Sydney Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



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coverts are also a bright chestnut red. It is altogether a most desirable

bird, but owing to its eating a large amount of fruit it is not an occupant

for a small cage but should be kept in an aviary. I found these birds

rather difficult to keep, a few succumbed in Johore owing to the bananas

upon which I was feeding them being too fattening, and later on I

lost all the survivors but one through owls or cats frightening them

at night in the aviary. This species is found in the north-east of

Siberia and Kamtschatka, but in the winter migrates to China and

Japan. No one has yet discovered the breeding grounds of this bird*

and consequently its nest and eggs are unknown.


There were quite a few Ruby-throats in the shops, also Blue-throats,

but these latter were not common ; owing to their pugnacious dis¬

position all these birds were caged separately and all appeared to be

in good condition. There were many exotic birds including Macaws,

Javan and Ring-necked Parrakeets. I was surprised at the number

of Lovebirds offered for sale, Peach-faced, Masked, etc. ; these were,

I understood, bred and exported from Japan ; the price of most of them

was about 25s. a pair. I was rather tempted to buy a few pairs but

I had hopes of getting much rarer fry and didn’t want to get burdened

up with too many birds.


As well as the Japanese Waxwings I hoped to secure some of the

lovely Azure-winged Magpies (Cyanopiea cyana swinhoei ), and even

though Mr. Eustace had placed an order for some several weeks before

my arrival I was unable to secure any. For many years I had desired

to own some of these lovely birds but had never been able to obtain

any. It seems that being a common bird in China the Chinese will

not bother to catch them. In the park adjoining the Zoological Gardens

in Shanghai there must have been hundreds of these birds, in fact

they seemed commoner than the Sparrows. One evening I saw dozens

flying one after another into a berry-bearing tree to feed upon the

fruits.


This bird is one of the smallest of the Crow-like birds but at the

same time is the most beautiful. It has held a fascination for me ever

since I saw the picture of one in my early teens. About the size of an

English Blackbird but appearing larger owing to the long graduated

tail, its plumage is a combination of the softest and most delicate



