Correspondence


CHLOROPHONEUS STARKI



171



Madam,— I was very interested in the coloured plate and the article on

the Gibbon Fiery-breasted Bush-shrike in the January number of the

Magazine.


Among my birds I have another member of the genus, Chlorophoneus

starlci, which I reared from a half-grown youngster. It is a large bird, about

9 inches long. The chin is pale yellow, the upper part of the breast is orange,

fading into pale yellow on the under parts. The head is grey ; the back

and wings olive green.


My bird is very tame, though nervous. When handled he never bites

or pecks with sufficient force to hurt.


The ordinary note is a soft whistle, though occasionally, especially when

alarmed, they make a sharp clicking noise followed by a note like “ Jeer ”,

at the same time bowing the head down, and depressing the beak towards

the breast.


I have said that I reared this bird, but it would be more correct to say

that its parents and I did it between us. It was about half-grown when

I picked it up off the road and, putting it in a cage, placed it on the verandah

where its parents fed it until it was old enough to feed itself. The old birds

were very shy at first, but quickly gained confidence until they would feed

their baby while I stood within a few yards of them.


Every year they make their nest in one of the grape-fruit trees. Last

season they produced two broods of which the bird I possess belonged to

the first. The one and only occasion on which I found the nest was through

hearing the parents uttering their loud, clicking alarm notes. On going to

investigate I found a green tree snake in the act of swallowing one of the

youngsters. I killed the snake and took the three remaining birds and placed

them in a cage, again leaving them on the verandah for the parents to feed.

Unfortunately, about a week later, an army of warrior ants invaded the

verandah ; all that was left in the morning were a few little bones ! In previous

years I have had two others, both of which were either stolen or escaped

before they were old enough to feed themselves.


How any young birds in the tropics manage to survive all the dangers

which beset them on every side, until they are old enough to look after them¬

selves, is a mystery. Between the numerous birds of prey, snakes, and

carnivorous animals of every description, it is nothing short of a miracle

that any get away at all. The mortality must be terrific ! I have often seen

hawks clinging on to weaver birds’ nests while they drag the young out of them.


I have not infrequently reared birds by placing them in a cage and allowing

their parents to feed them. In this connection I wonder if any other avicul-

turists have noticed a curious fact ? I have on rare occasions found that,

if I left a young bird to be fed until it was full grown, the parents apparently

deliberately poisoned it. At any rate this is the only way I can account

for finding a perfectly healthy bird, which I had left alive and well an hour

before, dead in the bottom of the cage.


It is interesting to read of the care bestowed by bird lovers at home on

some prized specimen which is comparatively common out here. The Sun

Birds, for instance, come in dozens to suck the nectar and catch small flies

from the flowers in the garden. They appear to be particularly fond of

zinnias where they mingle with the gorgeous butterflies in a riot of colour

as they dance from flower to flower.



