Chirps and 
Chatter. 
(61) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
A ROOK’S MISCHIEF. 
In the January number of Bird Notes will be 
found the first instalment of a very interesting arti¬ 
cle on Rooks by Dr. Creswell, largely occupied 1 
with an account of a tame bird. This worthy was 
wont to amuse himself, when the doctor’s pigeons 
had had their bath and were drying themselves on 
the lawn, by cunningly approaching them and 
startling the whole lot by a dig in the back of one 
of them. After this he would endeavour, often 
with success, to upset their bath, on accomplishing 
which his triumphant caws showed how much he 
enjoyed his practical jokes. Many people will 
learn with regret that pressure of other work is 
compelling Dr. Creswell to relinquish the editor¬ 
ship of the Foreign Bird Club’s periodical. 
THE EMERALD CUCKOO IN CAPTIVITY. 
In the same journal there is a beautiful coloured 
plate and account of the Emerald Cuckoo 
(Chrysococcyx smaragdineus) by Mr. J. G. 
Keulermans, who calls it the Bronze Cuckoo. After 
giving some notes on the bird’s wild life in West 
Africa he mentions that if well supplied with 
insects it will live long in confinement, though 
always wild, and that he had kept the subject of 
the illustration, captured by himself, for two years—- 
he does not say if he brought it to Europe. But in 
in any case, this is the first instance I have read of 
in which this magnificent little bird, surpassing any 
Tanager in metallic brilliancy of colouring, has 
been kept in captivity, though it is too well known 
as a “skin.” 
A SANDPIPER AT A SHOW. 
At the last show of the West London Fanciers’ 
Association a fourth prize was won by an un¬ 
usual exhibit—a specimen of the Common .Sand¬ 
piper. It was thoughtfully accommodated in a 
long cage with broad perches, and a bath con¬ 
taining sand and water, though, as a matter of fact, 
for the short period of an exhibition a simple floor¬ 
ing of damp peat or cocoanut fibre would be quite 
enough. A good many small waders and game¬ 
birds would make good cage-birds, and in some 
countries the latter are frequently kept as such; 
notably, in India, several kinds of partridges and 
quails, especially the Grey Partridge ( Francolinus 
pondicerianus) and the Common Quail, these being 
favourites as fighters. Of course the objection to 
waders is that they need water to wade in, and as 
they are particularly tameable birds, they are best 
kept in an aviary, and taken out if wanted for 
showing. 
AN AVICULTURAL TRIUMPH. 
It is gratifying to learn that Mrs. Johnstone has 
(last year) succeeded in fully rearing a young 
Fraser’s Touracou, the specimens hatched during 
past years having perished before fledging. The 
nest was built on a hay-covered hurdle in an indoor 
aviary, and on July 24th a chick was hatched out 
of one of two eggs laid. Both sexes sat, and the 
young bird was fed from the crop. The little bird, 
covered with dark down, was soon able to scram¬ 
ble about on the platform, and it flew on the 18th 
of August, being then still small. Mrs. Johnstone 
thinks this is the normal state of things, the young 
bird hopping actively about the floor. The first 
plumage was “ a dark rusty blue,” and no red 
feathers appeared in the wings till the bird was 
three months old. The food on which the young 
bird was reared was banana, soaked biscuit, grapes, 
mealworms, and caterpillars, including silkworms. 
Bread-and-milk was much appreciated. 
COLIES AWAITING CULTIVATION. 
With this success with Touracous another impor¬ 
tant bird-family goes off the list of untried exploits 
for aviculturists; but another awhits their efforts 
in the shape of the Colies, or Mouse birds, of 
which several specimens have been imported of 
late, and one even exhibited. These curious birds 
are not by any means new to aviculture, and are 
easily kept, being fruit-eaters; but they have never 
been bred, and! no authority seems to say what the 
young are like, whereas Sir Harry Johnston had 
some years back described young Touracous. Colies 
are small drab birds, with long tails and short 
bills ; their movements are very peculiar, as their 
toes turn any way, and they crawl and climb like 
mice. They build an open nest of twigs, and are 
generally seen in flocks. . 
THE ORIGIN OF THE BENGALEE. 
This subject seems to be under considerable dis¬ 
cussion again. It has always seemed! to the pre¬ 
sent writer very obvious that this little domestic 
Mannikin was simply a derivative from the Sharp¬ 
tailed Finch ( Uroloncha acuticauda ), with which 
dark-pied Bengalees exactly agree except for the 
white parts of the plumage, which are sometimes 
reduced to a few feathers only. Dark-pied Benga¬ 
lees are, however, nearly as rare as whites nowa¬ 
days, the vast majority of those imported of late 
years having been cinnamon-pied. 
Photo, copyright by] \}F. S. Berridge , F.Z.S. 
Fraser's Touracou. 
c. A. LUER, 
Cheapest and most reliable Wholesale and Retail house 
in the trade. Sole Importer of Siberian Goldfinches 
and Largest Importer of Hartz Rollers and 
Foreign Birds. Current Price Lists 
on application post free. 
C. A. LUER, 121, Leman Street, LONDON, E. 
