Chirps and 
Chatter. 
( 2 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Chirps and Chatter. 
NEWS FROM NEW YORK. 
An interesting event in the avicultural world has 
been the recent stay in London of Mr. S. Stacey, 
the chief bird-keeper in the Zoological Gardens in 
Bronx Park, New York. Mr. Stacey, who was 
formerly in the employ of our Society here as 
keeper of the pheasants, has been studying both For¬ 
eign and British birds for the New York Gardens, 
and arranging for exchanges with our Zoo. He 
did not bring many birds over here, our wants not 
being well known in the States, but among those 
he did bring was a hen Blue Robin, a welcome addi¬ 
tion, as the Zoo had long had a fine male but no 
mate for him. 
PROHIBITED EXPORTS. 
I doubt if aviculturists have as yet fully grasped 
the fact that the export of native birds from the 
United States is now prohibited, and so there will 
be no more Blue Robins, Virginian Nightingales, 
Indigos, or Nonpareils to be had, unless some enter¬ 
prising dealer gets them from Mexico, where many 
of these birds go in winter. I fancy this is being 
done, as Virginian Nightingales have been on sale 
this year with one dealer at least, and their extra 
bright colour pointed to their being of the southern 
race. 
THE FUTURE OF AVICULTURE. 
It is about time foreign bird fanciers woke up 
and bestirred themselves to establish tame-bred 
strains of some of their favourites, as in case of the 
extended prohibition of the export of birds from 
abroad we shall be left with practically nothing but 
the Canary or Budgerigar in the cage-bird section 
of aviculture. Among the Pheasant and Water-fowl 
groups several desirable species are well estab¬ 
lished ; for instance, the American prohibition does 
not affect the Californian Quail and Carolina Duck, 
which are always to be obtained as European-bred 
stock. 
TROGONS IN CAPTIVITY. 
Mr. Stacey told me that they found no difficulty 
in keeping Trogons in New York, the species being, 
if I remember right, Trogon Mexicanus. They were 
fed on a soft-bills’ mixture containing egg, potato, 
currants, etc., and gave no trouble. Till recently 
these birds were hardly known to aviculture, al¬ 
though one specimen of an Indian species lived for 
some time in the Calcutta Zoo, being fed on grass¬ 
hoppers and cockroaches. The Trogons are about 
the size of a Turtle-dove, as a rule, and are tropical 
birds of sluggish habits and very beautiful plumage. 
It is a curious fact that the old-world Trogons are 
mostly insectivorous and the American ones fruit- 
eaters, while in the Barbets the difference is the 
other way. 
A RARE MANNIKIN, 
Passing a dealer’s a little while ago I noted some 
Mannikins which were very similar to the well- 
known Striated Finch (Uroloxcha striata ), but not 
quite the same, being lighter above, with the shaft¬ 
lines of the feathers hardly noticeable and having 
the rumD black instead of white. Reference to the 
British Museum Catalogue of Birds showed them 
to tbe Vroloncha leucogastriades of Java and Suma¬ 
tra, a SDecies which seems not to have been im¬ 
ported before, though it has probably been over¬ 
looked. It ought presumably to be known as the 
Black-rumped Finch (or, better, Mannikin), the 
black rump being its chief distincti®n from the 
better-known Indian Striated Finch. 
BREEDING PENGUINS. 
Ihe greatest avicultural success achieved by the 
Zoo of recent years has been the breeding of the 
common Cape Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) on the 
rocks in the Seal-pond; no Penguins having been 
previously bred in England. Two eggs were laid, 
and both hatched; the young birds remained long 
in the nest, although well covered with down. 
They began to fledge on the face and the curious, 
paddle-like wings first, but are now well covered 
with feathers and come forward to a place on the 
rocks whence they can look out on the world. 
HYBRID PARRAKEET3. 
Several of the Pennant-Rosella hybrid have been 
in evidence of late, and the young plumage of this 
cross may be striated. This plumage is mostly 
green, like that of the young Pennant, but with 
distinct blackish mottling on the back of the adult. 
These birds show their Rosella characters more; 
but the first specimens known were named 
as distinct, and called the Red-mantled Parrakeet 
(Platycercus erythropeptus) . This cross is fertile. 
AN HONOUR FOR BIRD KEEPERS. 
On October 19th last Sir William Treloar, the 
present Lord Mayor of London, opened the annual 
show of the London Cage Bird Association at the 
Royal Horticultural Hall, Vincent Square, West¬ 
minster, says a writer in “The Queen.” In this 
there was something peculiarly fitting, as Sir Wil¬ 
liam has a good private aviary and is very fond 
of birds, of which he told some amusing stories; 
and, moreover, the profits were to be given to the 
Crippled Children’s Hamper Fund, which he 
founded, and of which he is the treasurer. This 
show, the eighteenth that has been held, was in all 
respects a success. The Lizard Canaries, which 
are only in show feather for a year, furnished Sir 
William with an appropriate jest—that they resem¬ 
bled the Lord Mayor, who wore a splendid dress 
for twelve months, and then went back to the sober 
garments of everyday life. 
IN SPITE OF THE BIRD CATCHERS. 
Mr. Chapman, an American ornithologist, who 
came over to this country for the International 
Ornithological Congress last summer, was much 
struck by the abundance of the Rook, Starling, “the 
splendid Woodpigeon,” and the Moorhen, and 
generally by the fact that, in spite of universal 
bird-nesting and bird-catching, birds are more 
numerous here than in the States. They have not, 
he observes, to face the rigorous winters of America, 
and a much greater proportion are permanent resi¬ 
dents, avoiding the dangers consequent on constant 
migration. Of the 2125 ordinary British species 134 
remain with us all the year. Out of 310 New York 
species only 35 are permanently resident. 
THE CHILIAN MOCKING THRUSH. 
One of the most recent acquisitions of the London 
Zoo is a Chilian Mocking Thrush ( Mimus thunca ). 
If not gaily plumaged it is a fine, handsome, reachy 
bird. From the field notes of travelling 
naturalists (L. Fraser, P.Z.S., Part xi., first 
series, and others) we gather that it is a fine song¬ 
ster, that it builds in tall trees, also that its nest 
and eggs are very similar to those of our English 
Blackbird. 
