It may certainly be said, that all the pets look full of life, and happy and contented in their situation; they chirp, sing, wash, feed, are merry, and, having abundance of room, their plumage looks healthy and beautiful, so unlike the dirty ragged appearance they soon exhibit when kept in a close, confined place, which, in a short period, brings on disease, and eventually death. Here they can wash themselves every morning, and they appear always eager to perform their matinal ablutions; their unsullied plumage, the song or twitter of delight with which they reward their benefactor, show how happy and contented they are in their confinement.
In the aviary are separate cages, erected for the purpose of inclosing such of the males of any of the species, as may have their combative organs in too high a degree of excitement; the punishment for such troublesome characters is, therefore, in the first place, solitary confinement, and should they not be reformed under that treatment, they are finally dismissed the aviary as incorrigibles.
It is delightful to visit the aviary at a very early hour in the morning, when the whole of the inhabitants are in the greatest confusion, the servants busily engaged in cleaning the habitation, and giving supplies of food to the colony; the “plumy people” appear in the plenitude of happiness, hopping from branch to branch, or running along the ground, their little throats strain with harmony: the soft cooing of the numerous pigeon tribe is heard as well as the quacking sounds of the duck tribe, who are not gifted with any other more harmonious notes. It is at this time that we can also observe the querulous disposition of these animals. The males of one and the same kind, or of different species, endeavour to grasp all the supplies for themselves, unmindful of the wants of others, and will not permit their companions to perform their ablutions without molestation, although they may have themselves completed what they required. I often observed the mandarin ducks excite the drakes to attack other males or females of the same species, as well as any other kind of bird (not too powerful) in the aviary, against whom the lady may have taken a dislike from some cause or causes unknown to us: there always appears to be one pair, who exercise a tyranny over the others, not permitting them to wash, eat, or drink, unless at the pleasure of these little aristocrats.
As the shades of evening close in, the aviary is again in a bustle, the birds setting themselves in their various roosting places for the night, and keeping up a continual chattering, until the whole colony is buried in silence and hidden in darkness. The Paradise Bird then sits tranquilly upon his perch, and no more greets the stranger, but stares in stupid amazement at the late visit. The cages of this, and the other birds in the verandah, are very carefully covered up at night to protect them from cats, or any other midnight prowlers.
It once happened, during a total eclipse of the sun, as that luminary became overshadowed, the “feathered colony,” if not in a consternation at the event, was exceedingly puzzled at the rapid and unusual termination of the day, and all retired supperless to bed; they received, however, a second surprise at the briefness of the night, for before they could be well asleep, the cocks crowed at the reappearance of the luminary, and they again resumed their daily amusements and occupations.
CHAPTER IV.
Reeves’s pheasants—Golden pheasants—Silver pheasants—Blue pigeons—Stabbed-breast pigeons—Widow birds—The horned Tragopan—The mandarin teal—Conjugal fidelity—Nicobar pigeons—Peacock pheasants—Pink cockatoo—The Ounderou monkey—A Pitta—Mr. Beale’s gardens—Rare productions of the vegetable kingdom—Native drawings—Extortionate custom.
In the aviary, the beautiful Phasianus veneratus of Temminck; the P. Reevesii of Gray, now commonly known by the name of Reeves’s Pheasant, was seen: it is the Chee Kai[21] of the Chinese. The longest of the beautiful tail feathers of this bird are six feet in length, and are placed in the caps of the players, when acting military characters: this I observed at Canton, where some of the beautiful tail feathers (rather in a dirty condition, like the actors themselves, who, in their tawdry and dirty dresses, remind one of chimney-sweepers in London on May-day) were placed erect, on each side of their caps, as a decoration. The Chinese do not venerate this bird, as was first supposed, and which may have caused Temminck to bestow upon it the specific name of veneratus; but it is superstitiously believed that the blood of this bird is possessed of poisonous properties, and that the mandarins, when in expectation of losing their rank, and being suddenly put to death by order of the emperor, preserve some of it, in a dried state, upon a handkerchief, on sucking which they fall down and instantly expire. I heard the male of this bird, in the aviary, utter a very sweet, mild, and harmonious, whistling note, as it strutted about proudly, arrayed in its elegant plumage; occasionally approaching near the wires of its habitation, to let the visitors notice and admire him. The ends of the longest feathers of the tail in the living specimen were broken, although in this place of confinement there is much extent for his movements; but the feathers are too long ever to expect them to be preserved perfect in any confined place.
Mr. Beale first succeeded in procuring a living male specimen of this elegant bird in 1808, and kept it in a healthy state for thirteen years. After its death, he endeavoured to procure others, but did not succeed until the year 1831. Four specimens were brought, from the interior of China, to Mr. Beale’s aviary, and purchased for one hundred and thirty dollars. These specimens were those, I believe, subsequently taken to England by Mr. Reeves. A female of this elegant creature has not yet been procured, although large offers have been made for one. Much difficulty has been experienced in procuring from the Chinese, female birds of the Reeves’s or golden pheasants: many think it proceeds from a desire of preventing the birds being bred; but it may more correctly be attributable to the difficulty of persuading the Chinese that the females can at all be an object of attraction, or worthy of purchase, from being deficient in the brilliant plumage of the male birds; and it is probable that they misunderstand the person who requests females to be brought, and therefore male specimens are usually brought in place of them. A drawing of this bird was sent to England, by Mr. Beale, in 1804; and on the death, before mentioned, of the first living specimen ever seen by Europeans in China, it was stuffed, and presented to a gentleman belonging to the Dutch Factory at Canton, who expressed a great desire to send it to Holland, as it would materially favour his interest at home: it was, therefore, sent thither in 1817, or 1818, and was very probably the specimen from which Temminck’s description was given.