J. Delacour—American Aviculture



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AMERICAN AVICULTURE


By J. Delacour


I had not been in North America since 1927. In those days there

were very good public collections of live birds in different zoos, but

only a very few private ones and some commercial breeding establish¬

ments. We all know that, since then, aviculture has spread considerably

over there, particularly in California, and the tremendous change in

the state of things which I have witnessed during my last trip is,

I think, well worth recording in our pages.


In America, aviculturists are up against a general difficulty;

labour is extremely difficult to find, and very expensive, so that, unless

one has large means, one must be prepared more or less to look after one’s

birds oneself. That, of course, bars very large collections in most cases.

Another drawback is the hard climate of many parts of the country.

The whole North, North-East, and Middle-West have six months of very

cold weather which practically no birds from a warm or temperate

climate can stand without artificial heat, and the summers, being

oppressively hot, are also dangerous to some, although they suit others

very well. But it all means substantial and costly buildings. The

Southern states, on the other hand, mild in the winter, very hot and

damp in the summer, are good for tropical species, and the Pacific

coast, with climates varying from that of South-West England to

that of the Biviera, is extremely favourable to bird keeping and breeding

in general.



I. The East


The autumn is the best season in North-East America, and I arrived

in New York on 6th October, with M. Francis Edmond-Blanc. We

took over some rare birds of different sorts which I presented to some

of the zoos, and others which I had acquired from them, all having

travelled in perfect condition. Many friends met us at the wharf and

Mr. P. M. Maresi took us straight to his charming house at Scardale,

a pretty and country-like suburb. A Vice-President of the Avicultural

Society of America, Mr. Maresi has the best private collection of delicate

birds east of the Rockies at the present time. Although he keeps



