HAMLVN'S MENAGE RIE MAGAZINE. 
27 
ing birds from the hottest countries in their cold 
country, have assured me that it was not so 
much heat one had to provide, as suitable food, 
to make such birds breed in our climate. And, 
in general, the Dutch must be given their due 
in this respect; no nation has brought the art of 
rearing poultry-yard birds to such perfection; 
for nowhere else can be seen such a great quan- 
tity of poultry of different kinds. 
"The Dutch gardens, judged by their pro- 
duce, are masterpieces; and nevertheless there 
is not, perhaps, any climate more unfavourable 
than that of Holland for propagating foreign 
animals and exotic plants; but its industrious 
people have been able, with great art, to force 
nature, so to speak, to be generous to them." 
It may be objected that Levaillant was not a 
very reliable authority, having described in his 
book several birds which were not African, and 
given circumstantial acounts of his capture of these 
in Africa, though in other cases he mentions the 
bird spoken of was not African. In the case of the 
vulture mentioned here, he only knew it as one 
bird imported from China, and said so, though 
it really does occur in North Africa. " It has been 
charitably suggested," as Newton says in his 
"Dictionary of Birds," "that Levaillant's collec- 
tion of notes having suffered shipwreck, he was 
induced to supply the latter from his memory, and 
the former by the nearest approach to his last 
specimens that he could obtain." This would cer- 
tainly account for a good mix-up unless a man's 
memory were extraordinarily good, but Newton 
thought even this explanation poor, and that it 
failed in regard to some species Levaillant dealt 
with; and he says with regard to the "Birds of 
Africa" that "it is hard to speak patiently of this 
work." 
Nevertheless, whether he was a bit of a quack 
or not, Levaillant is still quoted as an authority on 
African birds, as may be seen by anyone who con- 
sults Stork and Selater's Birds of South Africa, 
so that some of his statements at any rate have 
proved to hold water; nor is there anything one 
need hesitate to accept in the above account of 
Dutch aviculture in his day, unless it be that he 
exaggerates when he talks of "all sorts" of this, 
that, and the other kind of birds. But even here 
it must be remembered that a great deal has been 
learnt about the species of birds since his time, 
and that with all due allowances, it is pretty ob- 
vious that the great Dutch aviculturists at the 
time of the French Revolution were the equal of 
any of those at the present day, with the exception 
of specialists on soft-bills, ' which birds, it is 
noticed, do not figure in Levaillant's accounts. 
NOTES FROM CALIFORNIA. 
CAMPAIGN AGAINST ENGLISH SPARROWS 
IN REDLANDS, CALIFORNIA. 
Lor several years past English sparrows have 
apparently been gaining ground in Rcdlands, un- 
til last winter and spring there were becoming 
an alarmingly conspicuous element ol what might 
be termed "the downtown fauna." They have 
been reported a number of times from the Heights 
and other outlying parts of the city, but I myself 
have seen them only in the business district and 
the thickly settled region immediately environing 
it. In my yard, a little over two miles from the 
heart of town, I have never seen an English spar- 
row during the most constant watch, though a 
number of the native sparrows are common 
enough. Downtown it has been otherwise, and an 
increasing feeling that municipal action was the 
only way to combat successfully the menace of 
the increasing numbers of the invading sparrow 
finally culminated in a resolution of the board of 
trustees authorizing a war of extermination. This 
was duly begun on July 19th. The work was 
placed under the direct supervision of the city 
marshal, and shooting was the general method 
employed. Several hunters were engaged in the 
work at a compensation paid by the city, but de- 
pendent upon the number of birds killed. This 
w r as at the rate of five cents per head until the 
"game" proved so scarce or hard to find that it 
became necessary to raise the bounty to ten cents 
in order to insure the completion of the work. 
The higher bounty has been in effect since the 
6th of September. Up to the time of writing (the 
last of November), a total of 4,265 birds have 
been killed. The catch is apportioned through the 
respective months as follows : — 
Julv 19 to August 30' 1,528 
September 1 to 30 1,841 
October 1 to 31 862 
November 34 
Total 4,265 
SEA OTTERS NEAR CATALIXA ISLAND. 
On March 18, 1916, 31 sea otters, two being 
young ones, were seen to the south of Catalina 
Island. Although one has occasionally been seen 
in this locality before, this was the largest number 
counted at one time. 
WILD SWANS ABUNDANT IX 
CALIFORNIA. 
Apparently there was a great increase in the 
numbers of wild swans (Olor columbianus) visiting 
