216



S. Porter—Wanderings in the Far East



including one of the indigenous species, the Red-vented ( Ducorjpsius

hdematuro'pygius), and a hybrid Amhurst-Golden Pheasant.


Later on I made the acquaintance of Dr. Manuel, the Director of

Ornithology for the Philippines, and he informed me that if I cared

to apply to the government for a permit to export live birds it would

no doubt be granted, then I could go to the more distant islands and with

the help of the natives collect birds for myself. Owing to the state of

my health, and also to the fact that I already had over fifty birds with

me, I deemed it the best not to go, though I was anxious to get hold

of some of the lovely Pittas which inhabit the Philippines. One of these,

Steer’s Pitta [Pitta steeri), is one of the most gorgeous of the whole

group, being of a vivid shade of silvery blue with markings of red

and black.


Birds are not kept by the Pilipinos to the extent to which they are

by the Chinese. One sees an odd parrot or two, a cockatoo, a pair of

Java Sparrows, or a dove, but that is all. Fish are all the rage and

nearly every home seems at least to have one aquarium. The advantage

of being an aquarist in the Philippines is that one can keep any kind

of tropical fish without heat.


I visited with Dr. Manuel the establishment of the Rev. Aguilar

at Makati, whom, I believe, is a member of the Society. Unfortunately

this gentleman was not at home, but with the permission of his house¬

keeper we wandered round and viewed the unique collections of parrots.

There were many very rare specimens, all in perfect condition and very

tame. I noticed Swainson’s, Scaly-breasted, and Reticulated Lories,

Red-vented, Lemon-crested, Black, Palm, Blue-eyed, White and Rose-

crested and Roseate Cockatoos, various Australian Parrakeets, three

or four different species of Macaws a few of the Philippine Green¬

winged Doves, some of the unique Bleeding-heart Pigeons, and last,

but not least, a single specimen of the Palawan Peacock Pheasant.

This unique bird is the only pheasant inhabiting the Philippines and

is one of the smallest of pheasants but at the same time one of the most

beautiful. It is found only in the island of Palawan in the far South of

the group. There were also some Parrot-finches, which, I was told, had

been introduced into the Philippines from the Solomons some few

years ago.



