Grey [now Long-tailed] Sibia: a colour plate from 1937

In the days when colour printing was extremely expensive, the Avicultural Society had special appeals for funds to support the appearance in Avicultural Magazine of the occasional colour plate. A well-known bird artist was then commissioned. Although the whole run of the Society’s magazines can be found online, the plates rarely see the light of day. Therefore I decided to show one, now and again, on this site. This is the 22nd in the series.

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The plate bore the signature of M. Dovaston. That can only be Margaret Isabel Dovaston (1884-1954) although the subject was far from that for which she is best known—oil paintings of historical English interior scenes depicting groups of figures from the 18th century. She produced these in considerable numbers which together with prints sold particularly well in North America. They became popular decorative art for living rooms. Originals still sell well, with up to US$44,000 recorded. She had a studio in Acton. She was educated at South Kensington School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. A clue that she must be the artist of the plate in Avicultural Magazine is that she kept budgerigars and other birds. She was not a member of the Avicultural Society and this is the only painting by her I can find in Avicultural Magazine.

The article accompanying this plate was written by Albert Sherriff (1895-1968), a stockbroker living in Hampstead, who earlier in the century had changed his name from Sondheim. Sherriff had also donated the plate which suggests he commissioned Miss Dovaston to paint the sibias. He wrote:

The Grey Sibias, so well portrayed on the opposite page by Miss Dovaston, are new to aviculture. They were imported from Sumatra by Mr. Frost in the early part of 1936. They are about the size of a Shama with an equally long tail which is barred with white on the underside.

Early last year I gave two of these Sibias an aviary to themselves, and was fortunate enough to find that they were a true pair as there is no apparent sex difference. A nest was built in the fork of a tree in which two blue eggs, similar in size to those of a Blackbird, were laid. After sixteen days the young were hatched and were well cared for by the parents.

Unfortunately, three days later, I decided to try the same experiment with the Grey Sibias as had been so successful with the Black-headed, and allowed them liberty. The second night after, the cock forsook the aviary and disappeared…

Because it was very difficult to provide enough small invertebrates for birds in captivity to rear their young successfully, it was common practice for birdkeepers to open their aviary doors and allow birds to forage for themselves in the neighbourhood. Local sparrowhawks and cats were often the grateful recipients of easily-caught and unexpected meals.

Wilfred Frost was a well-known collector in south-east Asia about whom a book could and should be written. He sold his birds to zoos and wealthy collectors like Sherriff.

Both common and scientific names have been changed since 1937. The birds from Sumatra have been 'lumped' and are now regarded as a subspecies of Heterophasia picaoides, H. p. simillima. The Long-tailed Sibia occurs from Nepal and south-western China through south-east Asia to Sumatra.