All Rights Rsccrved. April, 1920. 
BIRD NOTES: 
THE — - 
JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 
On a Visit to Mr. Hamlyn's, and some Eagle Owls, 
etc. 
By W. Shore Baily. 
Towards the end of last February hearing from Mr. 
Hamlyn that he had just received a large consignment of birds 
and beasts from .South Africa, I paid a visit to his place in the 
Ratcliffe Highway to see if I could find anything to fill up some 
of my empty aviaries. On arriving I found that the African 
stock was still in the packing cases in which they had travelled. 
I first looked at the small birds, amongst which was a cage full 
of seedeaters closely resembling the Cape Sparrow (Passer 
arcuatus) but which Mr. Hamlyn has since found out to be 
Mahali Weavers. Here I was rather tempted to secure a pair 
of Yellow-billed Hornbills, which were tame and in very fair 
condition. Another bird that rather appealed to me was the 
Grey Touracou, a very pretty bird and in fine condition, but the 
difficulty of feeding and the uncertainty as to whether they would 
stand our climate out of doors in the summer caused me to 
refrain from purchasing, and I finally decided to try my luck with 
some of the larger and hardier species. The first bird I 
examined in this department was a Bataleur Eagle— a small 
eagle, common in South Africa, and one not too particular in 
its diet, and consequently easy to cater for. Whilst I was 
looking at this bird I was suddenly startled nearly out of my 
skin by a Cape Hunting Dog, which sprang at my legs with a 
ferocious growl. I hadn't noticed that I had been standing 
within a foot of its box. Luckily the bars of its cage were 
covered with small mesh netting, or my trousers wouldn't have 
been worth very much. Tt was a savage looking beast, and I 
