Walter Goodfellow—Some Reminiscences of a Collector



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The cock evidently does not come into the full glory of his plumage

until two years of age, and therefore anyone seeing a young Bourke

is apt to be slightly disappointed after reading the glowing descriptions

of their beauty, but once they have reached their maturity they are

really most lovely birds. When the young birds first leave the nest and

fly out into the flight they look rather like little brown saints, for the

white fluff of babyhood makes a sort of halo round their heads. My

entire flight is entirely covered with grass, mostly rye, which is mown

in the autumn, and the Bourke’s enjoy running through the grass.

I attribute our success in breeding these birds to : firstly, a very healthy

locality ; secondly, to a tight well-built house that keeps an even

temperature ; and thirdly, to a large and high flight where the birds

can fly properly and have plenty of room to turn, swoop, and soar.

Given these three things, I think anyone with the minimum of knowledge

of birds could successfully breed them.


P.S.—Recently I have been giving the Bourke’s spinach beet, which

they greedily devoured without any hesitation.



SOME REMINISCENCES OF A COLLECTOR


By Walter Goodfellow

{Continued from page 190)


The outbreak of war found me on my second trip to Ecuador (for

live birds this time) and just making the final preparations to leave

for home, but this was impossible under the circumstances, so I had

to remain there until the middle of the next year by which time the

seas were free again.


I had made a wonderful collection of birds. Tanagers formed the

greater part, and such a display of colour it would be hard to beat.

Travelling boxes are not the best accommodation in which to keep

birds for any length of time and, as I was unable to provide anything

better until some months later when I had a house to myself, many

of them died and I had to return to the forests to renew part of the



