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Foreign Birds at the Crystal Palace



its physical development, from early summer until it is disposed of

in say late autumn, or given another aviary after the breeding season

is over, is surely enough to ruin or impair it for life. And yet most of

us find accommodation limited, however many aviaries we possess !


If to any one some of the above views and suggestions seem to call

for unnecessary and extreme care, I would only plead that for some

reason or reasons not yet fully known there is a considerable output

of birds which are not first-class, either through lack of sufficient

accommodation, stale ground, unsuitable or incomplete diet for callow

young, or unsuitable nesting accommodation or something else no

one has yet suspected.


Any suggestion which may seem worthy of trial ought to be

investigated. Probably the interest we have in our hobby lies partly

in its difficulties and if it were sufficient merely to coup up our birds

like fowls in a pen, throw them some food, and confidently await

results then it would lose one of its greatest charms.



FOREIGN BIRDS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE


The Crystal Palace show of 1934 will be remembered for its rarities

in the foreign classes. I have seen one Humming Bird before at a bird

show, but at this show there were no less than seven. Sunbirds were

represented here by nine examples belonging to seven different species.

And of Birds of Paradise there were a New Guinea Rifle Bird, an

Emperor of Germany’s, a Lesser Superb, and a magnificent Lesser

Bird, all in the finest condition.


One has been led to believe that Guilding’s Amazon of St. Vincent

is verging upon extinction, and here at the Palace we saw no less than

four, and all in first rate condition. There was also here a fine Racket-

tailed Parrot. I do not know what business an abnormally-coloured

Lesson’s Amazon had in this class when there is a special class for

abnormalities, but there it was, and it was awarded the first prize,


Mr. Maxwell was very unfortunate in obtaining only third prize

for his magnificent pair of Banksians, the first prize going to a fine

pair of Hyacinthine Macaws and the second to a very fine Sulphur -

crested Cockatoo.



