Stray Notes.



299



chopped off scientifically before the body is swallowed. The

Thrushes are evidentl} 7 vivisectionists 011 principle—much like

the old lady who, after listening to a very violent anti-vivisec-

tionist sermon, remarked: “It is perhaps all true, but I must

confess that I like to eat oysters alive ” !


I cannot say that the Thrushes are ‘ sweet singers,’like

David. Their voices are loud and insistent. If any fresh food

is put into their dish they exclaim at the top of their voices :

Pozu, poiu, pow pozv — pow, pow ; reminding one irresistibly of

Haydn’s remark on hearing the singing of a Presbyterian

congregation—“ Ach, Gott is merciful!”


In appearance my friends are of a plain and sober garb :

dressed in russet brown, with white heads and waistcoats, and

elongated black eye patches. They have a curious habit of

playing leap-frog over each other’s back sideways—a most

comical sight.


I am in good hope that someday they will enable me to

win another medal, but at present they are recuperating. They

are most amusing birds to watch and are great bathers. I have

written this paper to let my fellow members know that I am

once more on the war path and very much alive, and I make no

sort of doubt but that I shall find that before so very long I

shall be able to say of bird keeping, what Napoleon once said of

war: “ Eh, bien ! C’est un grand jeu—belle occupation ! ”



STRAY NOTES.


I11 the Zoologist for June last Mr. J. H. Gurney publishes his annual

•“ Ornithological Notes from Norfolk,” andrecords the fact ofa Pekin Night¬

ingale (Liothrix lutea) having been shot at Holkliam on the sixth of Novem¬

ber last. It is a great pity that any brightly-coloured bird that is seen in this

country must be immediately shot. Liothrix lutea is a species that might

do very well if established in this country, and there could be no objection

to it on the ground of upsetting ornithological records, for it is impossible

for it to come here on its own account. We are told that the specimen

above referred to “showed no signs of confinement,” but it should be

remembered that the present day method of keeping birds in large aviaries

•ensures their plumage and general appearance being quite as perfect as

that of the perfectly wild bird.



