26 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
Dutch Aviculture at the end of the 
Eighteenth Century. 
Translated from Levaillant's "Birds of Africa" 
by F. Finn. 
The first volume of Levaillant's "Birds of 
Africa" was published in 1799, in the seventh year 
of the French Republic; and in a foot-note to his 
account of the Cinereous Vulture, which he had 
seen for the first time in the living - bird, collection 
of Ameshof, of Amsterdam, he gives the following 
long and interesting account of aviculture in Hol- 
land at this period. 
" Holland contains in its small area perhaps 
more amateurs of curiosities than the rest of 
Europe put together. Speaking generally, the 
Dutch all have a pronounced liking for the pro- 
ductions of nature and art; one's hobby is birds, 
another's shells, a third's flowers, while a fojirth 
goes to great expense in collecting old china; 
there is nothing, even down to linen, that the 
Dutch do not collect; everything, to put it short- 
ly, attracts the attention of the conniseurs of 
Holland. Menageries are very common in Hol- 
land, and natural history cabinets still more so. 
I do not say anything about those of pictures 
and fine engravings, because they are sufficiently 
well known. I come back to the department that 
interests me most, that of natural history, and 
I think I am doing a service to all Europe in 
publishing some particulars concerning citizen 
Ameshof's menagerie, which has aroused my 
admiration as much by its general design as by 
the valuable specimens with which it is enriched. 
"In a very large enclosure, surrounded by 
w r ire netting, and with a long pond in the mid- 
dle, can be seen an enormous number of water- 
fowl of all countries, among which one is sur- 
prised to observe some of those splendid Chinese 
teal with fans on their backs, the beautiful wood 
•duck of Louisiana (Mandarins of Carolinas), the 
pelican, etc. What surprised me most was the 
good understanding which prevailed among all 
these different species, which for the most part, 
bred there as if at home; and, more than that, 
different species crossed with each other. This 
pool alone would afford a naturalist opportunity 
for a life-time's observation. 
" In another wide area, large open aviaries are 
constructed side by side. Each one of these 
places contained one bird or more of the same 
kind. In one of these cages I saw the Chincou 
(Cinereous Vulture) which we are discussing; in 
another, some helmeted curassows; in yet an- 
other, common curassows; in a fourth, Peruvian 
curassows. Citizen Ameshof, had not only suc- 
ceeded in breeding these three kinds of birds; 
but he had even crossed the species and obtained 
hybrids from them, which themselves were fer- 
tile. In the same quarter I saw the king vulture, 
demoiselle cranes, the American crane, and two 
species of Indian cranes, the flamingo, scarlet 
ibises, crowned pigeons from the East Indies, 
the secretary bird, ostriches, male and femaie, 
which have laid here, a very fine species of 
African bustard, the trumpeter, the Chinese pea- 
cock-pheasant, etc. 
"The extensive garden of this country seat 
contains here and there small aviaries ten feet 
square, enclosed with netting; each had a little 
pool in the middle and a house for the birds to 
retire into. Here could be seen male and female 
jacanas; there, a pair of porphyrias; in short, 
the rarest and handsomest of birds. 
" In a great poultry yard there are poultry 
of all kinds and of innumerable varieties, pro- 
duced by the admixture of all birds of the same 
kind. The pheasantry is also very extensive, 
and contains all known species of pheasants, 
with all the hybrids produced by crossing the 
different kinds, Chinese as well as our own. 
There can be seen the guan, the white-headed 
guan, the hoazin, etc. Among the pigeons, 
which are in immense numbers, I admired eight 
Nicobars, at least as many Ceylon green ones 
(probably Indian green wings), and several other 
very rare East Indian species. In separate cages 
there were parrots and parrakeets of all kinds. 
Next came the small birds' aviary. This was 
built near the house, and in fact was part of it. 
It was a room which opened on to> the hall by 
a large window through which the birds could 
be watched and at the same time opened on to 
a large outside flight. In summer all the small 
birds are turned into the flight which is planted 
with shrubs, where several of them breed, 
though in a climate very unlike their own. In 
winter the birds are shut up in the room, where 
there is a stove; and all the large birds go into 
specially constructed houses suitably heated. 
The huge expense of this hobby is past calcula- 
tion, considering that citizen Ameshof spares 
nothing- to improve his collection; and besides 
the cost of the specimens, the upkeep alone must 
be very expensive. 
" I have spoken of the magnificent aviary 
belonging to citizen Temminck, treasurer of the 
East Indian Company. I have seen the most 
valuable things in this amateur's possession; but 
he only liked small birds, on which he bestowed 
so much care that he, too, had succeeded in get- 
ting: many species to breed; among others, the 
Cape cardinal (Oryx weaver), the Madagascar 
weaver, the Java sparrow, the violet-eared wax- 
bill, the African fire-finch, the cordon bleu, etc. 
These two fanciers, who, perhaps, have carried 
to the highest perfection of keeping and breed- 
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