A RARE BIRD'S HAUNTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 888, 6 August 1910, Page 9

A RARE BIRD'S HAUNTS.

A good deal of interest has -bced aroused in ornithological circles by tho discovery, after forty-years of diligent search, of tho-haunts -of the Grus Monachus, or ' tho hooded crane, a species threatened with extinction (says the "Daily News"). Several pairs of theso beautiful birds liavo. been' secured,- and are being sent from, England to Amsterdam,. Central America,Berlin, and Cologne. ; v:

"It is quite a mistake," said Mr. W. Jamrach, the discoverer of' their haunts,- "to suppose that -these birds are being scoured in order to extinguish the., species. As a matter of fact, , extinction is something that happens' in spite of human effort. In England there are several private collectors who buy and breed threatened animals purely for the love of them and for the sako of preserving tho species.' Thcro aro others; doing the samo all or or Europe, and not a few in America: Nor ilro these birds wanted for'their plumage, because it has no ,value on tho market. ■ 1 - .

"Cranas arc largely kept for ornu» mental purposes, mostly by folks' with .lakes, in their private grounds.l They, aro not harmful to other creatures as'' storks are. It. is also quite wrong'to suggest that the birds are killed ;: to' secure their eggs. No birds of this rare species aVo shot, and not one egg is taken, and I am proud to think T may bo ablo by iny present action.-.to secure the species from extinction." '■; "No," lie added, "this doesn't satisfy me. There are still some! fifteen or twenty other species of the crane : that I am looking for, and I have men all. over the world searching for them. I have had three men exploring Central Asia and China for over three years for a specimen of the Tero David' deer. It is supposed to be practically extinct, only ouo specimen being known, to exist in Europe, but I have hopes of finding it and bringing it to .England. I have, indeed, been trying to : preservo birds and animals all my life." Mr. Jamrach, it may be added; is a, son. of the founder of a famous East End firm. He was tho , discoverer of a new species of cassowary in Now Guinea, which has. been named after' him. . .