124 Thomas Hinton—Notes on the Birds of St. James's Park


The other, however, has the whole of its chest, from the blue face mask

almost to the vent, the most brilliant scarlet.


To this bird is applicable its alternative name of Scarlet-chested

Grass Parrakeet, but this could scarcely apply to the other, which might

be called the Scarlet-throated.


At first I imagined that this might be due to age, since most birds’

colours have a tendency to get more vivid as they grow older, but that

this is not the case seems apparent from the fact that one, at any rate,

of the sons we bred last year from the very brilliant cock is clearly

going to have just as extensive an area of scarlet as his father.


It should be noted that though a cock Turquoisine could never be

mistaken for a Splendid, one can quite imagine their respective wives

being mistaken for one another. Curiously enough, a hen Splendid is

a less brightly coloured bird than a hen Turquoisine, the latter’s uniform

soft blue on the lower part of the wing being in the hen Splendid replaced

by a much paler turquoise blue. She also has less blue on the face and

is appreciably smaller than a hen Turquoisine.



NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF ST. JAMES’S PARK


By Thomas Hinton, Birdkeeper of St. James’s Park


From 1900 to 1935, during my time as Keeper of the Waterfowl in

St. James’s Park, there have been many changes, particularly in regard

to the number of species of waterfowl. Before 1914 we had only a small

collection, but since the War many varieties have been added and at

the present time there are approximately thirty-six.


The beauty of the lake has been greatly enhanced since the

alterations made soon after the War, and visitors are able to study the

birds closer. There are also some beautiful paintings by the waterside

for identification purposes. A great many of these improvements have

been made at the suggestion of the Bird Sanctuary

Committee.


The chief feature of the Park is the Pelicans. In

1900 we had a pair of full-winged birds which could be

seen on the wing every day, sometimes remaining in



