2 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
eggs; she hatched her young, and these lived to 
reach England, and were kept some time; there 
by Lady Hammond, one living at least two 
months. There seems to be no further record till 
1857, when Gould, so well known for his un- 
rivalled illustrated works on birds, and on Hum- 
ming-birds in particular, brought over a pair of 
the North American Ruby-throated Humming- 
bird, and landed one safely in London, where it 
soon died, its companion having- succumbed in 
the Channel. As, however, the ship had a long- 
voyage, including crossing the Banks of New- 
foundland, where the little birds became torpid 
now and then from cold, the feat was a remarkable 
one, especially when we remember that till quite 
recently the New York Zoo could not keep this 
species, though it is found wild in summer in then- 
grounds. 
It appears from some notes published in the 
"Avicultural Magazine" for December last, that 
from 1876 onwards quite a number of Humming- 
birds were imported into France, in one case 17 
out of 20 1 having lived for at least six years in a 
lady's possession, and in 1885 a French lady got 
two, which lived for a year — one of them even 
longer. Mr. Cholmondeby had a number in 
Shropshire in 1878, but they did not live long; and 
when their first Humming-bird was exhibited at 
our Zoo, a weak specimen of the Violet-ear (Peta- 
sophora iolata), presented by Captain A. Pam in 
1905, which only lived a fortnight, a dealer stated 
in the "Field" that he had imported the Horned 
Sun-gem (Heliactin cornutus) alive. 
Only as recently as 1907, Captain A. Pam 
brought quite a large consignment to our Zoo, in- 
cluding several species, none of which lived more 
than about two weeks, except two out of three 
specimens of Prevost's Humming-bird (Lampor- 
nis prevosti) one of which lived four, and the 
other five weeks — I am sure of this., for I paid par- 
ticular attention to them, and got laughed at by a 
distinguished aviculturist for doing so ! The Zoo 
Council decided Humming-birds were not worth 
going on with, and the French Zoos, in spite of 
French success, evidently were of the same 
opinion, as I have never seen or heard of any there; 
while as to the much-boomed German Zoos, they 
never seem to have tried their hands at Humming-- 
birds at all. 
Then, only a few years back, Mr, De Von 
brought a Humming-bird home from the West 
Indies; it did not live long, it is true, but it is 
worth noting that it had been reared from the 
nest. 
Mr. A. Ezra's two well-known specimens date 
back to rather less than two years ago; one is a 
specimen of the Garnet-throated Carib (Eulampis 
jugularis), received from a French amateur who 
had several species, and the other, obtained from 
a Continental dealer just before the war. a Ricord's 
Humming-bird (Sporadinus ricordij. Many of our 
readers must have seen these at the Horticultural 
Show in November, 1914 — the first occasion on 
which these little gems were known to have been 
shown at a bird-show; we believe both are alive 
and well at the time of writing, and Mr. Ezra has 
since obtained from his French correspondent a 
specimen of the Ruby-and-Topaz (Chrysolampis 
moxpitus), a pair of which species, by the way, 
formed part of the Zoo's consignment from Ven- 
ezuela. These birds have every chance of surviv- 
ing for years in Mr. Ezra's care, as that gentle- 
man has been so successful in keeping several 
species of Sun-birds, including the very delicate 
Amethyst-rumped species of India (Cinnyris zey- 
lonica). 
I was myself, as far as I know, the first to 
import this or any species of Sun-bird ; but my poor 
Amethyst arrived very sick, and died before I 
could get to London, while its companion, a Pur- 
ple Sun-bird (Cinnyris asiatica) got to the Zoo all 
right, and died there in a fortnight; it would prob- 
ably have lasted longer had it not been in moult 
when I started from India with it, so that it was 
not in good condition for the voyage; but it was 
the only one I could get just them, Purples being- 
far less common in Calcutta than Amethysts. This 
was in 1892:; then, during 1 the past ten years or so 
the Zoo. exhibited their first Sunbird, a hen of 
some African species, and Mr. J. D. Hamlyn 
brought home from South Africa a fine cock of 
the splendid Malachite Sun-bird, which was shortly 
after 1 exhibited — too soon, I fear, for though look- 
ing remarkably well when imported, its triumph 
cost it its life. During the period I am alluding- 
to, also, Mr. Ezra had an importation of six 
Amethyst-rumps from India, the whole number 
shipped surviving, and living some time after- 
wards, one for five years at least, a great winner 
when exhibited; I believe the only other one he 
kept is living still. 
Mr. Ezra has also had and still has several 
other Indian species, and some from Africa, in- 
cluding the splendid Malachite; the African kinds 
seem to be hardier than the Indian, of which the 
Purple is certainly far the easiest to keep; in Mr. 
Hamlyn 's establishment a cage-full lived nearly a 
year in the sitting-room. Humming-birds, how- 
ever, as a distinguished lady amateur remarked 
to me at the Show where the first was exhibited, 
make everything- else look common, and no doubt 
when things look up aviculturally after the war 
our English dealers will get plenty for those who 
can keep them. The essentials for their mainten- 
ance are really quite simple; they need warmth, 
becoming torpid like insects when chilled, and 
syrup alone will not keep them indefinitely, but 
must be mixed with something which will be a 
substitute for the little insects and spiders thev 
consume in addition to flower-nectar. Mr. Ezra's 
mixture of Mellin's Food, condensed milk, and 
honev, seemed to "fill the bill" admirably, but at 
