THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fifth Series .— VoL II.—No. 8 .—All rights reserved. AUGUST, 1937.



WANDERINGS IN THE FAR EAST


By Sydney Porter


At Tsintoa I was not sorry to bid farewell to North China. The

cold, desolation, and filth had been unbelievable.


I now sailed for the verdant Philippine Islands, but not before the

cold and dust had had a disastrous effect on a weak chest. No sick

or weary traveller in the desert ever longed so fervently for the sight

of an oasis as the writer did for a glimpse of the green mountains of

Luzon. The blue skies, verdant vegetation, and warm balmy air acted

as no medicine would have done and in a few days time after my

arrival in the beautiful city of Manila, I was up and about again.

Truly, I would rather be a beggar in the Philippines than a rich man

in Manchukuo.


It was impossible to acquire any live birds in the Philippines,

firstly because wise laws have been enacted prohibiting the catching

or the killing of the fast disappearing avifauna. The Philippines like

most other countries are being deforested at an alarming rate, and as

the indigenous vegetation disappears so does the bird life. As no birds

are allowed to be caught or sold there were none in the market, and as

the aquarium craze seemed to be sweeping Manila every so-called bird

shop seemed to be now an aquarist’s depository. The only birds I saw

offered for sale besides canaries were a few cockatoos (Lemon-crested),


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