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S. Porter—Mass Importation of Birds



MASS IMPORTATION OF BIRDS


By S. Porter


In looking through six month’s issues of the Avicultural Magazine

which have accumulated during my residence abroad I see that there

has been quite a lot of controversy regarding “ Dealers versus

Collectors I wish some of the supporters of the importation of birds

en masse could have seen a collection of birds on the ship on which

I travelled home. These were consigned from Shanghai and Singapore

to two dealers, one in England and another in Holland. At the start

there must have been well over 10,000 birds. These consisted mainly

of Java Sparrows, Bengalese, Spice Finches, Pekin Robins, Chestnut

Buntings, Chinese Laughing Thrushes, and various other common birds,

such as one sees in the various dealers shops.


The Java Sparrows were packed at the rate of 280 in cages 12 by

16 by 36 inches, every perch was covered by the birds and so was the

wire netting front and the bottom of the cages, birds sat sometimes two

and three deep on each others backs, those which were not able to

reach the seed tin which was always crammed with birds, died of

starvation, the others, Bengalese, Spice birds, etc., were all housed

under similar conditions. The Pekin Robins were packed, a hundred

at a time in cages 5 by 34 by 20 inches, Laughing Thrushes a hundred

in cages 9 by 33 by 20 inches. Mongolian Larks, four in cages 8J by

7J by 6 inches. Four Lilford’s Cranes were sent on board trussed up

with rope and with no cage or crate, the owner said he intended them

to travel thus to Holland, the captain of the ship ordered a crate to

be brought, consequently a basket 2 ft. 10 in. in diameter and 2 ft. 8 in.

high was provided, which was a foot less in height than the birds !

Fortunately the First Officer, being a humane man, had a large crate

built for them. Sand Grouse were accommodated in boxes not much

larger than cigar boxes. Mammals including monkeys, slow loris,

bears, and squirrels were shipped under the same disgraceful conditions.


The sole diet for all these birds, seed-eaters and insect-eaters, was

rice with a little red millet for the Bengalese. Hundreds died every

week, handfuls of dead were consigned overboard every day. The

Laughing Thrushes owing to improper food ate each other alive at



