Gleanings. 
They ha\e powerful and sharp beaks, as those who have 
kept them know to their cost, and most, even tame specimens, 
object to bein,^- liandled, and there are a good few species which 
may be spoken of as readily becoming' finger-tame, tliougli 
undoubtedly the majority must be handled with caution: never- 
theless, unless handling be attempted, one need never get a 
bite in a large aviary well tilled with parrots or parrakeets. 
Amazon Parrots are not remarkable for amiability as a rule, 
but the writer has a male Blue-front, which will come on to the 
hand of any stranger, and he has never given anyone even a 
slight nip yet. 
Lories and Lorikeets, the most gorgeously clad, perhaps, 
of all parrots, yet the majority, though presenting plenty of 
contrast, can scarcely, in the writer's opinion, be called garish; 
many are charming examples of brilliant colour arrangement. 
After all. much of this is a mere matter of opinion, and the 
garments of " Cubist Parrakeets." though brilliant, arc scarcely 
more sharply contrasted than the ladies Ic mode, or the gent's 
full dress suit. 
What do our psitiaci keeping members think? 
Ed. " B.N." 
HERONS AND KESTRELS FILMED. 
Capt. Knight's Picturi-s In the Tree-tops. 
" In a private picture theatre in Wardour-street the other day Captain 
C. W. R. Knight showed for the first time two of the most fascinating tihns 
of bird Hfe that could be possibly imagined. Captain Knight's interest in 
birds is lifelong ; on many occasions he has secured remarkable still photo- 
graphs by patient watching of the nests, but it is only during the past year 
that he has endeavoured to go a step further and obtain moving pictures of 
their habits. The first two films he has produced deal with the story of the 
heron and the kestrel. To the genera! public they are amazingly interesting ; 
to the ornithologist they should be invaluable." 
" All Captain Knight's work has been done within 50 miles of London, 
and he must have spent the greater part of last summer in the tree-tojis. The 
only way to secure a pictorial record was to erect an observation post in 
the topmost branches some 75ft. from the ground, to camouflage both the 
photographer and his post with layers of sacking, and then to wait patiently 
day after day, until it was possible to find the psychological moment at which 
to turn the handle of the camera." 
" Patience has certainly been rewarded, and by the aid of the film it 
ie possible to trace the growth of a family of herons and later on of a family 
