24 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
stock; another has ten elephants, tigers, mon- 
keys, etc. These are stranded until the ter- 
mination of the war. What these animals will 
have cost then I should not like to say. 
Besides, the freights and miscellaneous ex- 
penses are enormous. It will be impossible to 
import either animals or birds even at the ter- 
mination of the war at present freights. My 
collector in Calcutta has also a wonderful col- 
lection for the London market. I shall be fully 
able to meet all demands from every zoological 
garden, menagerie, etc. , when times and 
charges are normal. 
THAT the following advertisement appeared in 
"Cage Birds," 22nd June :— - 
BLUE Budgerigars, fine pair, ^"10; Red 
Eclectus, £5; Green Eclectus, £i; cock 
King Parrakeet, ^4; 5black-face Love- 
birds, 20/- each; sold only to callers with 
own cages; no wires; J. C. Smith, 82, 
Romford Road, Stratford, E.15. 
It turns out that this was a glorified hoax 
which caused great sensation in and around the 
Romford Road, Stratford. Early on the Sat- 
urday morning a mad rush started for that 
district. Although wires were barred, they 
arrived in shoals. Anybody and everybody 
were there— Gamages, Derry and Toms, Har- 
rods, Wilsons, amateurs from Kent, Surrey, 
t-nd Sussex — they arrived in taxi, hansom, four 
wheeler and on foot, all eager for the Blue 
Budgerigars, at ^10 a pair. The lady occu- 
pant of No. 82 was at first amused, but when 
the various callers laid siege to the establishment 
I believe the lady spoke very firmly and un- 
kindly to those outside. The expression on the 
various callers faces when they met on the 
doorstep was pitiable, each one thought the 
other had bought the bargains, but when the 
situation was explained to them, the Romford 
Road had never heard such language before. 
It nearly excelled Billingsgate. One lady from 
Sussex declined to leave the premises until she 
had the birds. One well-known dealer who 
went down rather late in the day took the hoax 
in very good part. The occupant seemed to 
have recovered from the early morning toil and 
turmoil. It was his first experience of the 
Bird Loving Fraternity, and from what he saw 
and heard, trusted it would be the last. 
In conclusion I might say I did not go 
down to 82, Romford Road. 
THAT I know of no arrivals during the past four 
weeks. 
THAT the boom in guinea pigs, tame rats, rab- 
bits, mixed ordinary dogs, still continue. With- 
out these side lines many dealers would have 
been hard hit, myself in particular. 
THAT in "Reviews," June, I owe an apology to 
Sir Edgar Collins Boehm-Boteler, Bart., for 
the printer's error. 
THAT in reply, to many enquiries concerning the 
Red Roseate Cockatoo, it was sold for ten 
pounds the following day of publication. 
THAT the following letters appeared in "The 
Scotsman" : — 
Edinburgh, June 7, 1918. 
Sir, — 'The following may be of interest to 
those of your readers who have a. penchant for 
ornithology : — ■ 
Recently a pair of hedge-accentors (Accen- 
tor modularis) built a nest on the top of a bun- 
dle of peastakes about a foot above the ground, 
that had been thrown down on the gravel of my 
garden until wanted, and in due course hatched 
out four young birds. 
Nothing uncommon in this, but what I ven- 
ture to think is unusual is the fact that, in ad- 
dition to the constant attention of their parents 
in supplying them with food, a male blackbird, 
who is evidently mateless, has also assumed 
the role of foster parent, and is assiduously 
feeding them as well, without any interference 
from the smaller species. I watched him the 
other evening, and in the space of half-an-hour 
he fed them five times, securing the grubs, 
etc., among my vegetable beds. 
On one occasion the hen accentor returned 
to sit on the nest, and the blackbird dropped 
the food into the gaping maws that were raised 
round the edge of. the nest, without disturbing 
the mother. 
Truly this embarras des richesses bids fair 
to' gorge the youngsters. 
Without inferring that above is a solitary 
instance, it seems to me uncommon enough to 
be worth recording. 
I can vouch for the fact, and if anyone 
doubts the occurrence, can produce several wit- 
nesses to prove the truth of the statement. — 
I am, etc. A.C. 
49, Falcon Gardens, Edinburgh, 
June 15, 1918. 
Sir, — In "Nature Notes," "Scotsman," 
June 4, 1910, I recorded an instance of the 
young of a pair of hedge accentors being fed 
by a made blackbird, which is identical with 
that reported by your correspondent "A.C." on 
Saturday. In my instance there were also> four 
young birds. The first pair left the nest on 
the tenth day in company with their parents, 
on the eleventh day the second pair left under 
the charge of their foster-parent, and were at- 
tended to by him for some days thereafter. It 
will be interesting to know if the further ex- 
perience of your correspondent turns out to be 
the same as mine. 
My blackbird, I might say, had but one 
leg.— I am, etc. WM. ANDERSON. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted & Son (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road, E. 1., and Published by J, D. Hamlyn, 221, St. George's 
Street, London Docks, E. 1. 
