Chirps and 
Chatter. 
( 88 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Chirps and Chatter. 
THE HOOPOE. 
Most of my readers will have no difficulty in recog¬ 
nising the quaint crowned head of the Hoopoe on 
the cover of this month’s Bird. World, for the 
species is well-known from stuffed specimens, even 
if few people have seen it wild. When seen on the 
wing for the first time, the Hoopoe is, indeed, not 
likely to be recognised by everybody, for the crest 
then lies down quite flat, and is not noticeable. 
The flight is very pretty and peculiar, the broad 
barred wings being alternately flapped strongly and 
closed, so that the bird looks like a great black-and- 
white butterfly. The Hoopoe is a great traveller, 
being a summer migrant here, and often occurring 
in out-of-the-way places. It visits us regularly, and 
has bred where unmolested, but it almost always 
gets shot on sight. Perhaps the readers of the Bird 
World may be able to do something to protect it, if 
a specimen comes their way this year. 
AN EXCELLENT PET. 
A living specimen may be seen in the Insect 
House at the Zoo. It is hand-reared and very 
tame, as such Hoopoes usually are, for the bird 
makes one of the best of pets, although, as it is 
purely insectivorous, its food gives some trouble. A 
mixture of chopped raw meat and hard-boiled egg, 
with stale bread crumbs, ants’ eggs, and dried flies, 
should form the staple, and meal-worms and other 
insects, besides earth-worms, be given as well. The 
birds should be kept warm in winter, and have 
plenty of sand, as they like dusting themselves; 
they do not bathe, or even drink, but it is as well 
to give them the chance. A pan of earth, or a turf, 
in which they can probe and dig for the live part of 
their food, is important for their comfort. One 
prominent aviculturist has even kept Hoopoes in 
the open, hand-reared, of course, and found they 
remained tame and kept about the place. Thus 
this beautiful and harmless bird could easily be 
artificially encouraged; our London parks would 
be a good place for the experiment. 
A WILY SPARROW. 
In a recent issue of Country Life, Mr. F. Hook- 
ham relates a piece of very extraordinary behaviour 
on the part of a Sparrow. He found a puppy play¬ 
ing with it in the road, and it appeared to be 
dead when he got up to it; but, on turning it over 
with his umbrella, he was astonished to see it get 
up and fly strongly away. His conclusion that the 
bird was feigning death to escape the dog’s atten¬ 
tions seems reasonable; this, however, would be a 
new trick for the Sparrow, though one not unknown 
to the Corncrake. 
SYMPATHETIC CANARIES. 
We know a lady whose four Canaries enter into 
all her tasks and pleasures and doings. They eat 
and drink when she begins, but not before—as soon 
as the covers have been withdrawn from the dishes. 
They understand her words and obey her wishes. 
When the time arrives for family prayers, and she 
tells them to stop singing, they stop at once. In 
company they sing, if requested, or are silent. 
When told to look out of t.he window, they look out. 
"lhe various vicissitudes of this lady’s occupations 
they follow with keen interest and intelligence. 
When her husband died, they recognised the sad 
truth of her bereavement, and mourned and moped 
for weeks and refused to be comforted, for they 
were almost as greatly attached to him as to her. 
When she is depressed they know the fact and offer 
mute sympathy, and when she rejoices, they reflect 
her brightness with their own. Long and tender 
and intimate association has united them all in the 
most beautiful way. They say good-morning and 
good-night, just like loving children.— F. W. Orde 
Ward, in the “Animal World ” for February . 
A PATERNAL PHEASANT. 
In the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 
for February 2nd, Mr. F. W. Millard gives an inter¬ 
esting account of a cock Pheasant which was 
observed to take to sitting in Staynor Wood, near 
Selby. He sat out the full time, and hatched off 
the chicks, but the subsequent fate of the brood was 
not ascertained. Cock pheasants have, however, 
says Mr. Millard, been known successfully to rear 
broods, which they have thus hatched themselves ; 
he adds that birds with this paternal turn of mind 
are nearly always old ones. The account is illus¬ 
trated by an excellent photo, showing the bird on 
his nest. The case is an interesting one, in connec¬ 
tion with the theory that the typical Pheasants are 
naturally monogamous birds, and only become 
polygamous when the opportunity is afforded by the 
shooting of so many of the males. 
THE LAW OF SEPARATION. 
With regard to the question why species which 
can produce fertile hybrids do not get mixed up in 
the wild state when occurring in the same country, 
the answer would seem to be that really distinct 
species—differing in other points besides colour— 
have an instinctive reluctance to pair, as all mule- 
breeders know. In the case of the Amherst and 
Gold Pheasants, these two birds, although both 
Chinese, are not usually fond of the same ground, 
the Amherst being a bird of higher elevations than 
the golden, which species it drives off when this 
ventures to trespass on its mountain haunts. 
PIGEONS FOR THE PARKS. 
Mr. Seth-Smith’s idea of liberating foreign pigeons 
—especially the Crested Dove of Australia—in our 
parks has of late, I am glad to say, been meeting 
with practical support from aviculturists, who have 
contributed both specimens and money. A good 
collection of the birds is now housed in the Western 
Aviary at the Zoo; they are chiefly Crested Doves, 
but Common Bronzewings, Half-collared Turtles, 
and the ordinary domestic Barbary Dove are also 
represented. Many people must have examples of 
the last-named bird to spare, and may perhaps feel 
inclined to contribute them in aid of this interesting 
experiment. Barbary Doves have been at large in 
St. James’s Park for years, and have done well and 
bred regularly. An attempt made some fifteen 
years ago, however, to introduce the Half-collared 
Turtle there ended in disappointment, as the birds 
disappeared after staying for a few months. 
A PIGMY OWL. 
There recently lived for a short time at the Zoo 
one of the most interesting of Continental birds—the 
Passerine Owl ( Glaucidium passerinum). This 
species has been very rarely imported, and has 
often been confused with the Little Owl ( Athene 
