Correspondence, Notes, etc.



359



WADERS.


Sir, —I should be very glad of any information as to the proper

management of Stilt Plovers, as I am endeavouring to get some of these

interesting birds. I have a small swamp aviary adapted for small Waders,

and in this place I think Stilts might possibly be kept.


I got a pair of young Avocets on 12th July last. One died at once

owing to delay on the journey. The other, which on arrival was little

more than a nestling and very weak on the leg, has prospered well so far.


Eeing warned of the danger of these birds catching cold through

over-bathing (especially when young) I put my bird in a temporary

enclosure for a fortnight, giving food in a shallow pan partly filled with wet

sand and allowing a bath (an old preserving pan did duty) for a few minutes

only about one o’clock each day.


Mr. Bertling kindly gave me information as to the feeding of

the Avocets at the Zoo., where the birds are iu splendid order. I fed

my young bird on fresh-water shrimps (Gaminarus pulex ), mealworms,

hard-boiled egg, and meat and fish shredded small. All these he ate

greedily.


After bathing, however, even on a hot day, he shivered a good deal

and looked like a drowned rat, and I think a week’s wet weather would

have killed him.


At the end of a fortnight I put him into the swamp-aviary where his

feathers speedily began to grow, including those on his cut wing. He

soon became bright and active in his movements in striking contrast to his

apathy 011 arrival, and on the 3rd September I noticed him flying for the

first time.


He is exceedingly tame, and nothing pleases him so much as to take

a mealworm from the hand. He is also very fond of wasp grubs. To 1113^

surprise he seldom wanders into the swamp to hunt for natural food, and

iu this respect is a decided contrast to 1113* Black-tailed Godwit who is

constantly prowling about amongst the rushes and water plants.


The Avocet seems quite content with running about the little sand

beach and at intervals mowing the water with his bill iu a most picturesque

manner. C. Barnby Smith.



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR LONDON PARKS.


Sir William Ingram has most kindly presented six Bronze-wing

Pigeons (Phaps chalcoptera) for liberation in Regent’s Park. These will be

kept at the Zoological Gardens during the winter and liberated early in the

spring, being regularly fed at the Gardens until they are able to find food

with the Woodpigeons and Waterfowl. There are four cocks and two hens,

and, as it is desirable that an equal number of each sex should be turned out

together, we hope to obtain two more liens. Can any other member help



