HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
By John D. Hamjlyn. 
THAT Vol. IV. commences with this number. 
Will old and new subscribers hurry up with 
their subscriptions. 
THAT reports received from 209 of the licensed 
hunters and trappers of Maine last year show 
that the following fur-bearing animals were 
taken by virtue of their licenses: — Bear, 203; 
fog, 734; mink, 954; skunk, 221; otter, 89; 
sable, 30; weasel, 2,784; fisher, martin, black 
cat, 95; muskrat, 2,198; raccoon, 80; beaver, 
123; lynx. 8; and bobcat, or wild cat, 88. 
THAT reports from Singapore mention that sev- 
eral collectors are out East. One in particular, 
a Mr. Boyd, who has one very large •Ourang 
six feet high, with five others, ordinary size, 
seven Tigers, two Elephants, some Snakes; he 
is also proceeding to Calcutta to buy more Ele- 
phants and other stock. My representative 
sums the situation uv as follows : — >" I wish him 
every success in his animal trade, but don't be 
afraid of this new wild animal dealer." 
There is also an American dealer in Cal- 
cutta, but whether he has purchased the Elephants 
Tigers, Bears, Pandas, Cranes, Pheasants, now 
there, I do not know; still stock is plentiful 
everywhere. The one trouble is the question of 
freight. My last consignment of three hundred 
monkeys cost ^196, freight alone, but J:he 
actual expenses were over ^£,300. 
The Imports of Foreign Animals and Birds 
are still prohibited in this country. 
The United States also- demands Special 
Licences, there to be obtained before shipping 
the live stock. 
THAT I have received distressing reports from 
several old Russian clients. They have lost 
everything, being reduced to the lowest ebb of 
poverty and distress. Both these gentlemen 
have my sincere sympathv. 
THAT the arrivals have been practically nil. 
Birds still maintain their high prices. Even 
Canaries and British Birds command unheard- 
of prices. The harmless necessary Rabbit, 
Guinea Pig, Tame Rats and Mice are all ad- 
vancing in price. 
The breeding- of these latter domestic ani- 
mals should be taken in hand by all those hav- 
ing space and garden refuse to feed on. 
THAT there will be a great demand for Foreign 
Live Stock at the conclusion of the War. This 
will be within twelve months. But even then 
importations will not be allowed for quite twelve 
months after. 
THAT I am sorry to learn of the loss of a French 
Congo steamer. There were 18 Baboons, 3 
Chimpanzees on board. Poor creatures. 
THAT as an illustration of the good work done 
by birds in the destruction of insect pests, Pro- 
fessor Newstead, of Liverpool University, tells 
us of a Great Tit which made 384 visits to its 
young in a day, bringing food, 90 per cent, of 
which consisted of noxious larvae. Allowing 
twenty days for the rearing of the young, that 
gives a total of 7,680 visits to the nest, repre- 
senting the destruction of between 8,000 and 
9,000 insects, chiefly caterpillars. The Fly- 
catcher feeds its young with flies 500 times a 
day. As to be damage done to crops by insects 
it may be pointed out that in 1881 the losses in 
Great Britain through a plague of turnip-fly had 
been estimated by Miss Ormerod, a great au- 
thority on these matters, at ^500,000, while 
the cost to the country by wireworm, the larva 
of the click beetle, cannot be estimated. The 
President of the Board of Agriculture is strongly 
sympathetic to the movement for preserving 
birds, and says that " the recent experience of 
France shows that their indiscriminate destruc- 
tion may prove disastrous." Mr. Prothero's 
reference is to the fact that the apple-blossom 
weevil has caused such incredible damage in 
France that syndicates have been formed in 
some Departments for its destruction. 
THAT I hear that Reuben Castang, so long a 
civilian prisoner of war at Ruhleben, and who 
was so well known to the British public as the 
trainer of "Max" and "Moritz," the highly 
educated Chimpanzees, has now been allowed 
to return to his former employment in Hamburg. 
Returning to Germany from Switzerland with 
"Max" and "Moritz" in August, 1914, he 
was promptly interned. 
THAT his live long friend, Charlie Judge, another 
trainer of Chimpanzees, has been for some time 
in the Patrol Boat Service off the coast of Ire- 
land. 
THAT the Director of the Zoological Kardens, 
Copenhagen, writes under date 24th April :— 
"Thank you for your kind letter. We 
are now working under very serious cindi- 
tions here in the Gardens on account of the 
exceeding high prices upon all sorts of fuel 
and fodder, and because there are no visitors. 
However, I have been so lucky as to keep up 
the Zoo< until the present date without hav- 
ing it too badly injured." 
Piinted by W. J. Hasted & Son (T.U.), 306, Mile End Koad, E. ]., and Published by J. D. Hamlvn, 221, St. George's 
Street, London Docks, E. 1. 
