794 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



In winter, warmth is provided by hot-water 

 pipes, which encircle the room at a height of 

 about six feet. These are protected by eighteen- 

 inch shelves, which, being covered with sand, 

 form convenient resting places for the birds. 

 The cement floor is carpeted with sand and has 

 in its center a fountain, the pool of which meas- 

 ures four feet by five. Nest boxes are attached 

 to the walls in convenient positions, and in one 

 of these a single pair of black-cheeked love-birds 

 has reared nine young. 



The attached Flying Cage is dome-shaped, 

 the lower portion being covered with one-half 

 inch bar-mesh wire with the transversals four 

 inches apart, the upper part with one-half-inch 

 diamond-mesh wire. Water is supplied in a pool 

 twelve feet by five, the depth gradually increas- 

 ing to sixteen inches. No living trees are in- 

 cluded ; but hemp, millet and canary plants form 

 a dense mass which it has been necessary to clear 

 in spaces. It has been found best to clip the 

 tips of the hemp before the seeds mature, as 

 these might have an injurious effect if eaten too 

 freely by the birds. 



In this miniature jungle, bob- white and 

 plumed quail were nesting, and as the place was 

 disturbed as little as possible, it may be that 

 other nests were hidden in the dense tangle. 

 Small, thick-topped dead trees are placed at 

 frequent intervals ; and one of these contained 

 sixteen completed nests of various species of 

 weavers. It may be added, however, that fer- 

 tile eggs are rarely laid by these over-zealous 

 builders. 



This Aviary and Flying Cage contained no 

 less than 600 birds, of very diverse species. 

 Breeding results have been quite remarkable, 

 when the size of the community is considered, 

 for the following young have been reared to 

 maturity; California quail, bar-shouldered dove, 

 (Geopelia humeralis), scaly dove, wood duck, 

 cockateel, black-faced love-bird, undulated grass 

 parrakeet, yellow grass parrakeet, saffron finch, 

 gray Java sparrow, white Java sparrow, cut- 

 throat finch and zebra finch. 



Among the large number of birds kept in this 

 installation, it is highly regrettable that so few 

 are of native species. A few specimens of the 

 more common finches, a cowbird and some 

 mourning doves complete the list of those on 

 hand at the time of the writer's visit. The cause is 

 not traceable to a dearth of available species in 

 the wild state, but to the fact that American avi- 

 culturists who are privileged to keep indigenous 

 birds are compelled to depend upon their own 

 resources for securing specimens. Too stringent 

 protection laws do not favor the development of 



expert bird-catchers, without whose aid the for- 

 mation or maintenance of a large collection of 

 native birds is a practical impossibility. 



The exotics confined in the Aviary, however, 

 included a number of unusual species. The 

 rarest was undoubtedly the Indian spur- winged 

 plover, (Hoplopterus spinosus). This bird, 

 while common enough throughout the Indian 

 Peninsula, is decidedly uncommon in captivity 

 and the single specimen at Sonneberg is prob- 

 ably unique in America. The series of whydahs 

 was uncommonly good, including pin-tail, 

 {Vidua serena), paradise, (Steganura paradi- 

 sea), red-eollared. (Coliostruthus ardens), giant, 

 (Diafropura progne), yellow-backed, (Penthe- 

 triopsis macrnra) and red-shouldered, (Urobra- 

 chya axillaris). The gray-headed and Cape 

 sparrows, (Passer diffusus and P. arcuatus), 

 were the best of the Fringillidae, while the 

 triangular-spotted and bare-eyed pigeons, (Co- 

 lumba guinea and C. gymnopthalma) , were in 

 faultless condition and plumage. It may be 

 noted in passing that while pigeons offered by 

 dealers as Columba guinea are almost invariably 

 the dark-rumped species, C. phaeonota, the birds 

 in this collection were undoubtedly the first- 

 named. 



The next building is the Jay House. It is 

 thirty-five by ten feet, with a height of about 

 eight feet in front, sloping to six feet at the 

 rear. It is built entirely of wood and has no 

 adjoining flight cages. The fronts of the four 

 compartments are so arranged as to permit their 

 being covered with fine-mesh wire netting during 

 the summer, and by glass for the winter, so that 

 the inmates can always be seen from the walk 

 which leads past the house. Here were kept 

 choughs, (Graculus graculus), sulphur-breasted 

 toucans, greater hill mynahs, lanceolated jays, 

 (Lalefes lanceolatus), red-billed blue magpies, 



THE PHEASANT AVIARY. 



