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S. Porter—Choughs



in a very conspicuous place on the “ Tourist ” deck. The birds con¬

stituted a free show for all and sundry.


The crates with the birds in were mainly used as seats by the

passengers who, when the crates were not the convenient height, just

turned them over ! Had the passengers been only provided with

boxes to sit on instead of chairs, no doubt there would have been very

vigorous complaints to the purser. However, I soon found a way of

discouraging this. I just put the droppings and debris from the bottom

of the cages when I cleaned them out, on the top. No doubt people

thought I was filthy but it served my purpose. When a fond mother

was watching her offspring banging the fronts of the cages to frighten

the birds, I turned the boxes round as inconspicuously as possible,

but I heard the parent say in terms of utter disgust, “ Just fancy,

wont even let a little child look at his birds.” I felt like telling her just

what I’d like to do with her child !


There’s a great deal of worry and trouble in importing birds oneself

and I often wonder if it wouldn’t be the best to buy one’s birds at

Home, and let someone else do all the worrying, but it is very interesting

and one meets in one’s travels some very charming and interesting

people and often one gets birds w T hich it would be quite impossible to

get in England. One also gets to know the birds very much more

intimately. “ Red-tape ” is a joke to most people but when one comes

up against it regarding exporting and importing birds it is far from a

joke and it makes one do things that aren’t always compatible with

one’s ideas of ethics !



CHOUGHS


By Sydney Porter


A few hours’ drive from London, that is if one is a fast driver,

is a rocky windswept promontory. It used to be a lonely enough spot

before the advent of motor cars, when a few poor farmers struggled

to wrest a livelihood from their small stone-walled fields on the tops

of the crumbling cliffs.



