^4. Rev. Hubert D. Astley,


bursts. And so the deep blue-black of the bird's upper plumage

has been likened to such a cloud, and has called forth its name.

The bird like a thunder cloud. Only the male bird, however,

for his mate's feathers resemble rather the softer sky of rain,

from which refreshing showers are expected ; a subdued grey, a

mouse-grey, the thunder-cloud has gone, and the gentler one

remains as the garb of the gentler sex.


Thirty years ago a Shama was a luxury — a rara avis — and

cost considerably more than thirty or forty shillings, for which

they can be bought nowadays.


Naturally bold and tame and confiding, with the beauty

of their form and song, they make most delightful cage birds ;

and they will sing nearly the whole year round. A Shama

requires a cage of wooden or cane bars, as do all insectivorous

birds, and he is insectivorous, i.e., he does not eat seed. His food,

like our own, should be varied, indeed besides "treats" in the way

•of insects, such as spiders and flies (though I believe it is highly

incorrect to call a spider an insect !) I give my Shama and other

insectivorous birds at least six ingredients in their daily food.

A deal too much trouble? Well! not if you are really fond of

your birds, and if you are not really so you should not keep

any ! A little heart chopped very fine, which is mixed up with

silkworm cocoons, so that the particles of heart become separated

the one from the other into fragments of a size that can be

picked up and swallowed without the necessity of their being

knocked about by the bird and perhaps messed in the sand.

Then add a little maize meal, not too much, because it has a

fattening tendency. In the winter a slice of apple chopped very

finely can be mixed up with the aforesaid, as also some yolk

■of egg. Then I take some "Iyucullus" (the excellent insec-

tivorous mixture sold by Herr Friedrich Fries, at 8, Louisen

Strasse, Bad-Homburg, v.d. Hohe, Germany) damp it with a

little water, and add it to the rest, so that the whole is rendered

moist without being wet.


In the summer, instead of the chopped apple, chicory

leaves are good, cut finely, or failing that, dandelion or lettuce.

A grape or two, peeled and the pips extracted can be also



