter, and if anything

has been seen of them in the spring or summer.


I have sometimes thought that more Parrakeets and other foreign

birds than we at present have might live out of doors in our climate, if

they were treated as I have seen them treated in India. At Jeypoor I have

seen long boxes of seed and other food for Parrots placed outside the

houses, where these wild birds come and feed just as our Pigeons do in

London.


Dr. Butler writes me that he should like to see some Zebra-finches

turned out in Devonshire and Cornwall; but that they would require to be

fresh-imported birds. Are you aware whether the experiment has ever been

tried? If anyone would undertake to see that they were properly fed and

looked after for a time I should be pleased to contribute towards the ex¬

pense, as I take great interest in the introduction of foreign birds into this

country. ' William B. Gibbins.


[The acclimatization of foreign birds into this country is a subject of

very great interest, but one that requires great care and forethought. We

all know the harm that has been done by the introduction of the Rabbit

and Sparrow into Australia and New Zealand, but in these cases animals from

northern latitudes were liberated into countries where the temperature is

much warmer, and hence these prolific creatures have not even the cold of

winter to check their increase, but have a continuous breeding season.


The introduction of tropical or semi-tropical species into a climate

like ours would be a very different matter, and it seems to us most im¬

probable that the smaller species, such as the Pekin Robin or any of the

smaller foreign finches, would have any chance against the hardy prolific

Sparrow which has already ousted many of our more desirable native

species. In the case of Parrakeets, it seems to us that the experiment

would be a dangerous one to try, for if they ever became abundant they

would do a great amount of damage to growing crops and vegetation.


We see no possible objection however to the introduction of some of

the foreign Doves and Pigeons into the London Parks, and there seems to

be no reason why they should not do very well indeed.


At Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire the Duke of Bedford has large

numbers of both the Australian Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) and the

Bronze-winged Pigeon (P/iaps chalcoptera ) in his woods. His Grace informs

us that he has no absolute evidence that the latter species has bred but

there seems every reason to suppose that it has, while the former lias in¬

creased in numbers considerably. Why should not these two hardy and



