A Champion 
Exhibitor, 
(38) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
One of Mr. Maxwell’s Aviaries. 
a small scale, until school and other circum¬ 
stances prevented him from following- up what 
might have ended in a racing- stud. After the 
donkeys had been disposed of, he turned his 
attention to rabbits. Lops were his first fancy, 
and then Belgian Hares; these last he bred 
from a utilitarian point of view, but then one 
cannot live on rabbits for ever, and in the end 
they were replaced by fowls—Buff Orpingtons 
and White Wyandottes claiming his attention, 
the latter variety of which he still keeps. Variety 
Bantams also, in their time, shared his atten¬ 
tions, and he kept several kinds with consider¬ 
able success. 
Generally, Mr. Maxwell keeps a dog about 
the place, for company, and to protect the birds 
from cats and other possible intruders; in every 
case they have been animals of the highest pedi¬ 
gree—terriers, bulldogs and Great Danes being 
the breeds favoured. About the year 1890 he 
was smitten with the “ bird fever,” and got to¬ 
gether a stud of Norwich Crests, Plainheads 
and Lizards; with one of the latter he obtained 
his first award at the Palace—a fifth or sixth 
prize; but it was not until five or six years 
later that he achieved much success. By this 
time he had relinquished the canary fancies for 
foreign and British birds, with the results well 
known to the majority of present-day fanciers. 
For a year or two he was absolutely invinci¬ 
ble in the foreign bird section, and during the 
whole time he exhibited them he kept his com¬ 
petitors busy; and, with the exception of Mr. 
Fulljames and Mr. Hawkins, probably no ex¬ 
hibitor of the past or present ever excelled him. 
But the pace was too quick even for a man 
of his position, and with characteristic pru¬ 
dence he gracefully retired from that branch of 
the fancy, after having won the greatest laurels 
it was possible to get. Through his plucky 
purchases the public were enabled to see on the 
show bench for the first time such rare and valu¬ 
able birds as the pair of Hawk-headed Parrots, 
Gang-Gang Cockatoos, Violet-eared Waxbills, 
Iris-coloured Parrot Finches, many species of 
rare Tanagers, and Sugar Birds. He also was 
the first exhibitor to own the unique Long-tailed 
Combassou, exhibited with such success by an¬ 
other exhibitor. Speaking of his experience 
with foreign birds, Mr. Maxwell laughingly 
remarked that if he had spent the money in 
bricks and mortar that he had expended on 
foreign birds he might have owned a good 
deal of property. 
SUCCESS WITH SOFTBILLS. 
Soon after I became acquainted with Mr. 
Maxwell I sold him one of those charming 
birds, a Blackcap, and little did I think then 
that I was starting him on a branch of the 
