62 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
the bright beams of California, sunshine which fil- 
tered through the network of cobwebs, hung a soli- 
tary specimen of the sociable finch, the Bengalee 
hybrid, or as the old man said "soger" finch. 
"Watch him," he remarked. Presently the 
little bird burst into one of those silent rhapsodies 
of song, accompanied by the expanded tail and odd 
body movements so familiar to keepers of foreign 
finches. The old cobbler with a gleam in his eye 
and a broad, but ungraceful grin upon his rigged 
face, exclaimed: "Look at him! Look! He is 
doing his damnedest to be happy.' 
A rude but truthful commentary upon the 
spirit of the West, which with magnificent cour- 
age, looked forward, not backward, and confident 
of its powers, has proved itself by the up-building 
of a braver and better city. 
IMPORTATION OF LIVE BIRDS. 
By John D. Hamlyn. 
There have been several arrivals during the 
last five weeks by Amateur Dealers. Some con- 
signments were getting so regular that the worthy 
Editor of " Bird Notes" would soon have to> be 
classified as a Professional Dealer. 
Unfortunately the last sending from Calcutta 
included a fine Hornbill, which died during the 
voyage. The mortality was rather above the 
average. Respecting the South African birds on 
the "Kenilworth Castle," also a private venture, 
these were detained several days, and then only 
released by a Special Customs Board's Order. I 
was informed in the Tilbury Docks that no actual 
licence was obtained, only the above Order. There 
were two consignments on the " Walmer Castle," 
one consisting of two Stanley Cranes for which a 
special licence was granted, the other, a private 
venture of some hundred Cape Finches. I am not 
aware under what conditions these were landed. 
Regarding the importations from France, the 
following communication comes from the Presi- 
dent of the Board of Trade : — 
"The importation of Live Birds, other than 
Poultry and Game, was prohibited by a Procla- 
mation issued on the 3rd October. Licences to 
import all prohibited articles from France are 
issued only by the Paris Branch of our Re- 
stricted Imports Department, and this Branch 
acts on applications vises by the French Minis- 
try of Commerce. The right course is for the 
consignors or exporters of the birds to com- 
municate with the Ministry at No. 66, Rue de 
Bellechasse, Paris. 
"Yours very truly, 
"R. W. MATTHEW." 
Board of Trade, 
Whitehall Gardens, S.W.; 
30th October, 1916." 
The Ministry above-mentioned, after having 
passed such a communication, transmit it to the 
English bureau, which, if there are no objections, 
will issue a licence for importation in duplicate — 
one to the consignee and the other t!o the consig- 
nor, or exporter. This licence, however, only 
touches on birds in France, and apparently on 
birds of France, since the regulation runs — " En- 
fin, le benefice des licences ne devant s'applivuer 
gu'aux produits d'origine francaise — ." 
Form of Demand for Authority to Import Certain 
Goods into England. 
Je soussigne (nom, qualite et adresse) 
demande que 1 'importation en Angleterre des mar- 
chandises designees ci-apres et declarees. 6tre 
d'origine ou de fabrication francaise soit auto- 
risee. 
Nom, qualite et adresse de l'expediteur. 
Nom, quality et adresse du destinataire 
Port de debarquement dans le Royaume-Uni 
Nature de la marchandise... 
(Indication a fournir en francais et en anglais.) 
Nombre, marques et numeros des colis 
Poids des colis 
Date Signature. 
Nota. — Cette demande, appuyeed'une attestation 
d'origine, emanant de la Chambre de Commerce 
ou, a defaut, de l'autorite municipale, doit etre 
presentee ou adressee au Ministere du Com- 
merce (Service Technique), 66, rue de Belle- 
chasse, Paris. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
THAT the worthy Director of the Zoological Gar- 
dens, Copenhagen, writes under date 24th Octo- 
ber, that he has postponed his visit to Singa- 
pore until January, 1817. That the Gardens 
have lost two out of three Chimpanzees lately, 
but have received some animals from Singapore, 
also a Python reticulatus which is of great size, 
one of the largest 1 ever seen. 
THAT two young wild boars have been sent to 
the London Zoo by Captain Portal, a fellow of 
the Zoological Society, from a French forest 
near the fighting line. 
THAT visitors to the Zoological Gardens from 
January 1 to October 31 numbered 1,029,228, 
an increase of 14,400 compared with the corres- 
ponding ten months in 1915. 
THAT the Western Aviary, one of the oldest 
buildings in the Zoo, is now in course of par- 
tial demolition to make room for the south en- 
trance to the new tunnel. 
