180



A. Hampe—My Blackcapped Lory



of an ordinary cock Pheasant (Game Pheasant). The body, which was

very wasted at death, was not weighed ; a post-mortem examination

revealed tuberculosis.



MY BLACKCAPPED LORY


By Alex Hampe


When I receive our Magazine at the beginning of each month,

my first look is always for articles describing the successful or un¬

successful breeding of a rare bird. Tastes differ, but I think a good

many of our members share my opinion, and care less for articles on

birds which are kept as pets.


I must therefore ask them to be lenient with me, when I write

to-day a few lines about a bird which was purely a pet or rather a

companion, to me.


Many years ago, on a hot, sultry afternoon, I was sitting in my

office in Shanghai disgusted with the East and with the world in

general. The thermometer registered 95 degrees in the shade, now and

then a fine shower poured down, making tennis after office hours

impossible, and the temperature felt like a hothouse. On days like

these one hates the East, and longs for the cool mountains of one’s

home country.


I was just closing for the day, when the office boy entered and

announced : “ Master, birdman have come.”


“ Well, something interesting after all,” I thought, when my

faithful bird-dealer-friend came in and greeted me with his ever-

pleasant smile. Koo’s visits were always very welcome, for not only

did they mean a pleasant chat, but as a rule also the arrival of some

rare birds or animals in his shop in the native city. It is true that

these rarities were not always suitable for me. On one occasion it was

a colossal Chinese tiger which Koo offered to me, and another time

when he had told me he had a very nice pair of small wild chickens, I

found a pair of common Moorhens. But this time it was a new Parrot



