WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



■vvithin the definition " domestic," so as to be dealt with 

 under the Act. The magistrate said he should not decide 

 against the defendant as to the size of the box, but on 

 the question that they had not been supplied with water 

 from the time they were packed, and their cries showed 

 they were suffering from want of water. Counsel said 

 birds of this description needed but little water. The 

 magistrate said it would require strong evidence to make 

 him believe that birds could be sent such a distance with- 

 out water. It was not a case for a heavy penalty, but he 

 should convict in order that attention might be called to 

 the proceedings, and he would readily grant a case to the 

 superior court if asked for. He merely, therefore, ordered 

 the defendant to pay ten shillings and two shillings costs 

 only. 



On this case I published at the time the following 

 comments : — 



Having during the last thirty years kept many hundreds 

 of parrots under my charge, I can say most positively that 

 parrots do not require ivater. Many species die in con- 

 sequence of drinking water. Thousands of the small 

 Australian parrots are brought alive and in the most 

 perfect health and condition from Australia to London, 

 the food consisting of dry canary-seed alone. It has been 

 found that the birds become sick and die on the voyage 

 if supplied with water. The valuable collection of parrots 

 in the Zoological Gardens of London (the finest in the 

 world) is kept without ivater. The charge of cruelty, 

 therefore, in the case of Cross was unfounded. 



This, however, is not the only wrong inflicted, the 

 conviction was illegal ; the law, or Act of Parliament, was 

 passed for the prevention of cruelty to domestic animals. 

 Parrots are not . domestic animals. The parrots sent by 

 Cross are all wild caught birds, and mere tameness cannot 



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