336



Correspondence



Where all are so good it is difficult to single out any for special mention,

but the flash-light picture of the deer leaping in the dark with its

perfect reflection, cannot be passed over, nor among the birds the

Lyre birds’ display and the Bittern in the reeds.


Apart from their beauty, these pictures have great educational

value, and should inspire the rising generation to sally forth into jungle

and mountain with a camera instead of a gun, and to bring back

trophies which have not entailed the death of their subject. It would

be hard to find a better present for a nature-loving child.


Moreover, the melancholy fact forces itself on our notice that in the

not far distant future, only photographs will remain to show the

many birds and animals which are doomed to disappear off the earth

before the ever-advancing and destructive “ March of civilization

The book is astoundingly cheap at the price charged for it. Country

Life, Ltd., are as much to be congratulated on its publication as on the

wonderful collection of nature photographs, now on view in the British

Museum (Natural History), Kensington, which their enterprise has

assembled from all over the world.


B. F. C.



CORRESPONDENCE, NOTES, ETC.


THE FUTURE OF AVICULTURE.


Sir, —I feel compelled to reply to some of the critics who seem to imagine

that my article was meant as a wholesale attack on all bird-dealers. This

is, of course, ridiculous, as everyone must know who read the article carefully.

What I did say, and I repeat, was that the importation of birds in large

quantities in an overcrowded state and without proper attention was the

cause of many countries prohibiting further export, except perhaps to zoos.

I happen to know that, in the case of South Africa and Tanganyika, an

English dealer was responsible for this, but this is no reflection on dealers in

general.


In the course of years of travel it is only natural that I should have seen

more “ behind the scenes ” than people whose only knowledge of bird-

importation has been gained by occasional visits to bird-shops.


This question, no doubt, has two sides to it and I hoped that readers would

make suggestions without being too personal, in an endeavour to help the

future of aviculture. Now that more and more countries overseas are pro¬

tecting their birds, it is going to be very difficult for our members to obtain

their favourite foreigners unless the Society can enjoy some of the privileges

granted to zoos. However, I fear that people who claim that everything

in the bird business is all right and that there never has been anything wrong

with it, will be the cause of the eventual downfall of aviculture in England.


C. S. Webb.



