70 FEATHERED CAPTIVES 



showed thus to far greater advantage than behind the 

 wires of an aviary. Ornithologists, by the by, have 

 been as happy in their choice of a scientific name for 

 the gold-pheasant as they have for the goldfinch. 

 Thaumalea picta, they call him — the painted wonder- 

 bird — and we won't quarrel with them by reason of the 

 title being half in Greek and half in Latin.^ 



Let me add that gold-pheasants are quite harmless 

 denizens of our covers, where they breed very freely ; 

 the silver-pheasant, on the other hand, does not get on 

 well with the common pheasants, waging fierce war 

 upon them. 



The other instance was afforded when I went down 

 to the lake that has been a sanctuary for wild-fowl for 

 three-quarters of a century. It had blown great guns 

 during the night, and it was not unlikely that some 

 strangers might have taken shelter among the woods. 

 And so it turned out, for I had the satisfaction of 

 watching the noblest of British water-fowl. Four 

 whooper swans, all adults, were resting on the blue 

 water in brilliant sunshine. As usual, the mute swans, 

 which claim fixity of tenure here, would have no truck 

 with the travellers, but kept themselves to themselves. 



^ Since this was written the generic name has been changed to 

 Ghrysolophus, meaning 'gold -crested.' 



