Foreign Birds at the Crystal Palace



93



There was a lovely pair of Barrabands in Class 321, which would

have been better placed in the previous class alongside the Rock Peplar,

if only the schedule had allowed it. The lories and lorikeets and

the parrakeets were all classed together, which did not give a chance

to a very beautiful pair of Turquoisines, and some very good Bourke’s,

which a few years ago we thought were gone for ever. Then I sympathize

with Mr. Patterson in only getting third for his really exquisite pair of

Swifts, which are more difficult to keep in condition than the White-

lumped Lory which beat them.


Mrs. Pearce’s pair of Jambu Fruit Pigeons well deserved all they

got, and so did Mr. Patterson’s Bronze-wings. There were two pairs

of Plumed Ground Doves.


The class for pheasants, ducks, and such-like was very well

supported, including a pair of Curassows, Reeves, Amherst, and Silver

Pheasants, Bahama, Mandarin, and Carolina Ducks.


The classes for Waxbills and Grassfinches were splendidly supported,

there being between twenty and thirty entries in some, which speaks

well for the interest taken in aviculture, and leads us to hope for a

little more generous classification in the future.


Amongst the rarer finches were three examples of the very rare

Twin-spotted Finches ( Hypargus margaritatus) and some of the Purple

Grenadier Waxbills that Mr. Webb recently introduced to aviculture,

also a Black-headed Waxbill ( Estrilda atricapilla), of which I believe

only one pair has ever been imported. Violet-ears and Crimson Finches

were well represented, not to mention Parrot Finches of two or three

species.


The Tanagers and Sugar Birds were very fine, and Mr. Hopkin’s

Purple Sugar Bird was a perfect gem. So also were Mrs. Pearce’s

Festive Tanagers and Mr. Allison’s Yellow-fronted Zosterops.

Mr. Maxwell’s Red-and-black Tanager was looking better than ever.


The seven Humming Birds were the stars of the show, although

I hope that Hummers will not be shown too freely, because they are

only suitable where special provision can be made for them. Here

they were in a small and specially-warmed room, but even so some

of those shown did not look too happy. The two exhibited by

Mr. Hopkins had become more or less acclimatized, and they certainly



