64



Sydney Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



WANDERINGS IN THE FAR EAST


By Sydney Porter

{Continued from p. 45)


To the stranger in China, the native markets and shops are a

never ending source of interest, the native city in Shanghai being no

exception, and its numerous bird shops provide a veritable Eldorado

for the aviculturist. These bird shops, though situated in the native

quarter, are by no means all together. They are native fashion with

open fronts and the birds hung outside, the only exception being the

shop of Mr. Woo which has a glass front in more or less the European

style. The birds in the bazaars, while not by any means kept under

hygienic conditions and leaving much to be desired in the way of

accommodation, were kept in a much better state than most I saw

afterwards.


Practically all the birds were caged separately, often in incredibly

small cages, Avadavats and Pekin Kobins being the exception, the

latter being crowded by hundreds into very inadequate cages, though

the birds appeared to be in good condition. After the Brown Laughing

Thrush ( Trochalpterum canorum ), which are to be found in thousands

in the bird shops, the commonest birds offered for sale are Mynahs,

the two most familiar ones being the Chinese Crested (Aethiopsar

cristatellus) and the Javanese, which of course is brought up from

Singapore.


There were any amount of Finches, Chinese Greenfinches, Siskins,

Tree-Sparrows, these latter in hundreds. I rather think they are eaten

under the nom de plume of “ Bice Birds ”.


A bird which I was thrilled to see was the lovely Japanese Waxwing

(Bombycilia japonica), a bird which I had always longed to possess. It

was not common on the market and I saw only one other bird besides

a couple of dozen in Mr. Woo’s shop, and of these I purchased eight.

This bird is rather smaller than the European Waxwing, but is infinitely

more beautiful, the end of the tail being a beautiful clear rose pink,

the wing feathers all being tipped with crimson, but these tips are not

the flattened-out shaft as they are in the European species ; the wing



