CAGE-BIRD TRAFFIC OF THE UNITED STATES. 177 



Japanese robins, of which 4,639 were brought in; Japanese nuns of 

 various kinds, which aggregated 1,780; and strawberry finches, of which 

 1,280 were needed to supply the demand. 



Java sparrows, also known as paddy or rice birds because of their 

 destructive work in rice fields, are hardy and breed freely in captivity. 

 Their general color is a soft bluish gray, set off by the red bill and 

 conspicuous white marking about the face. A white variety has 

 been produced in the Orient. These retail for $3.50 each, while the 

 grays bring only $1.50 apiece. Pure whites are not very common — 

 in most white birds more or less of the blue-gray appears. Java 

 sparrows were among the earliest foreign birds imported both in Europe 

 and the United States, and those procured for the trade are, like 

 canaries, chiefly cage-bred birds. The Japanese now breed these 

 birds in large numbers. In order to increase production they raise, 

 the young by hand, feeding them with a sort of spoon cut from a thin 

 bamboo splint. The old birds, thus relieved of the care of their young, 

 are free to breed again at once. 



Japanese robins, usually called Pekin nightingales by English avi- 

 culturists (who know our cardinals as Virginia nightingales), were 

 imported to the number of 4,539. They are peculiarly colored — dark 

 and greenish with distinctive j^ellow and orange on breast, bill, and 

 wings. The\' are easy to keep, possess a sweet and musical song, and 

 have a song period of ten months, which contrasts favorably with those 

 of most cage-birds, the nightingale, for example, which, when it sings 

 at all, is in song for only two months. They are native in China, Japan, 

 and India, and were first brought to England about 1866 and to the. 

 United States ten or fifteen 3rears later. They retail at $4 each. 



Nuns are small birds of different species, such as the black-headed, 

 white-headed, and tricolored nuns, the spicebird or chestnut finch, and 

 othei's. Most of them have more or less dark brown in the coloring. 

 A pure white variety and a buff and white variety of one species — the 

 Japanese nun, also known as bengalee or mannikin — bear testimony to 

 the assiduity of Japanese breeders. 



An attractive singer that seems to be growing in popularity is the 

 shama thrush from India. Its song suggests by turns those of catbird, 

 bobolink, and brown thi'asher, but contains some clear mellow tones 

 not in the repertoire of those singers. 



A few bulbuls are brought from India, mainly red-vented bulbuls, 

 but including other kinds. These do not include, however, the famous 

 bulbul of Persia, the oriental counterpart of the European nightingale, 

 and they add comparatively little to the total number of songsters- 

 imported. 



The hill minas of India, like parrots, can be taught to talk, but very 

 few are imported. These retail at $17 apiece. 



