HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 



31 



will tend to reinstate this most attractive section 

 of our exhibitions is to be welcomed. We were 

 glad, therefore, to receive last week from Mr. J. 

 D. Hamlyn a telegram which read, " Come down 

 immediately inspect wonderful collection of Indian 

 birds just arrived." 



And a truly wonderful collection it was. A 

 thousand Avadavats in two enormous store-cages, 

 in which they had plenty of room to move about, 

 was a sight indeed, and one which in itself repaid 

 the trouble of the journey to Ratcliffe Highway, 

 now called St. George Street. In another cage 

 were thirty or more Zosterops, " Indian White 

 Eyes," all in perfect condition, and 20 Larger 

 Hill Mynahs in an immense bamboo crate looked, 

 collectively and individually, as though they had 

 been domesticated for years. Spice Birds and 

 Tri-coloured Mannikins were there by the hun- 

 dreds, and in separate cages were scores of Sha- 

 mas and a hundred or so of other Indian birds, 

 many of which had us cornered in attempting 

 to give a name to them. There were Miltava Fly- 

 catchers, Honeysuckers, strange-looking Jays 

 and Shrikes, and many which were certainly mak- 

 ing a first appearance in our country. Every one 

 of these was in a cage about a foot cube, and all 

 were perfectly clean and comfortable after their 

 long journey. 



The whole consignment is a credit to the 

 packers, the care-takers en route, and to the en- 

 terprising importer, Mr. Hamlyn, and we cordially 

 wish him a profitable conclusion to his courageous 

 venture. Incidentally, all difficulties of the final 

 stage of the journey, that from Tilbury to St. 

 George Street, were overcome by the employment 

 of a special tug, and this ensured that, once the 

 birds had reached the Thames there was no delay 

 in providing them with a solid resting place; after 

 their long voyage in the s.s. Malakuta. With his 

 usual business acumen, Mr. Hamlyn had adver- 

 tised in "Cage Birds" the home-coming of the 

 consignment, and more than £300 worth were 

 sold on arrival. On the first day there were 

 anxious representatives of London firms asking 

 for prices in bulk. — "Cage Birds." 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, 

 Pretoria, Transvaal, 



10th July, 1919. 

 The Editor, 



Menagerie Magazine. 

 Sir, 



A Mule Mother. 



With regard to the correspondence in your 

 paper of Jan. 1918, I beg to state that the mare 



mule referred to therein and her foal are still work- 

 ing in the above Institution. No attempt was 

 made to breed from her by my predecessor, and 

 my experiments were without result. Perhaps she 

 was too old when I took her over in 1912. 



Yours faithfully, 



DIRECTOR, 



NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



By John D. Hamlyn. 



THAT I have received the following letter from 

 Mr. J. A. Jordan, World's Zoological Trading 

 Company : — 



"Dear Mr. Hamlyn, 



I have just been reading through your 

 Magazine of July and find it extremely in- 

 teresting. I quite agree with you that the 

 shipping people are very difficult to deal 

 with. I notice you have got the consign- 

 ment of animals as nil of the World's Zoo- 

 logical Co. , but seeing the Company has 

 only been running for a few months where- 

 as you have been in the trade a good many 

 years your attack is not exactly sporting. 

 However, I trust in the next month's issue 

 you will be able to insert 200 animals m 

 stead of nil. 



You might also state Mr. Johnson lost 

 his claim against the Company. 



Trusting Mrs. Hamlyn and yourself 

 are both keeping well and that business is 

 flourishing. ' ' 



I shall be only too pleased to insert the arrival 

 of 200 animals. Perhaps Mr. Jordan will send 

 me particulars by post. 



THAT I was rather surprised to see a German 

 advertisement in "The Field," August 16th. 

 Considering the " Lest we Forget" articles which 

 appeared during the war advocating the boy- 

 cott of the Huns it certainly surprised me to 

 see the first German animal advertisement in 

 such a paper as "The Field." 



THAT the Zoological Gardens report the birth of 

 two Pandas. This as a very unusual occurence 

 and I trust to have the pleasure of seeing them 

 shortly. 



THAT at the monthly meeting of the Zoological 

 Society of London, the report of the Council for 



