|if-:;:i:;p||; ; FOR THE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY BIRD - nOTES. f°@°° IIIK .IDll.'NAI. or IIIK K(ll!KI(iN lilHI) Cl.l H, r (ArilVlTV vou'isri': iv new series. '■ /)// iHiiliKil i-iiiijidnirc tiiid iinttiuil aid, (,'n'af (l"e(Is ure done inid stiiig ol FirL-liiiclics. :{? I. Co 1,1,1 n<;k, W. E., M.Hc... K.L.S., F.K.S. The Food of Nestling Birds, l(i. CUKKIK, J. *HeHults I'Ji;}, :J72. Dawson-Smith, F. .British Owls, 108. Q'^hree lucominoii Tets, "iHl. A Day on tlie Fames in August, 339. Dkwak, D(>rMesting of Spot-billed Toucan, 2 70. Rufous-necked Weaver, 2 70. North American Suow-Bird, 270. Ried -crested Cardinals, 285. Cockateels, 285. Grey Waxbill, 285. Lineolated Parrakeets, 285. lied -headed X Ribbon Finch Hybrids, 286, vi. Index to Conlrlbulors. EuvroHiAi— C onl mued . Breeding' Results, 322. Heck's Long-tailed Grassfinch, 322. Giand Eclectus Parrots, 322. Olive Finch, The 323. A lletix)spect, 370. Elms, E.F.M. Notes le J'iL-ui and other Dove.s, 13. EusTEK, Miss M. British Bird Calendar, 301. EiioM All Soukces. The Icelandic Falcon, 184. New Zealand Pigeons, 185. The Fei-n-Bia-d, 186. Work of the Birds, 224. Birds in Sti-ange Places, 262. Eefomied Cuckoos, 263. Ileported Orange Bishop X Canaiy Hybrid, 260. The Wheatear, 292. Mystery of the Swift, 293. Eire Caused by a Bird's Nest, 293. Nestlings' Home in a Battery, 294. Migratory Birds that Prey on Fruit, 324. Nesting^ of Chestnut -bellied Nuthatch, 325. The Birds of New Zealand, 358. Plumage Sales, 359. Galloway, P. F. M. British Bird Calendai', 121, 122. Gleanings. Eedpolls, 294. Siskins, 295. The Shama, 295. Pekin Eobin, 295. GooiiCHiLU, H., xM.B.O.U. The L.P.O.S. National Show (British Seetion), 71. Gos.sk, Dr. P., M.B.O.U. iBritish Bird Calendar, 26, 91, 121, 362. Bird Mai'king, 252. Gkay, H., M.R.C.V.S. Post Mortem Reports, 3 2, 63, 125, Ui2, 194,234.270,329,384 Post Morte'm Reports, (Green pai)er Inset), 2 7, 53, 88. Haktley, Mrs. E. A. H. *No Pink Birds, 92. British Bird Calendar, 232. *Menu of Cage Birds, 268. *Turquoisine Pai'rakeets, 269. ^Nesting Results for Season 1913. 327. htilc.r to ('i)iil rihiilors. vn, Hawkk, Hon. Mary C. *Ai! Aviary Cata-stro})!!*', Hid. Memories of a. Ti'ii> in Ai-.uciiliiia, -JTy. Hawkins L. W. The Blue-nnui)i;(l Paiiot, 127. Hoi-KixsoN, E., D.S.O., M.A., .\i.I5., etc. Birds of Gambia, HT, 7'), 102. LKKillTOX, I). K. W. 3?i-i).isli Hii'd Calendar, 2(i, .")(i, ilO, 122. J>iTri,i;i)ALi';, I.,jkit. F. .M . J5ird Keeping- liidi'r Ditliciillirs, 2 7;}. Lovell-Kevy.s, Dr. L. How 1 Staj'ted Avicndture and My Fii.sl I'airakccl Season, ;j Kl. Maldkk, Viscor.NTKss E. *Ile Menu for Cag-e Birds, 28«. Ma.wvell, C. T. The Red-breasted Flycatcher, ;](;:]. Meakin, H. Bi'itish Bird Calendar, 15 7. .MiLLSUM, O. The Breeding of a Hybrid Loiikeet, 275. British Bird Calendar, 377. M()NT(;()MEKY, W. O. *My First Season, 229. * Results— 1913, 372. Page, WE.SLEY T., F.Z.S., M.B.N.H.S. White -eyes (Zosterops), 1. Some Interesting Birds, 11, 33, 115, 135, 10.3. 208, 235, 271, 297. Black -Winged Grackle, 11. Black-headed Sibia, 33. Hybrids which have been Reared in Captivity, 51. The L.P.O.S. National Show (Foreign Section), 62, 65. Aviai-y Observations, 78. Fairy Blue -Birds, 95. The Lanceolated Jay, 115. The Common Redstart, 117. The Lady Amherst's Pheasant, 135. The Elliot's Pheasant, 137. The Breeding of Grey Finches, 139. The Breeding of Guttural Finches, 142. British Bird Calendar, 158, 296, 328. Great-spotted Woodpecker, 163. Visits to Members' Aviaries and Birdrooms, 178, 255, 331. Three Pyteliae, 195. Silvery -crowned Friar-Bird, 208. Superb Tanager, 211. y^i^ Index to CuHlrUnilois. Lessor Black- back tnl Gull, 235. Zoo Nok'.s, 254. r-A.iK, Wksj.ey T., F.Z.^., M.B.N.H.S. 'Cr.vlhnu'd. = h'exing the Gold -fronted Frii.tsuckers, 206. i The Common Tern, 271. The Red-breasted Flycatcher, 363. The Common Quail, 367. L.C.B.A. Show (Foreign J'.ection;, 377. ■ Tateiison, Rkv. J. Mai'LetoH'. ♦Aviary Not^s, 1913, 290. FEKREAr, Ma.tou C a., F.Z.S. \ ■My Indian Consignment, 105, 129, 165, 201. i PSITTACI'S. *For the Utmost Happiness of Caged Birds, 29. j Puck, Otto. j How I became a Lover of Birds, 22. : On the Keeping of Soft-bills in Cages, 108, 144. PiTiiiK, Miss D. E. iBritish Bird Calendar, 157, 158, 233. PohTIMOllB, LOKD. * Nesting of Chattering Lory, etc., 375. Uattioan, Ct. E. Breeding of Grey-headed X Cape bpurrow, 9. Aviary Notes and Episodes— 1912, 43. Raynoij, Rev. G. H. ♦L.C.B.A. Show, 30. *Blue Budgerigars and Meadelism, CO. . The Current Number of "Bird Notes," 12(). British Bird Calendar, 157. Mr. Raynor's Aviary at Hazeleigh Rectory, 312. List of Species of Psittaci already exhibited, 351. j Read, Mks. W. H. i *Bmeding Results, 1913, 259. Reeve, Cai'taix J. Shekard, F.Z.S. j British Bird Calendar, 26, 158, 377. 1 Leadenham Aviary Notes, 72. ] Hybrid Geese, 273. ♦Latest Results, 290. Combined Seed-hopper and Bird Trap, 310. Reviewer. A System of Veteiinary Medicine- Edited by E. Wallis Hoare, 91, 123. ' A Dictionary of English and Folk Names of Birds, 159. Wild Life— Magazine, Edited by Douglas English, 159, Our Vanishing Wild Life— W. T. Hornaday, 159. , Ivih'.r fo Cofil rihiifors. ix. Y^'ar Book of Aroiias-prio Cliil), l!tO. Ornitliolof,nfal Rojiort U]ipiiif,'h;mi ScIimiI, liH. In a Ciicsliiro danlori 0. K. Wa; l.uilon. 2fi.1. Ho.iEKS. W. T. The Cluh Dinner, ICO. Members' Mootinfjs at Zoo, '2;31. ♦NestinfT of Pertoral Finches, 2^1. KrnnocK. C. H. *A Swallow Hiiiped in .^Uallordsliiiv and i!e:'oveied in Natal, 93. PcoTT. Mrs. .1. E. *Tho Nestin,? of the Black -headed Nun, 2aG. i^ooTT, B. Hamilton. British Bird Calendar, 20, 57, ?.()!. SiLVEK, Allan. British Bird Calendar, 90, 121. ♦Forthconi'ng Show at Horticultural Hall, 193. Smyth, Miss Alfreda B. * Stray Notes, 30. ♦Stray Notes— 1913, 228. ♦Current Notes, 289. SoMERS, F., M.R.C.V.S. The Aviaries at Boundhay Park (Leeds), 83. Spranklino, Ernest. ♦Re Breeding of Grey Waxbills, 360. Breeding of Turtle Dove Hybrids, 365. SUGGITT, R. Breeding of Hy))rid Grey-winged Ouzel X Argentine Black- birds, 49. ♦Odd Birds— Members' Exchanges, 61. iBritish Bird Calendar, 90, 122, 158-9, 296, 328, 3(;i, 362. Spotted Partridge, The, 299. Sttton, O. Peliiam. ♦Breeding of the _Blue Budgerigar in England, 30. Tavistock, The Marquis of. ♦To Preserve from Extinction, 227. ♦Parraheets, etc., at Wobui-n Abbey, 287. The Breeding of Baniard's PaiTakeets, 301. Teschemaker, W. E., B.A. Nesting of the Black -headed Grosbeak, 7. ToMLiNSON, Malcolm R. ♦Blood-stained Finch X Canaiy Hylirid. 193. Ward, Hon. Mrs. Somerset. ♦Great Tits in a Garden, 28,S X. Index to Coiitribntors. Weir, J. *Xo Pink Birds, 125. Biitish Bird Calendar, 158. WiiisTLEii, High, I. P., M.B.O.U. ♦Indian White -eyes, 61. Fairy Blue -Birds, 98—100. Bii-d Notes from 'Tiueste to Bombay, 172. All Island on the Eiver Jhelum, Punjab, 240. *The Collared Piglny Owlet, 289. *Bird3 with Pink Plumage, 291. Nlesting of Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch, 325. The Lammergeier in Captivity, 344. WiLI.FORD, H. Some Interesting- Birds, 11, 33, 11.5, 135, 163, 208, 235, 271, 297. WILLIAM!^, S., F.Z.S. Holiday Notes from Eastbourne, 244. WlTHEIJBY, H. P. ♦Remarkable Journey of a Swallow, 93. ♦Swallow Eingied in Staffordshire and Recovered at Natal, 94. ♦From Scotland to Orang'e Free State, 375. Vealland, J. Melba Finches, 196. Index to PUites. xi. Index to Plates. "V.v K.to^ (oloun! I 1*1,- te-s. *Tho Indian A\'lii;('-ryc fi'j/ifi.-ipircc. Hl;wk-win{-T'cl (liarklc ." 12 IMuk-Tji-owed Jloscfiiicli, catiiig sec'diiig f^Tass' f om the liaiid 2S Black -he-aded Sihia and Nest :!3 Kc'cently Shot Oi-own Bird 40 Some Interesting' Foreign Species at the National Show ().j Some Interesting British Exlnhits at the National Show 71 The Roundhay Park Aviaries i Leeds) 83 The Kusty -cheeked Baliblei- ni *The Fairy Blue-Bird 95 l'i,i;niy Woodpeckei', Vellow-iiaped Ixuius, and Black -tliro:ited Wren-BaTiMer 10'3 Tlie Black -throated or Lanceolated Jay 115 The Common Bedstart 117 *Blue-niinped Parrot cf 9 127 Ked-headed Tit, Larger Streaked Spider-Hunter, Larger Bed- headed Crow-Tit 129 Lady Amherst's Bheasant 135 Elliott's Pheasants, cf, Q 137 (.; reat Spotted Woofl|i'ecker i 2) 1 {i3 Some British Owls 1(>S At Home in the Aviary: Tengmalm's Owl 172 Heniprich's Gull 17H Nest and E'g'gs of Rusty -cheeked Scimitar BahhI-r 192 Nest and Eggs of Flame -shouldered Troupial 192 Xest of Olive Finch in 'g:rowing wheat 193 Vest of Cuba Finch in Spruce Fir, bu It euliiely of g'ca 's liair 193 *Melha Finch and Red-faced Finch 195 Silvery -crowned Friai-Bird 208 The Superb Tanager 211 Young Lesser Black-backed Gull 235 Lesser Black-backed Gull. "Are they all right?" 235 Lesser Black-backed Gull. ''Who's there?" 235 I'elican Preening its Plumage 25-1 Cix'sted Screamers — London Zo3 25 1 A vooets -Waders' Aviaa-y, London Zoo 255 Common Tern, Nest and Eggs 271 Common Tern, Incubating 271 Ccmmon Teni, Alighting at Nest 272 (;yr-Falcon 281 riid)u or Black Vulture 281 Audubon's Ca:aeara 2S1 Common Shag Btojding Young 297 ./■//. Illustratio7is m Text. The Coinniou Sliag 298 The ^'potted raitridge 2i;9' Ccmbined Feeding Box and Bird Trap ;}10 Rev. G. H. Eaynor's Aviaries 31. '5 Mr. Bainbridge's Aviaries, A and B 3.31 Mrs. Anningson's Parrot House 33(1 Herring and L.B. Gulls and Guillemots P,'^]8 Puffins at Holme, Staples Is 3.'!!) The Lammergeier taking a Sunbath .34() *Red-BrcaHted Flycatcher 3(53 The Common Quail 3 (j 7 Peters' Spotted Firefinch • ;'71) Black-chinned Yuhina 379 B'ack-faced Quail Finch 379 Gamraon Quail Finch 381 Illustrations in Text. Pagie .. Aubry's Parrot '"S Map, showing distril)ution of Irena jmclla 99 Lapland Bunting 1:^B Ground Plan— Melrose House Aviaries 179 Ne.it in which Hybrid Weavers were Reared "214 Ground Plan — Mr. Chiozza Money's Aviaries "iHO Gdd-fronted Fruitsucker, cf, 9 -''"^ Ground Plan, Rev. Raynor'.s Aviary 313 Young Firefinch in Nest -t-^*' Nest of Clive Finch ■•• ■'- 1 Ncot of Short-winged Weaver 327 Ground Plan— Mr. Bainbridge's Aviary, A 332 Ground Plan— Mr. Bainbridge's Aviary, B 33 1 Ground Plan -Mrs. Anningson's Parrot House 33H Ground Plan— Dr. Lovell-Keays' Parrakeet Aviary 347 Nest of Short-winged Weaver 3(iO Nest of Abyssinian Weaver •*73 All tiighti< Reserved. January, 1913. BIRD NOTES: THE JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB White-eyes (Zosterops). By Wesley T. Pa(;e, F.Z.S., Etc. It is quite impossible for me to attempt an article on tlie genus Zosterops, as there are over ninety species and sub-species, and there are already too many series yet to be finished from my pen, and I must not undertake another. Possibly, however, a list of species with size and range may be useful. The species I am giving in the same order, as they appear in Brit. Mus. Cat., Vol. IX., they are as follows: SPECIES SIZE IN HABITAT. INCHES. (cr,.ulesce)i.s 4.(i A.u.st., N. Zealand, Cliathara Islands. alb'guliris 5.8 Noifolk Island. ti^nurostri^ 5. Noifolk Island. strenua 5.7 Lord Howe's Island. westernensis .4.5 Aust., N. Caledonia, N. Hebrides, Lord Howe's, and Figi Islands. ramsay* 4.4 Palm Island, Torres Straits. vatensis 5.3 Vate, New Hebrides. inornata 5.3 Loyalty Islands. auieifrons 4.5 Flores and Sumbawa. pallida 4.7 S. Africa — along the Orange Riv. and extending into theTi-ansvaal. japonica 4. Japan. erythrop^eura .' 3.5 Fi'om S. Amoorlaud, extending throughout China to Aloupin. gouldi ■ 4.3 Western Austialia. grayi 5. Ke Islands, Moluccas. aur'eirenfer 3.4 Fiom S. Teaiasserirn down the Mal- ayan Pen. to Sumatra, Java and Timor. eveie'tl, 4.5 Phillipine Islands. albiventer, 4.6 Ca|)e Gienville and Islands of Torres Straits. crissalis 4. South-eastern New Guinea. palpebrosa ' 4. India— Himalayas to Ceylon, with the Laccadives; Burmese coun- tries eastwards, into S. China; .Andaman Is. and Nicobars. siibrosea 4. Hankow, Central China. * Probably identical with westernensis. White- eyes (Zosterops) SPECIES SIZE IN INCHES. citrinella, 3.7 abyssinica, i. poliogaster 4.9 anjiMiiensis, 4.8 madagascanenalu 4.2 capcnais 4.2 explorator 4.5 ceylonensis 4.5 xanlhocliioa 4.3 griselventer 4.5 nuvoi guinea 4.2 aureigula 5.3 atrifrons 4.2 atricapUla 4.3 delicaliila 4. clirysolosma 4. fascicain.la 3.7 liypoxaniha 3.7 fiava 4. meyeni 3.U siamensis 4. seiiegalensis 3.6 klrki 3.7 'Virens 4.7 eurycricotus 4.75 lutea 4. semperi 3.8 chloris 4.7 buruensis 4.4 intermedia 4.(3 •gallio i 4.1 nigrorum 4. hypolais , 4. oleagina 4.7 conspiciilata flavifrofis 4.8 rendouoe J -8 gul'iveri 4.2 grisei'incta 4.5 longiiostris 4. brunneicauda 4.75 uropygialis 4.4 semifl'iva 4. viayottensis UABITAT. Island of Timor. Abyssinia — nortliwards into Bogos Laud, and youtii to \\ adla, and Tarauta, Is. of .'^'ocotra. JSr.E. ."Africa. Comoro group: Anjuan and Grand Comoro Is. i^Iadagasuar and Gloriosa is. t5. Afnca. Fiji Is. Hals of Ceylon. New Caledonia. Teiiimber Is. New Guinea and Aru Is.; Am- bonia and Ceram. Is. of Jobi, N.W. Xew Guinea. Celebes. Mount iSingalan, Sumatia. S.E. New Guinea; Aru Islands. Aifak Mountains— N.W. New Guin. Aifcik .Mountains— N.W. New Guin. New Britain, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. Luzon, riiilipiue Is. Siam, extending lut J Burmese coun- tri es . All over S. Africa soutli of the Sahara, excepting the forett country of the W e&t Coast, ana the extreme southern portion of the continent. Grand Comoro Is. S.E. Africa, extending north to the Zambesi. Foot of Maeru Mountn., Messai country, E. Africa. N . Australia. Pelew els., Eastjed-n and Central Car- olines. Is. of Banda, Moluccas. Is. of Bouru, Moluccas. Celebes; Lombock; Ternate. Java. Is. of Negros-Philipine Archipel- ago. Is. of Uap, Mackenzie group. Is. of Uap, Mackenzie group. Is. of Guam, Ladrones. New Hebrides. Is. of liendova, Solomon Group. Noiman River, Gu;f of Carpentaria. Louisiade Is. Heath Is. Is. of Ceram, Lant, Choor, and the Aru Is. Little Ke Is., JMoluccas. Seychelles. Is. of Alayotte, White- eyes {Zosterops) 3 SPECIES SIZE IN HAIUTAT. INCHES. cJilorates ■!. Sumatra. mimila 1.2 hifii, Loyalty Islands. oHvatea 4.5 Is. of Bouiboii or lleunion. chloronota 4. AJaurJlius. modesta 4.2 Seychelles. mauriliana i).8 Mauritius. buibonica, 4.5 Is. of lieuiiioii or Bourbon. javaiiica 4.7 Java. [allax , 5.2 Java and Sumatra. /inscli.'i 4.5 J'ulew Is. ci/ierea 4.6 Kusliai and Ualan Is. 'ponapensis Is. of Poiiape. mclanops 4.8 Loyalty Is. liKjubiis 4.8 \\ . Africa: Is. of St. Thomas in the Bight of Benin. uiclaiiocephuli 4.7 W. Africa: Cameroons district. leucjphoea 5. W. Africa: Gaboon, Piinces Is. atriceps 4.7 Is. of Batchian in the Moluccas. fiuscifrons 4.25 Is. of Gilolo or Halmahera, in the Moluccas. mi/.soriends 4.25 Js. of Misori, N.W. New Guinea. Jii/pok'uca, 4. New Guinea. muelleri 5.3 Is. of Timor. frlglda 4. Sumatra. ficciluli/Ki 4.5 Trince's Is., W. Africa. The above list u compiled from Vol. IX of the B.M.C., ;uid the measurements, all probably taken from skins, may prove iu many instances, to be a little larger than the living bird. The Indian White -eve: Our frontispiece depicts an episode in my aviary, in 1911, when the Indian White-eye (Z. palpebrosa), reared three young ones, two of which are still livmg. The plate is true to life, the branch of the tree was drawn on the spot, and Mr. Goodchild has aptly caught the position of the birds, as they hopped about, and cared for their family, and the plate in my opinion does credit both to the artist and the lithographer, and is, I hope, merely the forerunner of many others depicting similar scenes. The charm and interest of these dainty sprites is beyond description, whatever feature one seeks to describe. In gen- eral demeanour and deportment they resemble the Gold -crested Wren and they are about the same size or very little larger. One can watch them almost for hours without tiring, first to see them, Creeper-like, examining bark and leaves, then sway- hig on a tall grass stem, then swooping (lluttering) to and fro, foraging on the wing, and again walking wrong side up on roof netting of llight in the eager search for small iij- 4 White- eyes (Zosterops) sect life; except for one short hour at mid-day, and for very short intermittent spells, this activity is kept up during the live-lon^^ day. When they do, for sbort spells, hop about a tree or bush, apparently without an object they are more charming still. While engaged in the duties of house building, incubating, or caring for a family, they are even more fascin- ating and when the little family leave the sheltering walls of "White-eye castle," the sight is bewitching indeed, and thus one could wander on, but the story has been already told (see B.N. Vol. II. N.S., p. 226), though for the benefit of riQ^ readers I will recapitulate the main facts, in a few, I fear very jerky sentences. Nest containing three eggs discovered on the evening of June 27th (I deduce clutch only completed that day). Three chicks hatched early morning July 7th. Three fully-fledged birds left the nest July 17th (eveuingK Young birds fending for themselves August 1st. Callow Young: quite naked, pinkish flesh -colour and very minute (a lady visitor likened tliem to caterpillars;. Incubation period 10 to 11 days. Nestling plumage, similar to adults, but not quite so intense, but did not get the white eye -rings till the twenty -fourth day af- ter leaving the nest. The eyes of the chicks were open on the morning of tlie fifth day. For the first four days the young were fed entirely on small insects (blight, etc.), captured in the aviary; on the fifth day tney accepted small mealworms, but killed tliese before feeding their young. On the morning of the tenth day they also began to feed with ripe fruit. The parent birds carried out the fseces of tlie young in their bills, only dropping it when obscured by the foliage. This species can certainly be wintered out of doors in Surrey without difficulty, and I think Miss Hawke has so kept one of the African species, but some of the species would need careful testing in this respect, some, I consider, would need the protection of four walls and a roof during the winter, and, unless put out in the early spring, all are best brought indoors for their first winter in this country but, can go out of doors in late April or early May and appear to be quite unharmed by the variations of our English spring. They helped themselves to insectile mixture, ripe fruit, and milk ^op freely in my aviary, also capturing many insects White- ei/ds (Zosterops) 5 and competed with the larger birds for mealworms, also occasionally taking a liltlc seerl, which they swallowed whole. While the general plumage of all the species does not vary much, the distinctions principally consisting of a varying intensity, and placing of the brighter colour areas and lighter or warmer hues of the abdominal region, and size, but there are a few species which have somewhat striking variations from the general pattern, and these I give below : — NOTICE \BLE VARIATIONS FROM THH COMMON colouration: viz: SPECIES. YELLOW, GKEKN, OLIVE, AND GREYS. fuscicapilla Crown of head black, hypoxanthn Ear-coverts blackish. siamensis Dusky spot in front of eye. uropygialis Head dusky, entire undersurface yellow. hrunneicauda Dusky spot in front of eye; flight ' ' and tail feathers brown. semiflava Washed with reddish-brown on lower back and rump; primary- coverts, primaries, and tail fea- tbers black with yellow margins. mayottensis Under surface citron -yellow; flanks brownish-red; tail- and wing- feathers blackish with jrreenish- yellow margins; bill indigo-blue. chlorates Very similar, but with dusky spot in front of, and a dusky line be- low the eye. minnta ■ Conspicuous white tuft on the flanks. mnnritiana Cheeks, throat and undftrparts white. no ring of feathers round the eye, dusky spot in fi'ont of eye, rump and upper tail covei'ts whitie. borbom'ca Slaty-grey above; no white ring round the eye. rump white; lar- ger wing and tail feathers dusky blackish. javanica Broad white eye-brow and white streak below the eye; otherwise similar to fallax. fallax Lores and forehead white, larger wing- and tail-feathers dusky. fhiffchii Mostly ruddy -brown ; cheeks, throat, centres of breai^t and abdomen dull ashy. • cinerea General colour ashy-grey; wings and tail brown; lores and nar- row ring rouncl eye grey. pouapenais Earthy brown above, wings and tail umber-brown; eye-ring sil- very grey; lores, sides of head ' and unde;'parts dirty ashy -grey. White- ey^s (Zosterops) NOTICE \BLK VAKIAT:ONS FROM THE COMMON colouration: vi/.: SPECIES. YRLT.OW, GREEN, OLIVF, AND GREYS. melanops Slaty-g ey above, ashy-c ev below; crown of head sooty-b]ack : Icres and patch l)elow eye black ; eye ring white. melanocephala Ci'own of head and nape blackish- brown; thro t white; pe e a' body coVu'ing dull ashy brown above and du^ky ashy brown be- : I low. leucophoea G ey'sh brown above, g-revish wh't'"- be'ow ; lar,£:e:' wing- and taj' feathers dark brown; crown of held whitish; ea--co -e ts a';d cheeks white. atriceps DuH ye'lowish-olive al)ove. ashy- white le'ow; larre- wing- a'ld tail feathe-s du=;ky brown; crown of head. nape, hind ne?k, fo-e- head and ear-co^ ert" ^ctv brown, under tail coverts bright ye'low. mysoriensis Above ol'vare^u^, be'ow w^ie; sides of reck and cbe-^ks grey- ish ; quills and tail fpathe"s black- ish : unde- tpil-cove-ts pale yel- low. hypoleuca Dull olive-gree"' above. below white: ^a^ce- wi\2:- .■^nd tii'-fea- t' e"s f'u ky brown: ^o e^ black, me'ging into a bl?ck band be'ow the wh'te eye-ring. muelleri Above olive -greenish, below yellow- ish; quills and tai^ -feathers brown ; lores and stripe above the eye yellow: eye-riiig white; spot in f'^o'^t of eye b^ack. frigida Brownish oHvace'us above. dull yellowish be^ow: crown yellowish spotted with black ; indistinct white ring round eye. ficedulina Above ol've s::en. below palevel- low; quills and tail-feathers dus- ky brown ; top of head duskv oiive-gieen: forehead with nar- row white ftreaks. By " general pattern " is meant an arrangement similar to the species figured on frontispiece, but this is very vari- able as to extent of colour areas, their placing, and the intensity of the respective hues. White-eyes are equally delightful as cage-pets, if given a roomy cage, furnished with twiggy branches, but care must be taken that they do not become overfat, for they are little gourmands. Nesting of fJir Blaclc-hmdrd Groshcak. 7 As ro,£>-ards \ho\r f?'o,Tf?nonf, if siippliorl with a little of some ,c:oo(l ins;rc*i'(^ mixliiro, i-ipr^ fruit, milk sop, and sovoral liv(^ iiisonts daily will siiTiim^ for thoir wants. So fai- as tlio writor is awai'o only Z. paJprhrosa.ha^s as yet "been Ivo 1 in captivity, while quite a larj^e number of the species have not yet rea'^hed Great Britain alive. There are Jio mo^e c'^a^'m-n^ hirds imported than White- eyes, they are mo-^tly of minute size, exquisite beauty, and attractive demeanour, and above all are not diTicult to keep fit, once the critieal period following- importation has been passed. The story of their wild life has been told in back Vols of "B.N." Nesting of the Black-headed Grosbeak. {Hcdi'mclcs wpJanncrphalus) . By W. E. Teschemakee, B.A. This large, distinctive and very handsome species is one of th(^ most charming birds that an aviarist could desire. Larger than our Hawfinch, it is also far more brightly coloured, more reachy and stylish. The glossy black head, rich chest- nut breast and the contrasted black and white areas of the wings of the male would make him a conspicuous object in any company or against any background, and his powerful, mellow, flute-like notes, which are heard both in the gloam- ing and at rhe dawn of day, are also a great attraction. Though a true Hawfinch, and armed with a formidable beak, he does not possess the detestable temper of the British repre- sentative of that fami'y; also he will, like his near relative — Ihe Rose-breasted Grosbeak— readily breed fh cap'tivity whereas a good many aviarists have, 1 thmk, come to tTie conclusion that our Hawfinch is not a particularly easy species to breed. T notic^ that even the remarRafify sanguine aviculturists, who frequently write to the weekly press to tell us about the Canary-Yellowhammer and other wonderful hybrids, which they claim to have bred or are shortly going to breed, are discreetly silent on tlie subject of Hawfinch hybrids. Lastly let me add that this Grosbeak only comes on the market at long intervals and then in very small numbers. The Bose-breasted Grosbeak restricts itself chiefly, as 8 Nesting of the BJaelc-h ended Groshealc. a breeding species, to the Eastern States but the present species is a bird of Western America and is seen in summer in suitable localities from the Plains to the Pacific, wintering in Mexico. A friend of mine, who used to live in California, has several specimens in his collection, and tells me that it used to nest in a swamp near his house. My pair built a large, untidy nest early this summer in the bare fork of an apple tree and laid two large eggs of a pale blue ground colour, boldly spotted with leddish -brown, with a few purplish maculations. The male sat quite as much, or perhaps more than, the female. All went well till a couple of days before the eggs were due to hatch when, with the object of discovering the best class of insect food for rearing the young, I supplied some mealworms and other dainties, with the unfortunate result that the male attacked the female most savagely, driving her up and down the aviary. During one of these scrimmages the eggs must have beenf. kicked out for I picked them up the following day on the ground, one partly hatched and the other chipped (incubation period 12 days). However, they soon made another attempt. This time the nest was constructed in an equally conspicuous position, on a horizontal bougli of an apple-tree only six inches below the roof of netting. One of the charms of aviculture in this district is the Tawny Owls: out of a total of 45 birds in my breeding aviary this spring they either killed outright or maimed no less than fifteen. As showing how closely the Grosbeaks sat I may mention that the etcetera Owls snipped off the head of a Pipit just two feet from the nest (the exact spot being marked by the feathers adhering to the netting) one night, and yet the female must have stuck to her post for the eggs hatched. Incubation commenced on the 14th May (again only two eggs being laid )and the young hatched on the 27th. They were at first thinly covered with long bluish grey down, and looked promising but on the following day one vanished or, shall I say, was translated to another sphere for, as usual, no trace was left — not even S, short note to say, how, or whj or when it departed. On the sixth day the sur- vivor was showing flight feathers in the quill, and, as he was Nesting of the Black -headed Croshcalc. 0 elsewhere (except for ,i little grey down on the back and crown )perfeetiy naked, it was not surpiisin,^: to note that he seemed shivery and unhappy. On tlie tenth day he looked much more respectable, with a decent covering' of dark fea- ther,< and showing some bull on the rump and wing coverts. On the thirteenth day the nest was empty, but, after a long search, I found my young fri(Mid snu^y ennc(!a!ed in the thick- est part of an Euonymus. He soon began to follow his parents on the wing, and his curious mewing food-call (much resembling the distant wailing of a Herring Gull) was one of the features of the past summer. As showing how necessary it is to consider the habits of individual species individually, when awarding medals for breeding results, I may mention that the young bird was not quite independent in the matter of food jor two months after leaving the nest. Even wiien he left the nest his plumage was much brighter than that of an adult female and at once declared his sex. H>' died on the 19th of October, owing to not being supplied with insect food during the moult (these foreign Grosbeaks are not l.'alf so hardy as they look). The following note was made on the 20th of October, and compares the young bird with the skin of an adult male in summer plumage: — "Breast bright chestnut, O.AT. (old "male) muc'i lighter — more orange-red; centre of breast grey- " ish, O.M. bright orange; across upper breast zone of black "spots, O.M. none; chin buff, O.M. black; crown black with "bull' centre stripe, O.M. black; white superciliary stripe, "O.M. none; white stripe under lores, O.M. none; back dark "rufous with bold black striations, O.M. dull orange with "ditto; rump dark rufous, O.M. orange; tail dark rufous- " brown, O.M. black with white inner margins to lower half, "white bar on primaries and coverts much duller and smaller; "feet dark bluish-black, O.M. same." The Breeding of Grey-headed x Cape Sparrows {Passer diffusus -\- P. arcuatus). By Gerald E. Rattig.^n. Many keen disappointments as well as triumphs are the portion of the aviculturist, the former mostly pre- 10 The Breddmcf of Grei/ -headed + Cape Sparroios. dominating-. Last year (1911) after several failures, owi*ng to the intolerance of these 5irds of any interference with their nesting arrangements, such notes as I was then aore to secure I have unfortunately mislaid. Two young were hatched, however, and were fending for themselves, when they were hoth murdered by another species of Sparrow inhabiting tiie same aviary. In the earlier portion of the past season (1912) the samp lack of success dogged the efforts of these two birds, arising from the same cause, and the net result of repeated attempts is one young bird fully reared (now in mature plumage), a male. I will commence with a description of the plumage of this young bird: Ci'own of head Wuish grey; nape and mantle washed with olive-brown; wing coverts, lower back, rump, and upper tail coverts bright chestnut; flights brown; tail-feathers brown with darker margins: underparts greyish - white washed Avith brown; beak darkish horn -colour; feet light brown; iris brown. From the above it will be seen that the young hybrid is almost a replica of its male parent and shows none of the striking black and white plumage of the Cape Sparrow. In size, the young hybrid is a little smaller than its male parent. Re Breeding operations: I have found it quite im- possible to obtain strictly accurate notes as to the period of incubation and nestling plumage, for as I have already men- tioned, the slightest interference or noticed inquisitiveness on my part caused either the devouring, or instant desertion of dheir eggs, and in the case of young, unless over four days old, close observation resulted in infanticide. Thus it was impossible for me to definitely ascertain when incubation actually commenced or terminated, the latter I could only ascertain by hearing the young call for food, and the former by there only being one bird about at a time —I can only compute the incubation period by methods as above at fourteen days [12 to 13 days is the average period for Passer.— Ed]. The young left the nest three weeks after they were first heard calling for food. The Breddmg of Grcn-hcaded + Cnpe f^parroivs. 11 In nestliiiu plnniaffo they closely resemble the House Sp.iri'ow. but are smaller. The young- in every instance were reared on insectile xjnixture. mealworms, anfl live ants' .e^p:s, thoug-h probably they could be reared entirely on a p^oorl inseetile mixture [animal food looms largely in the diet of nedtjeline: Sparrows in a state of nature. — Ed.]. The old birds like all Sjjarrows were devoted parents and watched over their younc: with jealous care, setting furi- ously on and putting to ignominious flight any bird, how- ever large or powerful, that attempted to approach too closely to their nest. The nest was a dome-shaped structure of hay, lined with feathers and moss — I have written "lined," but pacJcnd would be the better term, as the quantity of feathers, etc., they managecf to stow away m a comparatively small space was afmost uncanny. They have used a coco-nut husk as a nest receptacle, also a son of miniature dovecote, and also con- structed a nest amVd tfie branches, &ut, wherever praced"tfle pattern was invariably the same. The chitch varied from three to four but, only two hatched out on the first occasion, and one at the last. The colour of the eggs is palish green, blotched with large brown and smaller lavender spots and streaks. The parent birds continued to feed the young one for about five weeks after it had left the nest, after which period, I caught and caged the young one separately. Some Interesting Birds. By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S. Illustrated from Life, by H. Wtllford, The Rlack-wtnCtED Grackle (GrarvJipica virJavop- tera). As will be seen from Mr. Willford's most successful photograph, this species is a striking and handsome one. It is also a bird of some character, and some specimens, ot any rate, become very tame and absolutely fearless. It is an inhabitant of Java and the Island of Madura, and i-^ about the size of a Starling. Dpsrn'pfio?). Adult MaJp : Except for the wind's and tail this tine bird is pure silky white, slightly tinted with pale buff on 12 Some Interesting Birds. the crown, rump, thij^hs and under tail-coverts ; bastard primary- glossy black ; quill- and tail-feathers flossy greenish-black, the latter tipped with white ; bill and feet yellow, as also is a bare space round the eye ; iris white. Total leiigth 0 inches, tail 3. Female : Similar, but slightly smaller. With birds of character, there is much individuality in respective pnirs, thus it is difficult to make any definite pronounce- ment as to their amiability towards smaller species, but, I saw a pair in Mr. Sutcliffe's aviary some two years ago, and they had been there for some months, and did no harm in a series consist- ing of Flycatchers, Warblers, Waxbills, Finches, Weavers and Buntings, also agreeing with a pair of White-throated Laughing- Thrushes which were included in the series, and most inter- esting birds they were, busy, inquisitivf, yet not annoying the other occupants that I could observe, and Mr. Sutcliffe informed me they had proved quite harmless — unfortunatly an epidemic shortly afterwards decimated this series, thus a lengthened exper- ience cannot be given, and so far we have no data at all how they would behave in a mixed series when nesting. Mr. Willford's pair of birds, I saw several times during the past year in their roomy enclosure, and a fine sight they were too, especially when seen on the wing, swooping from end to end of the flight — their flight was undulating and the rapidity of their movements, suddenly sweeping from right to left, or vice i^ersn, checking their flight and returning on their track with a dexterity little short of marvellous, was most interesting and fascinating to me, on the occasions I have had them under observation. T had a fairly long acquaintance with a specimen in the Western Aviary at the Zoo, which was absolutely without fear, and simply used any and every visitor who entered his enclosure as some new kind of perching apparatus, inquisitively hopping from shoulder to shoulder, hand to hand or arm to arm, inquisit- ively poking its sharp bill into pocket or crevice and was not the least averse to being handled — this is the bird from which the above description of the plumage was taken. This bird was a great attraction to thf/se present at our Members' Meetings at the Zoo ; alas it is now no more. I have not been able in the time at my disposal to glean any notes of its wild life. As regards treatment in captivity, if caged, its cage must b^ Notes re Vicul and other Doves. l'^ a roomy one, and as reganls diet, it sliouUl be sui)])lie(l \vitli liisectile mixture (soft fooil), ripe Iruit and live insects, uiid iiice nearly all the HTUKNID^E it does not ilisdain to lielj) itself to seed aiul grain. Unless the aviary be large enougii to |»rovide some live prey, live food should be regularly supplied-- beetles, grass- iioppers, spiders, worms, smooth caterpillars and smooth larvte and pui);e generally, will all help to satisfy its somewhat huge appetite and tend to its general well being. {To be Contmu,t*i) . Notes re Picui and other Doves. By E. F. M. Elms. The following extracts from my aviary log-book may possibly i)rove of interest to some of our members. 1911. On June 20th, I bought a pair of small doves in Covent Garden, the name of which the dealer did not know, neither did I. On July 1st I left home for four weeks, and soou after I received a letter from my man, stating that the smallest Doves in the aviary had two eggs in a hanging basket. Since my purchase I procured a copy of Miss Alder - son's book on " Foreign Doves," and by its aid I was enabled to identify my recent acquisition as Picui Doves {Col- iimbula picui). They are quarrelsome birds, and the Zebra and Barbary Doves have rather a rough time of it with them. On my return I was gratified to find two plump young Picuis just ready to leave the nest, which was in the worst possible place, the young being very likely to land in the duck -pond and sure enough this happened with one of them, but fortunately I was there to fish it out. On July 29th the hen Picui was again sitting on two eggs and as I was afraid that the young birds would not be reared, I cut down the nest and put the eggs under a Barbary hen [I have found it best to let Picui and Diamond Doves take their own course, the young are usually reared, often as many as five or six pairs in the one season. — Ed.]; though the eggs have been removed I have not been able to detect any inclina.- tion on the part of the hen to feed her babies. The parents have not been very pleasant to their progeny, for my man, Timson, says he saw them turn the young ones out of the 14 Notes re Picui and other Doves. uest and ill the eveninj,' I found them on tlie hard floor, and fearing that the Pheasants or Ducks woukl trample on them or otherwise maltreat them, I fixed them up in a less dangerous place but they would not sta}^ there long. August 2: Young Picuis again out of the box— parents trying to go to nest again, llan Barbai-y taking kindly toi the alien eggs. August 3: Young Picuis getting stronger. I have again attempted to thwart their notions of nest building by removing the nest basket, hoping they would look after their youngsters better, but it would seem that once the old Doves started nesting again, they think of nothing else, least of all their progeny. August 4: A somewhat eventful day — the parent Picuis again building, the hen dropped an eg^ from a perch. The young Picuis, especially one, are very frisky and can fly.. I picked them up and put them in a box for the night, later they were both out again, one on the floor in the straw and the other floating in the glazed sink, but cccpt for a thorough wetting, it seemed none the worse, however, it died two days later. I have iiow caged them in the small birds' house. Aug. 13; The old Picuis have another nest and are in- cubating a pair of eggs. The sitting bird does not mind one's CiOse approach, but, will not tolerate being handled like a Barbary. Aug. 15: One of the Picui eggs under the Barbary has hatched. 1912: Practically no caoualdes during the winter, which for 10 days was very severe. The Picuis^ four in all. looked rather fluti'ed out, but came through the weather well. Presumably the two young Picui Doves reaied in 1911 are both cocks, for one has formed an alliance with a hen Barbary, but, though everything went smoothly with them and three clutches of eggs were laid in the respective nests, all the eggs proved infertile— the strange point being that the other Picui proved to be a hen, for she has laid an egg, which she incubates intermittently. ytrange these two- brother and sister— did not pair. It was rather ludicrous to see so small a husband with so large a wife, and it is J^oies re Picul and other Doves. 15 comical to see hiin doing Doves Day Duty sitting on those two large eggs in that large basket. April 20: My original pair ol" Picuis have begun build- ing upci'ations to-day (veiy warm), clioosing a ledge near the ruoi. All day the hen has been squatting on the ledge, and llu; cuck Ijiiskiy foraging lor materials, which he carries up and invaiiably settles on the hen's back or to the rear of her, laying the material round her form; iu a lew minutes he Hies oil for moi'c, while she works the material into shape, and a very good shape, too, especially for a Dove. The completed structure, a tidy, lairly well shaped cup and almost invariably lined with a few feathers. May ist: Had from damage's two pairs of Doves, both are new to me; one pair being Cape (jEua capensis) and the others called by the seller Bronze -spotted Doves, I could not lind them in Miss Alderson's book,* but on looking through Dr. Hopkinson's " Birds of Gambia," I am enabled to identify them as Rufous -winged Doves {Chalcopelia afro). I don't think they are a true pair for I have now (Dec, 1912) had them six months, they have made no attempt to nest, nor yet uttered a single note. They are both in faultless condition [The hen is said to be more vinous below, bill dark brown, with no yellow tip, and the wing spots not so dark a green as those of the male. — Ed.]. I have got rid of some of my Barbarys and put in two White Javas — this change of course breaking up the union of the young Picui, with the hen Barbary. The adult Picuis have nested again, only one egg this time, a young bird was hatched on the 19th, but it dis- appeared on the 26th. June 27: The Picuis have gone to nest again, using the same nest, only one of their two eggs hatched, and the young bird left the nest for the first time to-day (July 20th), and on the 21st, it was flying all round the aviary. During August the Picuis again nested and hatche'd out and fully reared one young bird, making six in all. December 14: The White Java Doves have two newly hatched young in a box. Some of the young Picuis have attempted to nest, but *Aliss Aldersoa's book only covers the species she has kept.— Ed, 16 The Food of Nestling Birds. I think the Cardinals amuse themselves by purloining material and pulling the nests to pieces. 1 also have a Zebra and two Senegal Doves (all cocks) in the same aviary. I must get mates lor them next year and try my luck. The Food of Nestling Birds. By Walter E. Collinge, M.Sc, F.L.S., F.E.S. [Reprinted from "The Journal of the Board of Agriculture," September, 1912— p. 460, with thanks for kind permission.— Eu.]. It is a well-known fact tha' ne.stli.igs consume during the first few days of their li^e considerably more than their own weight of food per day, making a daily gain in weight of from 20 to even 50 per cent. During this period feeding commences before sunrise and continues until after sunset. The number of meals taken during this period is very large. Dr. Clarence M. Weed* records that in the case of the Chip- ping Sparrow (Spizella soclalis) the total number of visits paid by the parent birds, bringing food, in a day amounted to nearly 200. Dr. S. D. Judd,t writing of the House Wren {Troglodytes aedon) states " that nestlings are fed very fre- quejitly, and consume an enormous quantity of food, is well shown by a half -day's observation," made by him on June 17th, 1899. He watched the feeding of a brood of three. " The family was found housed in a cavity in a locust tree, and was transferred to a baking-powder can, which was nailed to the trunk of the tree four feet above the ground, a con- venient height for observation. The young were about three- fourths grown." The mother wren made 110 visits in four hours and thirty-seven minutes. On the following day simi- lar observations were made, and in three hours and live min- utes the young were lea (57 times. NewsteadJ has also giVen details for the Starlings as follows : — *BuIl. No. 55, New Hampshire Agric. Exp. Stat., 1898. t -Tho Food of Nestling Birds," Year-book, U.S. Dept. Agric, 1900; pubd. 1901. 5: The Food of Some British Birds, Supplement to the Journal Dec, 1908. p. 58. The Food of Nestling Birds. 17 During fifty -live consecutive minutes .. 20 visits Between 3.;")0 and 7.55 p.m 25 „ During six and a-half hours 79 „ „ six and a-quarler hours 45 „ Thus, "during a total period of 17 hours, representing approximately the hours of one day during which food was collfcctcd for the young, 1(39 journeys were made to the nest." This is in all probability much under the average. Our knowledge of the nature and amount of food con- suiDcid by nestling l)irds is as yet very meagre. The subject is an important one, for many birds that in the adult comliiion feed upon both animal and vegetable matter, feed their young almost entirely upon insects, worms, and slugs. In- deed, from the nature of the structure of the stomach of a newly -hatched bird it may be generally concluded that most birds (excluding aquatic and raptorial species) feed their young on soft food, which largely consists of insects, slugs, spiders, and worms. The following observations have been made : — (i) In the case of the Starling and House Sparrow, from behind a curtained window. Many of the birds alighted on the window-sill before entering their nest, or lodged upon th^j outside projecang beams beneath the roof. With the aid of a pair of field glasses (and more often without) the na- ture of the food could be quite easily made out; (ii) from examination of the fieces of the nestlings; and (iii) from an examination of the stomach contents of 179 nestlings of the Starling, House Sparrow, Song Thrush, and Blackbird. I.-FIELD OBSERVATIONS. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris, Limi.). Observations were made on May ilth, 12th, 18th, 19th, and 26th. On the first four dates the numbers of visits were counted for sixty minutes, and were as follows: — 38, 36, 32, 28; a series of counts made on May 27th gavo the: following results:— 28, 28, 27, 26, the average working out at 32.2 visits per hour. On May 11th, the first visits com- menced soon after 4 a.m., and continued until noon, when they became less frequent, and between 12-30 and 2-30 p.m. only about 25 visits were made. The number of visits again rose, 18 The Food of Nestling Birds. and visits averaging approximately 26 per hour were made until 6' p.m., wften the numbers became gradually less, and ceased at 7.50 p.m. Thus, presuming that for 12 hours of the day an average number of visits amounting to 25 per hour was maintained, and half that number during 4 hours, we have the enormous total of 350 vi:=;its paid to the nest by the parent birds. On May 11th, 12th, 18th, and 26th, careful notes were made at different periods of the day of the natui-e of the food, and these are given below. May 11th, 10.30 to 11.15 a.m.— Fourteen visits were made to the nest, food being brought on each occasion. This consisted of 5 slugs (3 Arion hortensis, Fer., and 1 Agrio- Umax agrestis, Linn.); 3 earthworms; 3 wireworms; 2 larvae of the Great Yellow Underwing Moth (Triphaena pronuba, Linn.); a number of small beetles, too small to be identified, 3 larvae of Crane Fly; 2 pieces of bread. May 12th, 10-15 to 11-15 a.m.— Thirty -two visits were made to the nest by the parent Tj'irds, and food was brought on thirty-one occasions. The following Avere identi- fied:— 18 larvas of the Great Yellow Underwing Moth (Tri- fhaena pronuba, Linn.), 16 slugs (12 Arion hortensis, Fer., and 4 Agriolimax agrestis, Linn.); 8 small earthworms; several small beetles; 2 spiders, 3 wireworms; a numljer of Dipterous larvae. May 18th.— At various times of the day fifty -two visits were observed, at each of which food was brought to the nest. The following were identified:— 4 weevils (Barynotus obscurus, Fabr.); 3 "wireworms; 15 larvae of the Great Yellow Underwing Moth; many small Geometrid larvae; 4 larvae of Crane Fly; 4 earthworms; 10 slugs {Arion Jiortensis, Fer.); 2 pieces of meat. May 26th.— Forty-eight visits were observed The following food was identified: — 6 lar^e Noctuid Jarvge; 8 larvae of Crane Fly; 4 wireworms; number of small beetles i 11 slug) (8 Arion hortensis, Fer.; and 3 Ajgriolimax agrestis, Linn.); 3 earthworms; 2 spiders; bread and kilclien garb- age on 5 occasions. Thus on 146 visits the following food was conveyed to the nest: — 61 insegt larvae; a large number of small The Food of Nestling Birds. 19 liootles; 18 earthworms; 42 slug's; 4 spiders; and various Dipterous larvee, bread, i^c. Tlie whole fairly represents the food collected during the period of half a day. House vSparrow (Passer dnmesficns, Tann.). The numbers of visits wci-o counted for periods of sixty minutes on May 12th, 18th, 2Gth, and 27th, and were as follows:— 20. 22; 18, 20; 20. 22; 20, 22, the average working out at 20.2 visits per hour. The visits on one day commenced just after 4 a.m., and continued until 7-30 p.m. The number of visits daily is probably something between 220 and 260. Observations were made on various dates of 84 visits to the nest, and the following ^Qve iienMfied: — 12 larvse of the Winter Moth (Cheimatobia bruma^a, Linn.); 15 beetles (Pht/llobius. sp.); 3 ladybird beetles; large number of small Dipterous larvge; number of small Dipterous flies; 2 spiders; on 23 occasions bread, potato, and other kitchen refuse. Song Thrush (Turdiis musiciis, Linn.). Observations made on the number of visits paid by the parent birds to the nest during four consecutive hours gave the following results :— 22, 24, 18, 15. Blackbird (Turdiis vierula, Linn.). A similar count to the above was made on five differ- ent occasions, extending over one hour each. The numbers of visits were 26, 24, 20, 22, 20. II. — Examination of Faeces of Nestlings. Large quantities of the encapsuled fgeces of young Starlings were collected and subjected to careful exarnination. The results obtained are of interest in that they confirm the observations made on the nature of the food brought to the nest by the parent birds. The faeces collected and examined during the first ten days gave but poor results, and would seem to point to the fact that worms, slugs, and quite soft food formed the l>ulk of the food during that period. The following materials were identified :— 5 wing cases of 6eetles; 8 pieces of wings of some Dipterous insect; 14 heads of Lepidopterous larvae; 1 remains of wireworm. The feeces collected and examined later showed the 20 The Food of Nestling Birds. following- remains : — 1 wing case of ground beetle (Pterostic- hus madidus, Fabr.); 19 legs of various small beetles; 1 wing case of ladybird beetle; 23 wing cases of weevils; 27 heads of Lepidcpterous larvae; parts of 5 wireworms; half of centi- pede (Geophilus longicornis); fragments of plant remains; grit. III. — Examination of Stomach Contexts. The stomach contents of 179 nestlings have been care- fully examined. These consisted of 94 Starlings, 42 Spar- rows, 20 Thrushes, and 23 Blackbirds. It is unnecessary to set forth in detail the contents of each individual stomach, and the contents of eai^h species are therefore summarised as follows : — Starling.— 94 examples: — May 20th. — Twenty specimens received. Tlie food contents identified were: 8 larvse of the Great Yellow Underwing- Moth; 8 larvse of the Winter Moth; 9 small Lepidopterous larvae; parts of 5 wireworms; wing cases and legs of 3 beetles; few small Dip- terous larvae; 3 spiders; remahis of slugs; few pieces of eai'th- worms; bread in all cases. Marj 23rd.— Fourteen specimens received. The food con- tents identified wez'e: 5 larvae of the Great Yellow IJndei'wing Moth; 8 small Lepidopterous larvae; many small Dipterous larva;; remains of 9 slugs (^Arion hortensis, Fer.) ; few pieces of eartli- \rorms; bread and vegetable matter present in 12 cases. May 25th.— Sixteen specimens received. The food contents identified were: 8 larvae of Great Yellow Underwing Moth; 9 larvae of the Winter Moth; 5 wireworms; 7 wing cases of weevils (Bary- notus obscurus, Fabr.); few Fungus Gnats; 3 spiders; 2 centi- pedes; remains of 5 slugs; few pieces of earthworms; bread, meat, and vegetable matter present in 7 cases. May 28th.— Twenty-two specimens received. The food con- tents identified were: 5 larvae of the Great Yellow Underwing Moth; 7 small Lepidopterous larvae; 8 wireworms; 11 wing cases of weevils (Barynotiis obscurus, Fabr.) ; various small Dipterous flies; 2 spiders; 1 centipede; remains of 11 slugs (Arion^ hor- tensis, Fer.) ; 7 partly digested earthworms (Allolobophora cJiloro- tica, Sav.); bread, meat and vegetable matter present in 15 cases. May 29th.— Twenty -four specimens received. The food contents identified were: 6 larvae of the Great Yellow Underwing Moth; 10 larvae of the Winter Moth; 9 wireworms; wing cases, legs, and other remains of 23 beetles; 3 spiders; 1 slug (Arion hortensis, Fer.); 9 earthworms {Allolobophora cldorotlca, Sav,); bread, meat and vegetable matter present in 19 cases. The Food of Nestling Birds. 21 Sparrow.— 42 examples. 21 lai-v,T of the "Winter ^fotIl,• ?• Fmall T^epidopterous larvae: 19 winff ea-^cs of beetles; 7 wins; cases of ]aclyl)ii(l hectle; .^3 winffs of small Dipterous fly; 4 spiders; bread, meat, rice grains and vegetable matter present in 39 cases. TiiRisir.— 20 examples: — 1 larva of Noctiiid moth; 3 wirewoi-ms ; remains of earth- worms and slugs in all cases; 4 spiders; vegetablci matter and soil in all cases. Br-ACKRiRD. — 23 examples- Remains of 17 earth-worms and 9 slu'^s; 3 svireworms; frag- ment.'^ of wing cases of beet'es; large amount of vegetable matter present in all cases; bread and grain present in 7 cases. As has been pointed out by Dr. Jurld, practically all birds, excepting Doves and Pigeons, feed their young up- on an anima' diet, whatever may be the c"'iaracter of the food of the adult. Only continued observation will ultimately place us in possession of the nature and amount of food eaten by nestlings, and such information must ultimately prove of great value to all concerned with the raising of crops, whether fruit, general farm, or horticultural. In conclusion, " it should be remembered that the nest- ling season is also that when the destruction of injurious in- sects is most needed, that is, at the period of greatest agri- cultural activity and before the parasitic insects can be de- pended on to reduce the pests." A knowledge, therefore, of the nature of the food, the amount consumed, and the relation this bears, from an economic standpoint, to the harm done by some species when adult, is no longer a question, of interesting curiosity on the part of the bird-lover, but one that has a definite bearing on the success or failure of the produce of the land. [We would point out, that the foregoing is not out of place, in our pages, for a careful i^aading of the above should prove very helpful to the aviculturist, when having broods of young, of any of the genera referred to, in his aviary and prove a useful guide as to what to supply, etc. We would also point out, that Doves and Pigeons must not be excluded from the list of those species which supply an animal or partially animal diet to their fledgelings. On many occasions the writer has seen Diamond and other Doves, break up and swallofw worms, then go and feed their progeny. This applies eq^ually to domestic pigeons, we will only cite one case from the writer's per- sonal observation— the particular pigeons were let out early in the 22 llow I became a Lover of Birds. morning, as soon as they returned^ they were shut in till the after- noon, when, they were allowed a similar period of liberty: after these flights the writer has fre^fuently cleansed away from the base of the beaks of the squabs portions of slugs and earth-worms, prov- ing conclusively that a portion of their meal at least, had consisted of animal food — that they can be reared without it is a well-known fact, but, I would also clearly state, that the percentage of loss among young which got some animal food was almost nil, both while under the care of their parents and during the latter stages, before full maturity was reached. The writer would further add that some hybrid Turtle -\- Barbary Doves frequently pick up and devour a mealworm, and that the eating of eartliworms is quite common with almost all species of Doves, and Pigeons in captivity. Ed.]. How I became a Lover of Birds. By Otto Puck. I was in my sixth year, when one fine March morn- ing (there had been a heavy fall of snow during the night) my nurse called out, " Otto, come to the window, quick, the Starlings have arrived, they are fighting the Sparrows, and have turned them out of the box." "Starlingsl " What were Starlings? I had a vague idea that in connection with Sparrows it must be a bird, but till then my attention had never been drawn to one. Quickly I was at the window, and then I beheld on the window-sill a fine cock Starlinig in its pristine beauty, the freshly fallen snow setting off well its pink feet^ lustrous purple -black plumage and golden beak. He did not |seem to mind my presence much, but after a while disappeared into the box, hung below the window, followel by its more sombre clad mate, whilst the Sparrows got on top of the box, chirping out defiance. I may here incident- ally remark that the box, a long oblong one with a hole in front, and a stick for the birds to perch on, had been hunig up by my father, for the express purpose of inducing the the Starlings to nest therein. During the winter Sparrows made it a sleeping retreat, but in spring they were regularly driven out by Starlings — as time went on the heat of the. the sun increased, and Aconites, Snowdrops, etc., proclaimed the advent of spring, but there were more falls of snow, sharp frost, and food scarce, and on some mornings they would sit on the snow -covered branches of a Sycamore tree, not far TJnw t became a Lover of Birds. 23 from the house, all in a lump, trying to get some comfort from the warming rays of the sun. Plowever, by the end of March the gardener became busy among the rose -beds, uncovering the dwarfs and standards protected by mattiag' against the severity of winter, and deliglitedly I watched the Starlings busy among- the litter, securing bountiful supplies i)f grubs and worms. The male bird particularly rivette^d. my attention, for he would i)ick up a lon^ piece of bass, JIutter up to the bo.x;, and disappear with it inside, then he would come out and from the top of the box, utter all sorts of unmusical notes and calls and dap his wings, etc., to attract his mate. She was not responsive, but after a time, joined him, but even then, with the inborn shyness of hofr' sex, would not immediately follow him into the dark unknown of the interior. She would perch at the furthest end of the stick, gradually drawing nearer, and then before entering, measure carefully with her beak the circumference of the! hole to make certain it was just ri^ht, and the box safe against intruders. Having convinced herself that all seemed safe, and approved of the nesting site, chosen by her lord and ma^ster, she would follow him into the box, there would be a scramble and noise going on inside, then out would dart the hen, the male in hot pursuit, they would rise in the air, there would be some a^^parent lighting, and they were mated. Now a busy time commenced, and both were soon busy in carrying nesting material into the box. By the end of April or early May the first eg^, of lovely bluish tint, would appear, and by the middle of May there would be the first signs — eg'g-shells on the ground — of family cares. From morn till night both the parents would come and go to fill the gaping mouths with caterpillars and worms, and I wondered where they found all the supply of insect food. On leaving the box I noticed that the old birds carried out something white in their beaks, wmch they dropped outside, and my curiosity being aroused, I e xamined it and found it to be the excreta of the young — one of Nature's sanitary lessons. On being fed, the clamour- ing of the youngsters, as they gi'ew, could \x( heard quitej a distance oft", and one fine morning, after a fortnight's rearing there would appear at the hole the head of a mouse -coloured 24 How I became a Lover of Birds. bird, with a black beak, and eyes. It was a nearly fully- fledged youngster, and, when the old birds arrived, with beaks full of insects, the youngster would stretch its head fully out of the hole for the food, but the old bird would brush past him and go inside the box, so that his weaker brothers and sisters might also get their share. Some days after this the old birds, with beaks filled, would not fly at once to the box, but rest in the tree calling to the youngsters to come out, and then would come the morning when all was still, the box was empty, the youngsters had flown, and the adults had taken them to fields and pastures new, teaching them how to cater for themselves After making these observations, and having added a year or two to my experience, my desire was to possess such a box to rear Starlings in of my own. The first was. a failure, but I kept at it till I was nearly twenty years old, giving many away also, that others might enjoy the plea- sure of watching the domestic life of such species as used the boxes. Our home being situated near a large Park and our garden well stocked with fruit trees running down to a river, it was not Starlings alone that claimed my attention. ,Our neighbourhood was a veritable, " Eldorado," of avifauna, and abounded in Finches and soft bills. Nightingales used to come on to our lawn, from the Park, in search of ants'-eggs. Fly- catchers nested in the grape-vine, Jenny Wrens in an oW shed, and Chaffinches found nesting places galore in a row of young lime-trees in front of our house; then there were Blackcaps, White-throats, Garden Warblers, Melodius Warblers, etc.. No wonder that in such lovely surroundings I should take a keen interest in Nature and become fond of birds,,, animals, fishes, and flowers. My father was an ardent gar- dener, and I have retained the culture and love of flowers- to this day. But this is a digression. To return to the birds. I listened with joy to their song, and watched them build their nests, and how could he who has ever seen the beauti- ful structures of avian architecture, containing suc^ lovely eggs forget them. The collecting of eggs was absolutely vetced at home, and rightly, too. I must, however, plead gv iltv to this hobby, and secreted away a few unknown to TIoiv I hrcame a Lover of Birds. 25 my patents, but can safely say I never robbed birds of a vvholo clutch— just one egg only, when I found a nest with five - and so learned to distinguish the species by the colour of thfir eggs. One night in the spring there had been a storm, and next morning T found a ChafTinch's ne.^t blown to the ground, it was empty, but some c'lii'ping in the grass near by drew my attention, and T soon collected together four or five young- sters nearly fledgei, put them with the nest into a small cage and hung same up against a wall. Soon after I had the satisfaction of seeing the old birds fly on top of the cage and feed the young. But what was my surprise when I found the ground strewn with wings of moths and beetles? Not until then was I aware that hardbills used insect-food in rearing their brood— first object lesson! The young finches grew apace, but one day, to my dismay I found the cage door open and the birds gone. An "unkind" hand had opened the door; but I was told the birds themselves had done it, as it was cruel to keep them caged. / Notbinjjf daunted, from the park my ramblings extended to the forest, and I had then made the acquaintance of an old bird-dealer and true lover of birds, who initiated me into the mysteries of handrearing; I seldom returned from my wander- ings without having made some fresh discovery and carrying home some trophy or other might it be young Thrushes, Blackbirds, Goldfinches, Nightingales, all of which I learned to hand-rear successfully, and I often feel inclined to again take up this interesting phase of bird -keeping — but time and circumstances do not permit— I must be satisfied to tend adult specimens: and what higher award can there l>e to man's ambition when the efforts, care and attention bestowed upon his feathered pets are crowned by the well-being and song of such a bird as the Nightingale, the " King of Songsters." I have kept most of our best songsters (sof thills) in cages, and if the experience .gained during nearly forty years might interest your readers, I will with pleasure pen a few notes on the keeping of softbills in cages. We shall be pleased to have some notes on keeping softbills in cages. — Ed, 26 British Bird Calendar. British Bird Calendar. It is Urgently requested that members from all round the coast will note the movement of birds, more especially in the Southern and Eastern counties, and regularly (28th of each month) send in their notes — on this the ultimate success and permanent interest of the Calendar will de- pend.— Ed. October 2 and 3. Flock of about 30 Bramblefinches seen feeding on Beech-mast, quite close to the house, together with a large number of Chaffinches. This is rather earlier than we usually see them. B.H.S., Ipswich. November 4 and subsequently. Have observed Hedge Accentor with pure white tail — plumage otherwise normal. B.H.S., Ipswich. December 28. Saw an enormous flock of Starlings — sky quite dark with them and although at a considerable distance, the "swish" of their wings was plainly audible. There must have been several thousands— they were coming from their feeding grounds on the fields to a large plantation to rOost. B.H.S., Ipswich. Piebald Partridge: While out shooting in mid Nov- ember a Piebald French Partridge fell to my gun. Its gen- eral plumage was normal, but the hinder portion of crolwn, nape and back of neck are almost pure white; wing coverts and back profusely speckled with white, and the three inner primaries of each wing also white; rump, upper tail coverts and centre of tail pure white. It has since been set up by Mr. Roland Ward and is a striking looking bird. J.S.R., Leadenham, Lines., 23/12/" 12. December has been rather a dull month here as regards bird movements, but I have noticed the following : Redwings : Much more numerous than is usually the case in such a mild winter. Tits : I have also noticed an increase in the number of Long-tailed and Marsh Tits ; while Cole-Tits have apparently de- creased. January 1 — 3; Dui-iiig the past three days large flocks of Wild Geese have been feeding on the mud banks of the Solent. P.G., Beaulieu, 4/l/'13. Mitorial. 27 DoL-omber, 1912. I am wint(M-ing in Devon. This is a lovely county, especially for birds which prefer to winter here to crossing the Channel. In the fields and hedgerows are : Starlings, Magpies, Jackdaws, Rooks, Tits, Robins, Chaffinches, Fire -crests. Fieldfares, Thrushes, and Black))irds. In the estuaries are : Herons, Bitterns, Herring Gulls, Kitti- wakes. Shags, and Coromants. All these I have seen, and even a Razor-bill Gull on a jock out at sea; probably one waiting for death. D.L., Salcombe, Devon. In December "B.N." we omitted to give a list of the contributors to this Calendar; they are as follow : — E.F.C.— Miss E. F. Chawner. F.F.M.G.— P. F. M. Galloway. H.G.— H. Goodchild, M.B.O.U. I'.G.— Dr. P. Gosse, M.B.O.U. W.T. P. —Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S. J.S.R. — Captain J. Sherard Reeve, F.Z.S. U.S.— R. Suggitt. Editorial. List of Breeding Species : Mr. W. E. Teschemaker informs me that we have misquoted him re breeding Paradise Whydahs, as he did not succeed in breeding this species. Also further research proves that Grenadier Weaver {E. siin- devalli: s.p., and E. oryx) are duplicate entries, as these are not noM recognised as distinct, therefore two records must be struck off our list, viz : — Paradise ^^'hydah {Stcganura paradisea) . Grenadier Weaver {Euplectes sundevalli-siih. sp.). Re the Grenadier Weaver record. The record given in our list of Medals awarded in December issue must stand, as the previous record by the late Herr Wiener was quite un- observed, and unobserved results are not eligible for our list. We quote as follows from Cassell's " Canaries and Ca£:e Birds," page 406: "A very rare local variety of Grenadier Weavers, "viz., the Euplectes siindevalli, bred in my aviary without my "knowledge, and I was not aware that they had been incu- " bating until two young birds were flying about. How these " young birds, almost as large as a Bullfinch, had room with 28 Editorial. " their mother in the nest I have never been able to make "out." We do not give medals for unobserved results. Time does not permit us to say more in this issue re "Breeding Medal Rules, but in our next issue we will explain in detail the Regulations published on pages 73 and 74 of green paper inset in last volume. Blue Buegerigaes : Our member, Mr. W. R. Fasey, has a flock of 12 of this variety flying in one of his aviaries, beiu.u a comparatively recent acquisition from the Continent, and some are already evincing a desire of going to nest. New Birds at the Zoo : Arrivals are not usually numerous at this season, but among them are two species new to the collection, viz., Mahali Weaver Birds f Plocepasser mahali), a South African species: from the Orange River to Damara Land on the west, and Matabela Land on the east (B.M.C.) Above it is light brown, with the lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts white ; the wings are variegated with dark brown, blackish, a white bar crossing each wing ; the quills are "dark brown with light brown margins ; tail feathers, dark brown, with light mar- gins and white tips ; crown of head, lores, eye region and cheeks black; eye-brow white; throat white ; remainder of under sur- face pale huffish brown, lighter on the abdomen and ventral region, sides of body and flanks, darker brown. It is a largish species, about as large as the Rufous-necked Weaver. Also a Pink- browed Rose-finch (Propasset^ rliodochrous), this species, though new to the Zoo, has been in the possession of private aviculturists at any rate since 1908, if Jiot earlier. In 1908 Capt. Perreau (now major), imported some which passed into the possession of Messrs. W. E. Teschemtker and W. T. Page, in 1911 a few more were brought over by Lieut. G. Kennedy which went to Mr. H. Willford, and as the Zoo specimen was presented by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin, there have been arrivals from other sources — the species has been described in past Vols, of B.N., to which we refer our readers. Among other arrivals at the Zoo are :— 2 Black-shouldered Tanagers (C melanonota), 2 Sepoy Finches {H. sipahi^. Slaty- headed Parrakeet (P. schisticops), all presented by our member Mr. A. Ezra.. Another notable arrival is a Nepalese Eagle-Owl Huhiut 7i/palfnsis). ■■ = Bird Notes. Photo hij E. 0. Page. I'iiik--lii-(>\vc(] Hoscfiiicli, eating seeding grass from the hand in tlie aviary of W. T. Page. Correspondence. ;29 Correspondence. FOR THE UTMOST HAPPINESS OF CAGED BIRDS. SiK,— Birds are endowed with superubuiidant energy* vvhieli finds expression in Hyiiiy, Hitting, swimming, diving, wading, walking, liopping, perching, cliiul)ing, creeping, mimicking, singing, or croaking. Those tJiat liave been bred in captivity for generations may, in course of time, lose most of the original characteristics of tlieir species, and acquire otliers possibly better suited to confinement. Fledgelings taken from the nest and made pets of, also become aiti- ficial, but pent-up inheient energy must find i.t.eianee. The Canary trolls songs unknown to its progenitors; the Par'rot, Mynah and Magpie imitate human speech; the Bullfinch whistles human music; and the Parroquet brandishes a torch or fires a cannon. In these instances confinement has produced denaturalization, generally to the extent of hatred of its own species. Conversely, no alienation would result without close confinement. I do not ignore the numerous examples where the natural song' is retained by prisoners either taken from the nest, or captured when wild. That is evidence of, at least, a fleeting' happiness. Instinct is irrepressible, and the enei-gy of a captive, unless mis- directed, protests against the assumption that ' turn whereso'er it may by night or day the things which it hath seen it now can see no more." At the Zoo one finds of course, instances, where the utmost happiness hcis resultiod from knowledge of the birds' proclivities, as well as cases of apparent misery, arising, presumably, from lack of knowledge— thus even with unlimited space the problem is difficult, and the question is, whether it can be solved by those who must keep pets in cages, or not at all. With confessedly limited experience, I postulate that Lories, being constitutionally uxorious, should never be left unmated; that they should have ample facilities for climbing and playing;, aud that wlienever possible their cage should be placed in sunshine. Their self-reliance and self -absorption make them pretty well in- different to other conditions. Celibacy is less lepugnant to the Indian Parroquet, but, unless denaturalised, he likes company of his own species; that of others ha cannot endure. He de^ighti in bathing, and pines for occupation. He is jessentLally a climbe.-, and m,u.t have nuts to crack, or dry wood to chew. Ana above all, he appreciates a little change of scene, and the alternative of a perch. If he must be kept confined to a cage, the ideal form would be cylindrical, but from four to six feet high. Entirely otherwise are the habits of the long-tailed Austra- *There are nevertheless species whose energy does not greatly exceed their need.— £d. 30 Correspondence. lians iPlatycermiae). They are not climbers, but perchers and flyers; untameable, and neve:- reconciled to close confinement. Moreover their exquisite colours can only be properly appreciated when they arc on the wing. In the tropics 1 have kept Rosellas, Pennants, Kings, and Barnards together, in perfect amity, in a flight cage, seven feet high and ten feet long, furnished with plenty of boughs and twigs, and two pots of a dark leaved shrub, which they did. not damage. To keep them either singly or paired, in an ordinary parrot-cage, is — well, not humane. PSITTACUS. L.CBA SHOW. Sir.— In your notes of the lecent bird show at the Horticul- tural Hall, you have, 1 th'nk, misquoted me. The specimen of the Masked Parrakeat (Pyrrhulopsis personata) was entered correctly under its proper name. The bird entered as' "Rare Rosella, cock," which some visitors deemed to be a hybrid, but I believe it is really an unusually dusky specimen of the Yellow-bellied Parrakeet of Tasmania {Platycercus favivevtris) * Also Mr. Ezra's Lutino Ring- necked Parrakeet was a,n absentee. (Rev.) G. H. RAYNOR. Hazeleigh Rectory, 23/12/' 12. BREEDING OF THE BLUE BUDGERIGAR IN ENGLAND. Sir.— My hen went to nest on Monday, October 21st, 1912. She slept in the log for the first time on October 31st and sat very steadily. I did not look in the log but left her entirely alone, as I do not believe in interfering with ne ting birds. On November 20th I heard young in the nest— (November 29th, temperature in aviary 32 degrees; November 30th, tempera'.ure 28 degrees). I first saw the young on Thursday, December 12th — two fine bird.s left the log on December 31st and are now flying. My aviary is an outside unheated sti'uctare facing north and east. January 6th, 1913. C. PELHAM SUTTON. STRAY NOTES. SiK. — It may be of some little interest if I give a few stray facts con- cerning my birds. My Budgerigars celebrated the season by hatching out a brood about 11-45 p.m., on December 31st. My Black-cheek and Madagascar Lovebirds are busily incubating and almost due to hatch. My birds in the outside aviary have done very well during the wet, windy and muggy weather wp have been experiencing, but I should say their aviary is well sheltered, tliough the temparature has fallen as low as 32 degrees F. in it. The Paradise Whydahs, and Diamond Sparrows are very fit and in grand plumage ; the Redstart also did not mind the cold but unfortunatly she succumbed to the mice. My Blue, Marsh and Cole Tits agree well with the other birds (they have been in the mixed series for 15 *Mi'. t)- Seth-Smith has kindly sent a postcard confirming- this. Correspondence. lil months), and are fascinating? creatnies to watch. Great Tits I ca^^ separ- atelj- and even a i)air of this species will not sleep together, but, occupy opposite corners of the cage. I have six Red-headed Lovebirds, all but one very fit, T hoi)e to induce them to nest this coming season. Our garden is visited by a goodly number of birds. Tits in variety Greenfinches, Yellow Bunting, Linnet, Hedge Sparrows, Chaffinches, Black- birds. Thrushes, Robins, Starlings, and last winter, during the short period snow was on the (iround, we saw a i)air of Redwings. Perhaps the following notes re my sister's birds will also be of interest ; Yellow Hammers : The.se were kept in an open wire cajje with several other bii'ds ; they lined a bass nest with moss, hair, etc., and laid four eggs, one shell-less and another got broken, no attempt at incubation was made, so the remaining two eggs were put under a canary, both hatched out — one fledgeling lived for five days and tht other only three. Madagascar Weavers : In a cage with several other birds, nested- result two eggs, with two days between each ; they were disturbed by the other birds and the eggs were broken. Two weeks later they nested again, laying two eggs, Avith a similar period betweent the first and last ; thig clutch wasputunde' a Java Sparrow, but the chicks died in shell. The t)irds became quarrelsome and were removed to a box-cage, two feet long ; again they nested and laid a clutch of two eggs, with one day only between the first and last- both these eggs were infertile. (Miss) ALFREDA B. SMYTH. Catford, S.E. NESTING RESULTS, 1912, Sir,— A.S promised, 1 mmuI you the following tables of j-esults in these aviai-ies during a most unpromising: season from the weather point of view. ■ ' YOUNG BIRDS FULLY REARED. 18 Diamond Doves (Geopelia cuneata), from 3 pairs, 13 Black -cheeked Lovebirds (Agapornis nigngenis), 'from 2 pairs. 6 Rosella Parrakeets (Platycercm eximus), from 2 pairs. b Cockateels (Calopsittacus novce-ltollandice) . 10 Calirornian Quail {Lophoriyx calijornicus) . 14 Californiau -|- Squamata Quail (L. calif ornicus -\~ CalUpepla squamafa) . 4 Brush Bronze-wing Pigeons (Phaps elegans). 2 Bronze-wing Pigeons (Phaps chalcoptera) . 1 Violet Dove (L&ptoptila jamaicensis) . 4 Bicheno's Finches (Sfictopidra bichenovi). 4 Gouldian Finches (Poephila gouldicp) . 3 Coi'don Bleus (Esinlda phoenicotis) . 3 Cuba Finches (Phonipara canora). 2 Olive Finches (Phonipara letpida) . 1 Zelwa Finch (Tmicopygia castanotis) . 40 Budgei'igars (Melo-ysittaciis undulatus) , 32 t'ost Mortem Reports. YOUNG HATCHED OUT BUT KOT REARED. 4 Blue-wing Lovebirds {VsittacuJa passerine). 1 Mealy Rosella + Rosalia Parrakeet (P. pallidiceps -]- P. erinids). 1 Indian -]- African Silverbill (Aidemosyne cantans -f- J. mala- barica) . 1 Cinnamon Tree -j- Yiellow Sparrow (Passer cinnamomeus --[- P. luteus) . NESTED AND LAID BUT DID NOT HATCH OUT. Pennant + Rosella Parrakeets (P. elegans -{- P. eximus) . Cinnamon Tree Sparrow + Paradise Whydah (P. cinnamomeus -|- Steganura paradisea) . Golden- breastfed Waxbill (Sporceginthus subflavus). Hoping the above lists may prove oi" some little interest. Westbury, WUts., January 6, 1913. WM. SHORE BAILY. Post Mortem Reports See Rules on page iii. of cover. Green-wing Dove (cf). (John She.ard Reeves). Cause of death, rupture of the liver, w.th consequent haemorrhag-e. Common Pheasant. (R. A. Dyott, Lichfield). The base of the small feathers sent hal a downy appearance which was due to numerous nits or eggs of the Menopon produatus. These parasites are very active, and if they get on to people, they cause a very disagreeable irritation. They are often found on the head and neck of old Pheasants and also on those that have died from exliaustion. This louse is somewhat dangerous to young Pheasant? reared in aviaries, because it rapidly multiplies, and then spreads to the whole of the birds kept in a pen. Parson Finch, (A. J. C. Lowe), We.st Bridgeford. Parson Pinch. Cause of death, pneumonia, probably from an injury. Green Singing-fin h. (Mrs. W. H. Read, Cambridge). Cause of death, rupture of one of the chambers of the heart. Diamond Sparrow. (W. A. Bainbridge, Surrey). Cause of death, pneumonia. Cock Jacarini Finch and Cock Firefinch. (W. A. Bain- bridge, Surrey). The cause of death of both birds was pneumonia. F. W. Bull, Surrey. Rules not adhered oO. GouLDiAN Finch (9). (W. A. Bainbridge, Surrey). Cause of death, pneumonia. Mrs. A. M. Connell, Brockenhurst. Rules not adhered to. Budgerigar. (Chas. H. Row, Sufi'olk). Cause of death, en- larged fatty liver, which was almost of a pale yellow colour. Canary. (P. H. Sellars, Partick). The Canary had an enormously enlarged liver, which was very pale and extremely fatty. Bullfinch. (R. A. Dyott). Rules not observed. Parrot Finch. (Miss E. F. Chawner). Rules not observed. Answered by Post: — W. Shore Baily; Hubert D. Astley; Mrs. Turner -Turner. H. GRAY, M.R.C.V.S,. A!^ rights reserved. February, 1913. BIRD NOTES: THE JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB Some Interesting Birds. By ^V. T. Pack. Ili.ustrated From Life by H. \YiLTiFORi). {Cont'nucd from page 13). Bla( K-HEADED SiBiA {MaJacias capisfrafa) : This is a liaiulsome and striking species, whether confined in a cage or enjoying senii-libejty in an aviary, but it is under the latter conditions that it exhibits its full beauty, graceful contour, and interesting deportment: one never wearies of watching it disporting amid the living green oi a roomy natural aviary. Before proceedhig further, a desc.ipt:on oi' the plumage must be given. Adult Male: General body colour deep chestnut -red (perhaps soft prune would better describe it), paler on the napt^ and under surface; middle of back greyish- brown; larger wing-leathers slaty -grey; head glisten:ng black, the long feathers of the fore -crown To rming a handsome crest, when raised during periods of excitement; base of wing coverts white forming a conspicuous white bar; tail ruddy -blackish, with tlie basal half black, fdiniiiiK a broad l)lack b;ii)d across the tail about one inch from the tip, which is grey; bill black; legs and feet pale ruddy-brown. Total length dh inches, tail 5. Adult female: Similar, but said to be a wee -bit smaller (I could not detect any difference in the size of my pair) the black on her head is slightly tinged with brown and her head plumes not so full as those of the male; her bill is less pointed and less hooked at the tip than that of the male. Ilabilai and Habiis: According to Jerdon, ranges over the whole Himalayas, from Simla to Bootan, and is one of the most abundant birds about Darjeeling. It frequents the highest trees, climbing on the larger branches, and cling- ing round and below the smaller branches almost like a. 34 Some Interesting Birds. Woodpecker or Nuthatch. The nest has been taken, and is constructed of coarse grass, moss, wool and rootlets. The eggs are pale bluish -white, speckled with rufous. Major Perreau states that " he has nevei- found them " below 0,000 feet, they seem to be residents at that height, "and upwards. In spite of their retiring habits, he cercamly "should have noticed them if they, like many liill-birds, came " lower in winter. They do not seem to mind heat, and cer- " tainly are indifferent to cold." From various sources I glean that its chief diet in a state of nature is insects, but several gizzards examined by P. T. L,. Dodsworth, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., contained berries, seeds, and other vegetable matter. In iy02 our member Mr. ' E. W. Harper liberated, eleven specimens at Wimborne, in Dorsetshire, which he had previously imported. Their fate is unknown, excepting two, one being shot, the other drowned. In Captivity: The accompanying plate is a reproduc- tion from a photo by Mr. H. WiUiord and illustrates a most interesting episode in his aviary, concerning which he sends the following notes: " My Sibias built in a small fir, both birds carrying " nesting material, which consisted of bents, small twigs, and "Lair. The nest was an open cup-shaped structure, lined with "'hair. Only one egg was laid, shnilar to a blackbird's, but " long and narrow, of a dirty cream ground colour, with dark "brown markings, which were lighter at the narrow end. " During the time they were nesting, I found endless numbers "of eggs destroyed, and finally proved them to be the culprits. "The one Qgg hatched in 13 to 14 days, but the chick only " lived two days— after its decease I moved the parents to " another aviary by themselves, but they made no further "attempt at nesting." In 1908, in a Bedfordshire aviary this species came much nearer to success, and I quote the following notes from " Bird Notes." Vol. VII. The birds were m perfect condition when put out, and had a roomy garden aviary, to themselves, well screened from curious eyes, nevertheless complete success — that is, the Some Interesting Birds. 35 rearing oi the young up to the point ol'i being independent oi' tiuMi ])arenty — wad noi attained; one only living lor six da\s, ilu' clluT d.\iiii^ (Ui ilic iweUtli day. Ihe ws\, an opeii -cup -shaped sti'UciUie was connnenced on June i2th, and eompleted two days later. It was construc- ted oj hay — very deep — in brau'dies against wire-netling faeiiig west. Iwo (^'^'^•'^ \v(,'re laid, a liitle shoi'lei' ihan a Blaekbii'd's, pale bluL in coiour, with brown niarkhigs. The eggs were laid on June 22nd, and 23rd, re-spectiveiy, and on the 2J:th uieubation connnenced. Ihe hen sat very steadily and was Ted by the cock on the nest. Une c^^'^ hatched out on July btii, and the other the to 1 lowing day. Ihe lledgelings were blind, of a deep red -brown, quite naked, no down being visible. Une chick uied on July 12th, but tne other throve well, and appeared to be very healthy, tne quills appeared on ine seventh day, and on the tentn day, the colours of tiie plumage were plamly visible; on tne twelfth day, when it died, it was in every respect the same in colouring as its parents. The parent birds liad access to ripe fruit, mealworms, g'entles, live ants' cocoons and insectile mixture. The parent birds fed it from tlie crop, and so far as observatiom went, on mealworms only, ihe weather was very wet, and duruig that time the cock bird mostly sat beside his mate^ pfresumably, to assist her to shelter their progeny. i'rom 1U08 to lUlO, a pair of this species, imported by Major (then Capt.) Perreau, occupied the writer's aviary, which, unfortunately, was rather overcrowded, and in cgnse- (^uence natural cover was not possible — nevertheless they did attempt to buihl, but their structure, similar to that of the Grey-winged Ouzel {Meruia buulboui), save tliat it was not plastered together with mud, was never thoroughly finished. The dismantling of my aviaries in 1910, led to the dispersal of most of my collection, and I have not kept the species since. I know of no finer spectacle than a pair of these birds disporthig themselves within the confines of a roomy aviary — unless it be to see them in their native haunts — the rapidity of their noiseless bight, graceful wing evolutions, interest- ing characteristics, whether at work or when engaged in the 36 Some Interesting Birds. serious pursuit of any wing-ed insect that came within tha aviary, many being talcen on the wing thi-ough tlie netting — many of their captures being- so miimte, that the only indica- tion of a successful capture was the swallowing of the prey. Their wing evolutions in a somewhat confined space are simply marvellous, especially when the male pursued his mate, when the pairing' fever began, how they escaped bashing themselves agamst the shell of aviary and internal standards, as they whirled and twisted to and fro, one in pursuit of the other, finally dashing into some retreat with a speed the eye could scarcely follow, was astonishing, yet they never injured them- selves, nor collided with any other occupant of their somewhat overcrowded enclosure. However, I do not take this to be the actual courting display (though it may be part of it), which I take to consist of the maie hopping about the branches with drop- ped wings and erected tail, his mate sitting stolidly with ruffled feathers, awaiting his approach; after sitting together for a moment or two, the pei'formance was gone tlirougb again, and yet again, followed by a prolonged dance by the male in similar attitude, then pairing usually took place. They could calch any mealworm or other i.isect thrown in- to the air, other birds simply not having a "look in." During the two and a half years they lived in my aviary, they were out of doors all the year round, and during one of th6 winters there was a period of exceptionally severe weather, lasting several weeks, yet they appeared as fit and cheery as they did during the summer. While more fitted for the aviary than the cage, they can be kept under the conditions of cage- lifCs and soon become tame and confiding under such conditio as, but the cage must be a roomy one, and it needs constant attention to keep it clean and sweet. But these notes are already too lengthy, and I will bring this portion of them to a conclusio.i by stating that they must noc be kept with small birds. Diet: In my aviary they had access to insectile mix- ture, milk sop, ripe fruit, live insects, and seed — with the ex- ception of seed they partook heartily of the whole range of dietary offered, and while with me never had a day's illness or even the slightest indisposition that I am aware of. To he continued. Birds of Gambia. 37 Birds of Gambia. By E. Hoi'KiNsox, D.S.O., M.A., Af.B. Conliiiurd from p;ii?e 333, Vol. III. Nmmda mclranrif^. COMMON GUTNE.AFOWL.. Rancye. West Africa, Scnegambia, through Ashantee to Gaboon; C. Verde Ts. ; .\nnobon ; St. Thomas* Island. (O. Grant). Guiiieafowl ai-e common in locaUties which suit them. These in the Gambia are usually near the banki of the river, where thick bush and high trees abound, and if such a place is backed by a tract of ironstcne country, it is a sure find for them. As such spots are much more frequent in the upper half of our river, and as of course the river water, on which they depend so much, is fresh there, it follows that Guineafowl are very much more common there than lower doA\n nearer the coast. During tlie heat of the day they keep to the shelter of the busli h\\\ in tlic nio niiigs and evenings sally forth on to the cul- tivation round their haunts to feed. They are always found in parties, often of large size, and as a rule are most regular in their habits, fo: wherever they occur they can usually be found in certain particular- spots at certain hours of the day. They always commence the daj^ almost before daylight, with a drink, then they move slowly on foot to their feeding grounds; by 10 a.m. they; retire to the bush, to emerge again about 3 or 4 o'clock (according to the sea- son) an 1 re-visit the open, finishing the day by a flight to the river for a last drink, after which they retire for the night to the dense bush along the river's edge, piassava growth being a most favourite roosting-place, as once there they are unapproacliable by man and most beasts. Guineafowl are so well known domesticated that description is unnecessavy, though I may note that in the young all the feathers of the upper parts have brown ends, giving these parts an appear- ance of be'ni' washed witji l)iown, while the head is the same colour marked wi(h two longitudinal black streaks. Their native names are Kammo in Mandingo, and Nat in Joloff. In the very upper river one occasionally sees a few Black- crested Guineafowl, which I suppose are G. cristata, in captivity. Tliis bird is rather smaller than the common species. Its general colour is black spotted with pale blue-grey and it has a long tuft of culling black feathers on the head and a black collar of similar but shorter feathers encircling the back and sides of the neck. The chin and throat are red. the other bare parts blue. I have been told that these birds are occasionally found wild in a few places in the Upper Iliver, but all I have seen have been brought in by peo- ple flora Futa Jallon or elsewhere from the south. Pterocles guadridnctus. AFRICAN PAINTED SAND -GROUSE 38 Birds of Gambia. Range. Senegambia to Abyssinia. These Sand-Grouse aie common here all the year round near- ly all over the Protectorate, but at two seasons, December — January and again in June, their numbers are enormously increased, and in some years too they are much more abundant than in others. Those which join our residents in June are, I presume, on their way north to the desert and drier parts to breed during- the rains, while those which appear in December, always by far the largest immigration, are the results of the breeding season on their way to spread them- selves over the country to the south. Although the great majority leave us to breed, a few must nest with us, as I have once or twice found their eggs, laid on the bare ground, in April and May. Their favourite haunt is thin bush in the neighbourhood of cultivated ground, and they are particularly partial to recently burnt patches. In such places one may put up pair after pair one after the other in quite a .small area, while in December or January, there may be hundreds all collected in one such spot. On the ground they are most difficult to see, so well do their markin.gs blend with their surroundings. During the day they lie quiet, moving about .slowlv perhaps to feed during the mornings and afternoons, and it is not until evening that they become really active and fly off to pools, etc., to drink, arriving usually just at dark in small parties, which drop noiselessly at the edge of the water, drink their fill and off again at once, to scatter over the country to feed, often continuing their meal late into the night especially when the moon is up. Dur- ing the day they lie very close and only get up when absolutely obliged, to zigzag rather heavily away among the bushes and settle agai'n at no great distance. Tiieir evening (liglit is quite different, rapid and direct, so that in many places they give quite pretty shoot- ing as they flight over to water. Their note is a low characteristic whistle, uttered both on. the wing and from the ground; it often gives one useful warning of their approach or whereabouts. By the English here tliey are for some reason nearly always called " Barbary Quail," while in Mandingo their names are Pilli- Pilleechc (an iini'atinn of their ca'l) or Mbirro, a local name confined to the Upper River. Descrlpliov. Adult male. General eo'oui- pa'e " game-bird " browr- spotted witii black. Foi-eliead and a spot above and in front of each eye white, a band bcliinl the white forehead across the front of the head and ending on eash side at tlve loral line black, rest of the head like the back: eyelids pale yellow; wings black. Breast crossed by three cross-bars, cliestnut, buff anl black in that order, from above downwards. The female has no breast or head mark- ings. The young males don the breast markings some time before they assume the full head mai'kings of th'e adult. TURNICID.^. Turnix lepuram. SMITH'S BUSTARD-QUAIL, Birds nf Gavihia. 39 Bano'e. Africa, South of about 1.1 Noith T.at. Aden. (Ogil- vie Grant). 'I I have twice seen small three-toed Quails shot here (one ill May, the other in March) which must have been Turnices, and almost certainly this species. They are distinctly smaller than the commor. (^)uail, an 1 their most noticeable feature is the crescent shape as they fly of tiieir wiiiers unl body. They cannot be common here. OTIDIDJ^. In the Gambia there are three species of BUSTARD, which vary in si/.e fiom about 3 to 20 lbs. in weij^ht. These,- T be- believe to be Trachclotls scvegnlensis, Lissotis melannqaster and Eupodotis arahs. Besides these tSiere is another much rarer and much larger bird, which Captain Stanley, for many years Commissioner of the Uppei- Kiver Province has once or twice seen, but never been able to obtain. He tells me that on each occasion he at first mis- took this "bii'd for an antelope standing in the grass, and that its marker) whiskers made it easy to di^^tinguish from any other Bustard, apart, altogether from its much larger size. This bird is probably Neotls denJiami. The two first named species are resident here and may be founci almost anywliere in the Protectorate, but the larger species are only winter visitors and never approach any nearer the coast than the country aToout McCarthy Island. All are locally known here as "Bush -Turkeys," or Tby their native names, " Kunko-Duntung " (=Farm-cock) in Mandingo, and " Gemet " in Joloff. They afTord excellent eating, but not being really common are only obtainable as an occasional luxury. They seem to be very thin-skinned birds and take very little killing; as apparently a single pellet at an almost impossible range will bring one down stone dead, the fall no doubt finishing the shot's work. Ve:/ different in this respect are the Bush-fowl, which must be hard hit to be killed and can carry away a lot of shot without any sign of faltering. Oui four species in order of size are: — Trachelotis senegalensis. SENEGAL BUSTARD. Eange. Senegambia; north east Africa. (R.L.) These Bustards may be met with in suitable localities all over the Protectorate. They haunt fairly open countiy, preferably at some little elevation above the liverside level. Such places are more usual along our boundary and in the neighbouring parts of French territory, so thac they are much more frequently met with there than closer to the river. The edges of the large cleared cultivated areas and the extensive tracts of ironstone upland, where these are clothed with grass or thin bush, are their favourite abiding places. This species, I believe, breeds with us, while the others do not. They feed mainly on insects and the like, but supplement this diet with various seeds and berries. The weight of the male is about 41bs, the female about. 31bs. 40 Birds \of Gamhia. TJssoHs melanoc/aster. BLACK-BREASTED BUSTARD. Bange. Senegambia to Bengiiela; north east Afrioa, east Africa; south to Natal. (H.L.) This species is considerably larger than the last, weight 6 to 71bs., and always to be distinguished by the blade in its plumage. Their haunts are much the same, but towards the cad of the dry season, one may come across them on the dry burnt swamps, where I have never yet seen any other spec'es of Bustard. In such places one may find half-a-dozen on quite a small area, evidently attracted by the amount of insect life to be found there, especially soon after the grass has been burnt. Although they occur throughout nur coun- try, I think they are rather more common in Niumi and Kombo near the Atlantic coast than elsewhere. Eupodotis arabs. This I believe must be the much lai'ger Bustard of the Upper River and McCarthy Island Provinces. I have only seen them in these parts and only in the winter months, as they are certainly dis- tinctly rare here. In weight they vary from 17 to 20 lbs. Neotis denhami. The very large extremely rare whiskered bird referred to abo\'0 is a very occasional visitor. GRUID^. Balearica pavonina. CROWNED CRANE. Range. West to north-east and Equatorial Africa. (H.L). This well-known beautiful bird is the only Gambian represen- tative of the family. They ace fairly common throughout our terri- tory and breed in the larger swamps, especially those of Niamina on the South Bank. Towards the end of the rains one often sees par- ties Of six or eight feeding greedily on the growing rice in the rice- fields, and on such a diet, that is, young rice eked out with table scraps, etc., the three or four young birds I have had; have thrived and grown rapidly. Native namei are, Komaro (Mandin;;"o), Jambajob, Jamba (JolofT). (To be Continued). Purple Sunbirds. (Arachnechthra asia'ha). By Miss S. F. Chawner. Towards the end of March, 1912, I received a true pair of Purple Sunbirds from Mr. Hamlyn, who had imported them the previous summer; thus they were house moulted, and well acclimatised when they came into my possession. To this, and the fine spring- of 1912, I think much of the success I have had in keeping- this species must be attributed. They Bjkd Notes. Recently sho' Crc-wii- IMrd. Purple f^uvhirrff!. 41 were in very foir pluma.ijo, tho rook poinp: out of colour. For the firsl. two o^ three weeks T hai them eageri in the inner eompartment oi' my hea'erl aviary, 1>ut they were not very happy and spei^t their time ei^hor in tryin.s: 'to q;oi out or in quarrelling, so oiio fine f'av T look mv onu-agr' in both hands and opened fli-^ rage door. Thoy wove out in a fla^^h and two minutes lifoi' wore dispo.-' i'l'r thfmsolvos in tho 'opou night. Pi'osoplly tho oook bui'st into song, tho first timo I had hoard liiin ;ind tlioui^'li T had road of tho volume of sound this tiny oroaturo can pro luce, I was thoroughly as- tonished at its power and sweetness. From that moment, the Sunhirds made thomselvos thoroughly at homo. They chose favourite twig- and porohod on thom and kopt unremitting watch for inserts. A largo pear tree and a small apple tree are close to tho ond of their flight, and whon in flower these attract o largo number of flies, gnats, and other in - sects, and vor^- few of those escaped the Sunbirds. Tt was most interesting to watch them hawking, hovering and turn- inn in the air after their in-ey. and when they hail cani-dit it. returning to their chosen twig to watch for another victim. Often their caotures were so minute that I could only tell that they had been successful by seeing them swallow. The staple food provided for them is run honey mi^:ed with Nestle's condensed milk, the cheap white grapes sold by grocers, ripe pears in season and now-and-then a little sponcre cake. They are by no means very particular, and dip their beaks into anything that seems promising. They are very fond of the '"green fly," vdiich so infested the fruit trees last summer, and would (doa- a twig of these pests with wonderful rapidity and thoroughness. Tt was a 'grea*^ joy to them when I brought my sweeping-net into thoiv aviary and gradually allowed its contents to escape: they would perch on a twig close by and hawk and snap to their heart's content. Fresh ant's eggs did not appeal to thom, but they took very kindly to wasp grubs in the comb, treating the luckless grubs as they do grapes, viz., piercing the skin and surking up the contents. What surprised me more, was to And them fond of young green peas; they would quirklv demoMsh a whole pod full leaving only the emptv skin. The peas must be quite young or their skins are too tough for the Sunbirds to pierce. An- 42 Purple SunMrds. other thing- they liked was to sit on a slice of cucumber and suck the juice. Of course all these delights are perforce at an end during the winter, though they still manage to hawk and catch gnats in surprising quantity. It is curious how little v^-'eather affects them.— [they have proved equally hardy in ii Surrey aviary.— Ed.].— I do not pretend that Ihey do not enjoy warm sunshine, but neither wet nor cold seem to i-nffle them, and somehow they always looked dry and sleek. The cock began to come into colour during October and by the end of November was quite perfect. They bathe freely, sometimes in a shallow dish, but more frequently they flutter alx)ut among wet foliage which seems to be their natural method. The cock is a pugnacious little rascal and quite holds his own among the Sugar Birds and small finches in the aviary, in fact, only his small size prevents him from being a decided bully. The little hen goes her own way without any fuss, but I have noticed that she too can make herself respected by her neighbours. The birds show no interest 'm each other, either amicable or otherwise; perhaps had there been any hot weather this would have been different; I cannot say. The avinry in wbicb the Suubirds are, is only n sm;ill one alwut 10ft. by 4ft. in the covered part and lOft. by 8ft. in the fli^jht, 8ft. high throughout: it is heated bty a small coil of hot water pipes and the birds are shut in at night, but 'during the day go in and out at pleasure unless the weather is very severe. The covered part has spruce tops packed in places with bundles of beather, which T find excellent for shelter and sleeping quarters. The 'flight was only added last spring and the shrubs and climbers planted there have not had time to make effective shelter, so spruce tops and heather are here also. The ground is earth with growing turf, but wire netting has be-i^n sunk all round 18ins. deep to guard again'=!t rats, and a broad band of zinc at the bottom prevents mice from gam-ng a foothold readily, though I do not claim that it is impossible; sti'l we are not much trmibled with them. The aspect is south and west, witli (com- plete shelter from north and east. The flight has a double roof, that is to say, it is composed of two layers of jin. wire Purple flnnlnrds. 43 netting with fiins. space Ivctwecn IIk' layers to prevent eats or hawk..; from rcaehinii: flie Ivirds. The shelter 'is match- lioarded and felted arid c^an be entirely glazed during the winter by inserting movable panes in light wooden f fames. A( the present tiin(> tliis aviary contains l)Gsides the Sunbirds, true paii's of Hoopoes, '\'eIlow-winged (Cmrnha ci/- miea) and Blue Sugar Birds (Diciih rni/m/n). Hooded Siskins {Chrysomitris cncnllala), Blue-h;easted ^^'ax1rlls (Estrilda an- ffolensis), Bichenos (Sfictoptera bichenovi), and Masked Doves (^na capoish). Also a Diamond Dove (Geoyprlia cuneata), a Parrot Fincdi (Eriithnira pki'tacc'i). a hen Black-headed Gould - ian Pinch (P. (p)iil former. — Ed.) with a beak like a Bullfinch whose luune I do not know; it came from Brazil. Aviary Notes and Episodes— 1912. By Gekat.d E. Rattioan. Gkefn Cardinals (Guhcmd i^^ c i-ta^a) : My Green Cardinals have auain ]irov('d tli'Mnsclvos to be nsfoundingly pO'olific breeders. In spite of the fact that the hen at any rate must be six or seven years old at least, for she has' been in my own possession nearly five years. Judging 'by the appearance of her feet, and general demeanour, she was by no means in the first blush of youth when I received her. Tliey commenced to build at th'^ en'1 of Api'il, and on the .")th of May the first egg was laid, followed by three others on consecutive days. The hen, as is her invariable custom, commenced to sit with the laying of the first egg. The first egg hatched on May tOth, and two young left the nest on the 8rd of June. 'All four eggs hatched out, but only two young wei-e fully reared. Tiie young, as T think I mentioned before, in some notes on this species, when first hatched, are bare, save for a little jet black down. I have noticed that the young of this species, though easy enough to cater for whilst still in the nest, require, once they leave it, to be supplied with an unlimited quantity of insect food, other- 44 Aviary Notes and Episodes — 1912. wise they very soon begin to droop and die. Live ants' eggs in themselves do not appear to be enough, but supplied in coniunction with wasps' grubs, will keep the young birds in th; Uaj^dina ls {Card'nialis cardinalis) : These C'ardiiials took a Ion;,'- time to settle down to business, merely amusing themselves at first by filling various nesting reccj)- tacles with odds and ends of hay, string and other rubbish; huwfvcr, at last they began to take a more serious view of lit\' and their duties to posterity, and on the ord of June commenced operations by evicting a l)ulllinch from her nest, and incidentally half killing her in the i)rocess. This nest they enlarged and converted to their own purposes. Tlire'^ eggs were laid of a greenish grey ground colour speckled and spotted with brown, two of them being far more finely and closely spotted than the other and rather resembled a miniature Blackbird's e^g, while the other took more after those; of the Missel Thrush. The hen sat splendidly and was usually fed by the cock on tlie nest, but the eggs failed to hatch and I vq\- moved them. Two of them proved infertile while the third contained a dead chick. This disaster I again ascribe to the awful weather we experienced, about this time, more especially as the nest in this instance was in a very exposed place. The birds made no further attempt at nesting after this failure, but I hope to do better with them this year. Spotted-backed {Ryphantornis spilonotus) -|-Black- CAprEi' Weavers {R. dimidiatus) : I have identified the Black -capped as H. diamidiaius, though I can't say that I am ahsoluteUj certain that this identification is coriect. These birds paired off in May, but I did not, on ac- count of their disparity in size, expect nuich to come of the union. The cock began several nests, but invariably pulled them to pieces again, however, about the end of duly he started building in real earnest, and completed a nest al)0ut the 1st of August, which the hen proceeded to line willi feathers, the cock meanwhile contenting himself with liuilding a series of dummy nests near by. The nest itself was very similar to the one I des- cribed in "Bird Notes," in lUU except that in this instance 48 Aviary Notes Mid Ejnsodds — 1912. there was no bar built across the neck or entrance of the nest. On the 1 2th August I thought it would be worth wliile having a look inside the nest as the hen appeared to remain in it for long intervals, though whenever fresh feathers were placed in the aviary she started re-lining again. I found two eggs of a greyish -green colour, speckled and spotted very closely with rufous brown. The young hatched out on 18th August, but three days later all trace of them had completely vanished. The hen went to nest again almost immediately (so I am informed for as I have already mentioned I left town about this time), and laid one egg which proved infertile. She again went to nest at the latter end of September, laying one egg, but this also failed to hatch. The old cock, one of the pair which bred in 11)11, has unfortunately just succumbed to the effects of the combination of wet, cold, and foggy weather we have experienced lately. I have still a fine cock Euf us -necked Weaver (H. cucullalus), and hope I may prove successful in obtaining a cross with him. The difficulty with these birds is to rear the young once they have hatched, and no doubt to be successful one must keep the birds Widll supplied with a constant and varied insectivorous diet, and this to one living in town is not a particularly easy matter, I think this comprises my list of the more interesting sipecies : Other birds which succeeded in rearing young in my aviaries were as follows: Greenfinches (Ligu)inus chloris): Reared three young from one pair. Zebra Finches {T . castanotis) : Two pairs reared be- ■cween them about 12 young. Canaries: One pair reared nine in out-door aviai-y, Cockateels: {CalojJsittaciis novcB hoUandice) : One pair after many failures, succeeded in rearing two young birds. Budgeriyars {MelojKisitUicxts undnUitus) : Two pairs only succeeded in rearing three. Saffron Finches {Sycalis flavcola): one pair had several nests, but the young on each occasion met with disaster from Breeding of TJ//hn'r7s. 49 tho hands (or p(Mliai)s it would !);> more correct to say the beak), of some other oicupaiit ol" the aviary, on every occa- sion after leaving the nest. By the way I have not seen it remarked that these Ivirds take 18 months to come into full colour, yet this has' always been my experience with them. The Red-l)illed Weavers {Queloa quflca) : 1 am sorry to say proved a fai'ure this year, and made no serious attempt at nesting-. I fancy the cold and rain of last summer had something to do with this. The Rosy Pastor (Pa>for ravens) and Eni^lish Starling (SfiiriiHs vulgaris) cross failed to materialise, though four eggs w(M'(> laid and closely incul) it 'd, all the eggs proved infertile. Another cro -s whiih T hope may materialise, is a cock Zebra and hen African Waxbill. They have built a nest and the hen is at present incubating a clutch of eggs which are due to hatch on the 18th inst. Breeding of Hybrids, between the Grey-winged Ouzel and Argentine Blackbird Mcnila I>oi(1houJ -\- M. fuscater. By R. Suggitt. There is no reason why the Grey-winged Ouzel should not become thoroughly established in our aviaries. I think all those who have possessed true pairs have found it eager to go to nest under favourable conditions, and mostly with success. Of course, unless fresh blood is introduced occasion- ally the stock is liable to deteriorate in the course of a few generations, and unfortunately fresh specimens will never 1)e easy to procure, its habitat being the Himalaya mountains. The genus Merula has a very wide range; M. fuscater the mother of the hybrids coming from the Argentine, about as far from the Himalayas, the home of the Grey-winged, as could possibly be imagined. The genus Merula was separated from the genus Turdus on account of the difference of plumage of the sexes, but^ fuscater, although an undoubted " Blackbird," is scarcely a 50 Breedina of Uubrids. credit to the genus, as it is one of tiie few species in wliich the plumage of the sexes is practically alike. ,A full account of the successiul bi^eeding of the Grey- winged Ouzel was written by our Editor, who was the firsti to breed this interesting species, in " Bix'd Notes," Vol. VIII. Hybrids between the 3 rey- winged Ouzel -j- Common Blackbird, were bred by Dr. A. O. Butler, in 1905, " Avi- cullural Magazine," Vol. II., N.S., and in \'ol. I. (Third Series) of the same journal Mr. Thorniley gives tlie particu- lars of his success with the Argentine Blackbird. Mr. W. E. Teschemaker also successfully bred the Argentine Blackbird about the same time, and kindly pre- sented me with his breeding hen, in 1911, and I determined to try my luck at hybrids between her and the Grey -wing. She was turned into an aviary for the winter with three males and two females of the latter species, and they all agreed well together until January, 1912, when she cliose one of the cock Grey-wmgs for a mate and commenced to clear the aviary of pos- sible rivals m the shape of the hen Grey -wings. She killed one of them and would have killed the other if she had not been promptly removed. 1 put her and one of the Grey-wings into another aviary in Aijril 1912, but, I evidently had not given her the mate of her choice, for at iirst she thrashed him soundly and he often had to fly for his lifel She after- wards appeared to become indifferent, g,nd as the weeks went by I gave up hope of any hybrids. It was not until the middle of June that she commenced to carry nesting material about, finally selecting as a nesting site, a shallow open box, nailed on the side of the shelter. A nest, of the ordmary Blackbird type, was completed in three days, the first egg was laid on June 19th, and with the third and last one incubation commenced. The eggs were greenish -blue in gjround colour, spotted rather sparingly over the whole sur- face with reddish-brown and pale purple. All the eggs proved fertile and hatched out on July 3rd; the naked nestlings wei'e very similar to those of the Grey-winged Ouzel, having deep flesh coloured skins, with yellowish down. The Arj;;entine Blackbird proved to be a splendid mother. In spite of the fact that she was rather excitable and very jealous of the Grey -wing's attention to the nestlings, she herself was most ■ Breeding of Hybrids. 51 devoted to them; they grew rapidly, and leJt the nest on the IGth July. These youngsters were reared entirely on earth - worni.s and gentles, with a few mealworms oeca.sionally. Un August 2nd the hen again commenced lo incu- bate three <^^q^, bul 1 look two of them away from her; the other one hatched on August loth, the lirst three young ones at tills thuu being practically independent. I'ho plumage of all the hybrids whiU; in the aviary appeared to be almost alike, except that two of them were hfrowner than the other two, especially in certain lights, and these I took to be hens, the two probable cocks which were slaty -black in general appearance, I often heard "recording" their songs. The following is a description of one of the " slaty " birds which was killed by Hying at an unprotected window, on December 17th last. Whole of upper surface, throat, and chest, l)lack, each feather broadly edged with ashy olive; chin dull white; breast and abdomen ashy with darker centres to the feathers; ventral region uniform asliy, upper and under tail coverts and tail feathers dull black edged with ashy olive; outer webs of secondaries and secondary coverts reddish brown, forming a large whig patch; remainder of wing coverts ashy olive; bill dusky yellow; feet yellowish horn colour. On Jan. 6th, one of the browner coloured plumaged birds met with a similar accident, and I sent the body to our Editor, the two remaining ones are at present in the best' possible health ami plumage, the supposed male has not yet sung in earnest, but, I often hear him practisiuj^. ■■ Hybrids which have been Reared in Captivity, By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., etc. I must preface this list, as I did tliat of tiie speciefe, by stating that it can only be made fully complete and correct hy the CO -operation of all, which, I trust will be forthcoming, so that any errors may be eliminated and omissions made good. With some Groups it has been impossible to obtain definite information as to whether they have been reared by foster-parents, or other artificia] means; such cases must stand unless readers can disprove them. 52 Hybrids Bred in Captivity. I propose commencing with the Frinf;il'idcT and Ploceidae and then following on with other Groups in proper se'iuence, FRINGILLID^. Bramblefinch (FringVla montifringilla) -\- Chaffinch (F . coelehs). Cardinal, Pope (Paroaria larvata) -\- Red-crested (P. cticuUata). „ Eed-crested (Paroaria cuctd^ata) -j- Green (Guhrrnntn'x crisiata) . „ Eed-crested (Paroaria cuculJata) ~\- Pope (P. Inrvnfa). „ Virginian (Cardinalis card'naHs) -\- Green (G . rrislafa). Chaffinch (FrinqiVa coelehs) -\- Bramblefinch (F . mmitifring^lU/i). „ ( „ >, ) -\- G'.eenfinch (lignrinns chloris). Finch, Alario (Alario a^ario) -\- Grey Singin'^ (Se:i'?iis leucofyrpux). Bramble- (see Bramblefinch) . Chaff- (see Chaffinch). Gold- (see Goldfinch). Green- (see Greenfinch). Green Singing (Serinus icterus) -\- Alai'io Finch (Marin alario) . „ ) + Go'dfnuh (Cardiels eljegans) . „ ) -|- Siskin CClirj/somitiis spinus) . tencopygius) -|- Green Singing (8. ?>- terns) . „ ) -f- Linnet (Linota canna- hina) . -{- St. Helena Seedeater (Serruus flarivenfris) . ) -\- Pelzeln's SalTron Finch (S. pe^- zelni) . Serin (Serinus horiulans) -f Green Singing Finch (S. icterus). Goldfinch (Carduelis elegan,<) -f Bullfinch (Pyrrlmla europea) . „ ( >, >, ) + Greenfinch (Ligurinus chloris). .„ ( ., ), ) ~f" Linnet (Linota cannahina). „ ( >, >, ) + Bedpoll (Tinota rufescens). „ ( >, ., ) + Siskin (Chrysomifris spinus). Greenfinch (Ligurinus chloris) '-\- Chaffinch (FringiUa coelehs). „ ( ), >, ) + Bullfinch (Pyrrhuln europea). „ ( „ ,, ) + Japanese G:eenfinrh (L. Tcawarhihi) J, Siberian (TAgnrinus sinicus) -f Greenfinch (L. chloris). ( -, ( >, Grey Singing (Serinus ( -, Saffron (Sycalis flaveola) ( „ Linnet (Linota, cannahina) ., ( „ -\- Bullfinch (Pyrrhuln europea). ) -j- Goldfinch (Carduelis clegans). ) -\- Greenfinch (LJgurinvs chloris). ) -\- Grey Singing Finch (f-'erivus Icucopy- gius) . ) -(- Twite (Linota flavirostris) , tii/hriih Bred in Captivity. . 53 Jicdpoll inula rcfesvenx) -\- Bullfinch (Vyrrluta europea) . (^ , „ ) + Goldfinch {Carduelis elegans). { ,, „ ) + Greenfinch (Ligurinus chloris). { ,, „ ) + Siskin (Chrysomitris spinus). ,^ ( ,^ „ ) + Twite (Linota flavirostris) . ti[. Helena Seedeater {Serinus flaviventris) -\- Grey Singing' Finch {Seritmff Icucopi/gius) . „ ( •> „ ) -\~ Saffron Finch Sy- calis flaveola) . Siskin {Chrysomitris spinvs) + Bullfinch (Pyrrhukt europea). „ { ,, >,)-{- doldflnch (Carduelis 'elegans). ,^ ( ,, >, ) + Gieenflnch {Ligurinus chloris). „ { „ ,) ) + Linnet {Linota cannahina). ., C „ ., ) + St. Helena Seedeater (S. flaviven- tris) . „ { ,, .,,)-{- Sulphuiy Seedeater {S . sulphuratui) . ,^ ( ^ ,, ,. ) + Twite {Linota flavirostris). „ Blackheaded (C*. icterica) -\- Cape Canary {Serinus cani- collis) . „ ( >, >,•>) + Siskin {C. spimis). „ Totta {C. totta) -\- Siskin {C. spimis). Song-Sparrow, White-crowned {Zonotrichia leucoplirys) -j-- Pileated Song - Si a row (Z . jnl eata) . Sparrow, Cape {Passer arcuattis) + Yellow Spairow (P. 'lutcus). Grey-headed {I'asser diffusus) -f Cape Sparrow (P. arr.u- atus) . „ Tree {Passer montavus) 4- House Sparrow (P. domesti- cus) . „ Tree {Passer montanus) -f- Yellow Sparrow (P. luteus). „ Yellow {Passer luteus + Tre3 Sparrow (P. montanus). Twite {Linota flavirostris) -{- Greenfinch {Ligurinus chloris). PLOCEID^. Bengalese {JJroloncha domestica) + Sharp -tailed Finch {V . .ami- ticauda) . „ ( ,^ » ) + Spi;e Finch {Munia punclukita) { „ „ ) + Striated Finch {TJ . striata). Finch, Bib {Spcrmcstes nana) -\- Indian Silverbill {Aldemosyne mal- abarica) . „ Bicheno's {tilicloptera biclienovi) + Zebra Finch {Toenio- pygia cas'anotis). Cherry {Aidemosync modesfa) -\- Masked Grassfinch {Poe- phila per sonata. „ Chestnut {Munia easlanei'Jiorax) -\- Black -headed Mannikin {M. atricapilla) . „ ,^ ,^ ., -\- lud.an Silver bi'.l {Aide- mosync malabarica). 54 Hjihriils Bred i)) Captivity. tinch, Chestnut (Miuiia atrieapina) . „ -)- Bronze Mannikin (Spermesfes cucullata). ,^ -f Rilverbil Af. {Aideminsynp- tans) . „ -|- Stiiated Finch (Vroloncha stri- ata) . Sharp -tailed (VroJoneha actitiranda) -)- Silverbill, A. (Aide- mo ynr cantans). „ ^, „ „ + Striated Finch (T'. .'.•^v'- afa). Striated (Vroloncha ftrinta) -f Ben V ) + long-'ai'el G-iasf-finch (Poe- phila acuticnuda) . ,, ( ,, M ) A" Pilverbill, A. (Aidemosr/ne canfans) . „ ( „ „ ) + S^ He'ena Waxbill (Estrildn asfrilda) . Java Ppari-ow (Munin nryzircra) -j- Ril)bon Finch {Am-ndiva fasciain) ,, ( „ ,' ) + '^^- ^ilveibill (Aidemosyne can- tans) . Maiiiiikiii, I',l;i<'k-lic;i(hMl (Mir/na afrlniplIJa) + Chestnut Finch (M . cas'aveHhorax). „ „ ( „ „ ) + White-headed Man- nikin (M. mnja). Mannikin, Bionzo (SpcrmeHes cucullata) -\- Magpie Mannikin {Am- auresthes fringilloides) ,, „ ( >, ', ) + Eufo'is-backerl Manni- kin (il/. vigriceps). „ White-headed (Mrinin majfi) -\- Black -headed Mannikin (M. atricapWa) . „ „ „ (^ „ ,, ) + Chestnut Finch (M. cas- taneithorax) . „ ,, ,, ( „ „ ) + Cutthroat (Amadina fas- ciata) . „ „ ( „ ,, ) + Paison Finch (Poephila cincta) . ( „ „ ;) + Striated Finch {Urolon- cha striata) . Silverbi'l, .^f.ican (AidcmcsiiJie cautanf) -|- Bengalese (ZJrolonrha do- mestica) . ( „ ) + Olive Finch (Vhonipara lepida) . ( .., ) + Indian Silverbill(.4. mal- aharica) . + St. Helena Waxbill (Es- trada astriJda). 4- Sharp -tailed Finch (Vr- oloncha acuticauda) . ( + Spice Finch (Miniia pim- tulata) . + Striated Finch (Vr olon- cha striata) . + "^Tiite-headed "Mannikin {Munia mnja) . ( 4- Zebia Finch (TcEnioTpygia castanotis) .. 56 British Bird Calendar. Silverbil], Indian {Aidemosyne malabarica) -)- Bib Finch {SpenneMes nanai^s. „ ( „ „ ) + Chestnut Finch (Munia castaneothorax) . Waxbills, Grey^ {E. cinerea) -{- Orange -cheeked {Sporuginthus md- podus) . „ Orange-breasted (&poraeg\nthuH tuhflavits) A- Avadavat (Sporacginfhus aman- dava) . „ „ J, (Sporaeginthus subflavus) -)- Fireflnch (Lagonosticta minima) ,^ St. Helena (EsfrUda astiilda) ~\- Grey (E. cinerea). Weaver, Kufous -necked {Hyphantornis cucuUata) -\- Spotted backed (H. spilonotus). (To 1)6 continued) . British Bird Calendar. It is urgently requested that members from all round the coast will note the movement of birds, more especially ir< the Southern and Ea >tern Counties, and regularly (28th of each montlj) sr-ij'i la meir notes — on this the ultimate success and peruiU'it'.', /i-/f3^ of the Calendar will de- petid. — Ed. Ai Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fidicarius) was picked up dead near here on January 21st. W.S., Brighton, 23/1/' 13. From December 28th till January 5th, three Siskins frequented this garden, feeding close to the house on seeds of Cupressus Lawsoniana. They were very tame and allowed us to approach quite close to them without taking fright. E.F.C., Lyndhurst. 9/1/' 13 January. Bad weather for observing, but can add the following to my 'December list: Moor-hen, Coot, Common Gull, Curlew, Wren, Missel -Thrush, Stonechat, Hedge Accentor, Long-tailed, Great, and Blue Tits, Pied Wagtail, Tree, Meadow, and Rock Pipits, and Greenfinch. Chaffinches are still in separate flocks, but a pair were seen on 21st. StonecTiats and Tree Pipits now pairing. Cock Robins are excessively numer- ous, and in full song. No other songsters. Hen Robins scarce. An immense flock of Starlings, flying high, arrived on 12th, at -1 p.m., apparently from the south. D.L., Salcombe, Devon. 24/1/' 13. Editorial. 57 January 10— Seven Hawfinches seen on Poplar tree near house— ratlier unusual Nisitors to our town garden. B. 11. S. (Ipswicli). .^)/t>/'i;5. January 2'2 ^tarlini^- seen haiig-iny li oni a braneli of an apph' tree. On captuiiii.^- it, it was found to have .some thin .sti'ing wound seAei'al times round its body and the loose end had become securely fastened to the branch. The bird had a peculiar malformation of the boak. The up])er mamlible. whii h was „- j'nch !ong, was bent sharply to the rig'ht alx)ut [ inch from the end. The 1ow(m- mandil)Ie was greatly extended, measuring If inches in lenytli. The bird was well nourished, which was the more curious as, from the appearance of the bill it must have had great dilliculty m feeding. B. H. S. (Ipswich). 5/2/' 13. Editorial. The Nesting Seasjn: From a private letter we glean that our member Mr. W. A. Bainbridge, has a youn.g Diamond Finch (Steganopleura guttata) on the wmg which left the nest on January 21st; Diamond Doves ;/ro incubating and in the indoor bird -room, Cuban and Fire Finches ai-e ready to leave the nest, and Bicheno's Finches are incubating. in Dr. Gosse's aviarie, Cutthroats, Zebra Finches, ^Red- lump Parrakeets, Madagascar Lovebiids, and Budgerigars, are engaged in the duties of incubation. Breeding Medal Resulations: When the e regula- tions were passed at the November Meeting oi the Council, it was understood that at some suitable date ahead of the ne.\t bu'eeding season, we should fully explain what was required, to qualify for a medal. Before proceeding to do this, it would perha])'^, be better to state the object that led to the adoption of this scheme. It was threefold. I. It was to stinmlatc competi ion and rivalry ii the breeding of all species of bii'ds under r.a!ural condition:;. Mr. W. T. Page giving the first twelve medals to start the scheme. II. To encourage the methodical taking of notes and the publication of these periodically in the Club Joui-nal 58 Timnrlal. (incidentally increasing: its interest by the publication of such detailed a'^count) which not only elevates bird-keeping to an actual cult, but should add materially to our knowledi^e of the life histories (domestic economy, etc.), of the species we keep. III. To give an object and aim to bird-keeping, in- creasing our membership therefrom. Up to December 31st, 1911, it was left with the> Editor to decide the awards, referring any disputes or difTer- ences of opinion to the awards committee. Further than this, with the past we have nothing to do — in a measure we have achieved our object — emulation has been stimulated — many who never published their aviary episodes have done so — others have a sustained interest in aviculture they had not before. At a Council Meeting held in October, 1911, it was agreed to leave certain sections of the work, including medal awards, in the hands of the respective committees, each to have a secretary, and a list of these committees was given in "B.N.," Feb., 1912. The basis on which the awards have been made is as follows: Unobserved Events — that is events, which occur in all aviaries occasionally, whereby the young are reared without the aviari.st even being aware which nest they emanated from or knowing anything about how or what birdsi reared them — such events are not eligible for medals, and during the •past year we are not cognisant of having recognised amAj claim, for such. ' "' ' That such details must be supplied as shall satisfy the committee, that the young birds, for which a medal has been awarded, have been in the care of and fully reared by their respective parents — that is suflficient data must be supplied to show that the aviarist has seen the parent birds go to their nest for incubating and feeding purposes, and heard' the young calling for food therefrom. Such details have been supplied during the past year, though several articles con- cerning some 1912 records have yet to appear. Editorial. 59 Tlie-;o aro tho ])i-iiici|)li"s wliif'i I'avo c^ovorno], nnd will g-ovni'n, tho 7no!l,-il awai'd- (liiriiii,'- tli" comiiiii^ yoar. For tho benoCit of )\ow jiiomhcrs, wn lopi'inl (he regulations l)olow: 1 . — Spkciks: Tlie young must he reared to bo indo- [londoiit of their parents. Whon 1 a'ch'd and reared by arti- fioial UK'atis, or by- Tostor-paronts tli" rooord is not eligible for the modal; oxcopt in Mio oaso of parasitic species'. 2.— IIybhids: For any cross not p.-ovfously reared be- tweei: any two species; the domoslic Canary as one of the. parents alone being excepted. A cross between any two species is only once recognised, e.g., Parson Finch + Long- tailed Grass-finch and Long-tailed Orassfinch -|- Parson Finch, are reckoned a-; tho same hybrid, and whicliever was secured first would hold the record. Foster parents barred. 3. — As detailed an account of tho success as possible must be sent foi- publication in " P)ird Notes,"' as soon as possilile after the young are fending for themselves. It has been suggested that all awards should be made at the end of the season and after all the accounts of "the respective events have been published in the club journal — this course will most probably be followed, as the sugges- tion will be submitted to the next Council meeting. Wc venture to hope that all our members will aim, not merely at securing sufricicnt data to secure the medal, but at obtaining the utmost data possible of all the birds they keep- with the aid of the' brooding list published in our last volume all should know whon tlioy aro probably entitled to a modal for broorling a Species or irybi'irl for the first, time in Great Britain. The foregoing is merely to explain our position with respect to the medals, and we sincerely hope members will periodically send in records of Aviary Episodes, etc., and not merely consider the medal events alone as worthy of a place in ou'^ Magazine; there is much of interest yet to record of species which have been bred regu'arly for some years past. A pregnant question for all is: Do we contribute as many new data as we can annually, or is there any attempt made to solve questions of ornithological interest, as we might (ough*; to) do? 60 Editorial. EiaEata: Page 1, line 5, from top, a''ter ■ ub-: pedes, delete and. „ 27, line 8 from top, for ' Fazy.--liill Gull," reai 11, line 5 from l^ottom, for "specimens" read iiuIUiduah. Razor -bill (Alca tordi). 28, line 3 from tottom, for '(/'. schiiticops)" read (F. schisticeps) . 28, line 11 from bottom, for "major" reail Major. Correspondence. BUDGERIGARS AND MENDELISM. Sir,— 1 am much interested ia tiie Meiideliaii Tlico.y of Here^ dity, and am anxious to ijrove wlietJier it will turn out to be ti-uo in the case of the B'udgerigar and its yellow variety. I pro- pose, therefore, du:ing the coming season, to put up a few pairs in separate breeding vlaces (this is very important), ajid record the reiults. If the yellow variety (desigaaled Y in the appended table) is dominanl over the type (designated G), the results in the first geneiation should be. t (1) Cf tr + 9 Y=all G of both sexes, the. e leiag called hete - ozygotes. * (2) o' ^' + 9 G=all cf ^ (heterozygotes) and all 9 V. Lf these results come out true, it wi 1 be possible to ulilise ihe hetei ozygotes (H.) in order to prove further that: (3) o' H + 9 H=all cf Gt, but 9 half G and half Y. (4) cf H + 9 Y=^half G and ha'f Y, of both sexes. (5) o' V + 9 H=all cf t> and all 9 Y. It will be noticed that the results of tlie two pairings {_2) and (5) are identical. 'I'lie sixth possible combination cf Y -|- 9 ^ should produce all V, and as from my rather limited experience 1 dnd this to be the case, 1 am quite hopeful that the results of tJie otli.or five pair'- /.igs will corroborate the Mendelian Theory. Jf airy of my fellow -members feel inclined to carry out col- lateral experiments, and publish the results, they would be conferiing a favoui- en Mendelians, who are a rapidly increasing sect of scientists. It is, of course, of primary importance to start the experiments, T cf=male; 9- female. * Eoughly speaking, a lieteiozygote is yellowness concealed in it. g-i'een Budgerigar with Correspondence. 61 with pure greens, i.e., iiol with licterozyg-ote^ and i wouhl sug-^'cst liiids imported direct from Auslialia, as npccss.n-ily fuKilliiii," tliis condition. The Yellows slionld be of a pu c ydlow tint, rather than of a greenish yeUow. (lUOV.i (L H. KAYNOH. lia/.ciciiiii Eectoiy, Ma'don. Jan. -JVlii. l!)i;5. INDIAN WHITE-EYES Sir,- -I am mnch [deascd with the ji'alc of Z'tslcrapti jialpi'- hrosa in January "B.N." — a bird that I ;.m well acquainted with in the wihl state aHhough I have not yet found its nest. The colour- ation of the [dale strikes me as very g-ood ])ut unfoi't.unat«ly 1 cannot at present coinpai'e my skins witli it as they are up in Siitrolk. 1 liavc l)een luukinj;' up my notes l)ut find liiat. thei'e is notiiing of value in them except that they empha i e the position cf the s|iecies as a wintei- vi i'or only to the Punjab and N.W. Front- ier Irovince, -whereas I be'ieve, in other parts of India it is resi- dent. Tn Rawal I'indi distiid it is a very nume:ous species during the cold weather, being found in large parties, which spend; their ti)ne in busily seaicliiii.i,'- for fool on trees and bushes, keeping up a constant chirping r.o e: on one ccc:uion I saw a party mobbing a small Owl (probably Glaucidium radiatum) . In Ferozepore district fui'thei- south the species was also common in the cold weathea*; there, however, I noted that individua's as well as flocks were to be mei: with -a fact that T had not noticed in Rawal Pindi; this may, however, have l)cen due to the fa?t that I was then better ac- quainted with the species. I did not fix the date of arrival of the speciesi, but noted that il was already common at the begiiming of December; the last flock noted as seen was on Ma'^ch 3rd. These dates would pro- bably be extended, as Capt. Whitehead ii his Bi-ds of Kohiat, "Ibis," 1909, says that the species a-rives there in August but does not btocome common until October, leaving about the middle of April. On one occasion I saw a pair of these tiny birds resting side by side (aftei' the manner so beloved of smaU aviary finches) on a twig in the middle of a thi'k bush. Needless to say they are extremely ditTiiu't to spot when not on the move. Should any foi'eign member of the Society caie to exchange foreign eggs, and, more especially, skins for others from the Punjab I should be very happy to hear f -om him. At presojiif I\ would only exchange the commonei' species. HUGH WHTSTLEB, Battle, Sussex. (Indian Police). 2 1th January, 1913. ODD BIRDS-MEMBERS' EXCHANGES Sir. — No doul)t many of our members have sevei'al odd birds wliicli they an- desirous of either selling, exchandng, or buying the opposite sex. I have at pre.sent about 30 such birds, and I sug- 62 Correspondence. gest oar members having similar stock should advertise same, say in our March number, a convenient date to exchange (middle to end of Maixh) ; if for disposal only the price should be given. I, for one am anxious to pai ■ several of my .birds, as odd ones are a nuisance in an aviaiy, an 1 with many such birds, an enclosure where tliey can be kept from mischief is necessary where breeding is desired. ' " j The advertisements could run somewhat so: Co^ks, Indigo ICs., Cutthroat, Is. 6d., Zebra-Finch 4s., etc., Hens, Kufous-tailed Grass- finch lOs., Magpie Mannikin 5s., e(c. i^airs Red-headed Gouldians 30s., etc. If those having odd or duplicate pairs • for disp-osaJ or exchange will adopt this suggestion, I feel sui'e it will be a success. Cleethorpes, .3/2/ "13. R. SUGGITT. We suggested in last volume a Members' Exchange Column and offered to commence such under Bird Market, at the nominal rate of one penny for each species; this I'ate to i;iclude the adch-ess, and this offer still holds good. — Ed. The L.P.O.S. National Show. By Weslky T. Page, F.Z.S., etc. This event, which practically closes the show season 1012- 115 took place from February 7th to 11th inclusive, and for once was favoured with spring-like weather. The Foreign Section was not as large as usual, but some rare and beautiful birds were staged by our members, some sending quite large teams. Mr. A. Ezra exhibited tlie following, all in exquisite condi- tion : Abyssinian Lovebird, Vinaceous Firefinches, Blue Chaf- finch {F. teydea), Chilian Siskin, Sepoy Finch, xlmethyst-rumped Sunbird, Short-billed Minivet, and Japaiiese and Loo-choo RobiiiS. Miss Tiydia Clare exhibited perfect specimens of Queen Alexandra's and Hooded Parrakeets. Mr. W. Edmunds — Many-colour (one of the best coloured l)irds I have ever seen), Barnard's, and a Hyl:)rid Pennant's Parra- keets, Rev. G. H. Piaynor exhibited three Pococeplutli, vi^., Sene- gal, Meyer's, and Aubry's Parrots, the last named being very rare. Miss M. Bousfield exhibited some nice St. Helena Wax- bills, H.H. Gouldian Finches, Festive Tanager ( ? ), White-capped Tanager, and Yellow -winged Sugarbird. Miss A. M. Smyth also exhibited an interesting series of birds — Black-cheeked Lovebirds, Virginian Cardinal, Japanese The L.P.O.S. National Show. 63 ILiwfiiichcs. and a IJcd-hi'castcd :\rai-slid)ir(l. Mr. Kr..sli(d< liad oiK .i;«'(.d siuH-iincns cf : i:.'d-niii:|)rd I'anakrrts. \Mrwiniaii Cardinal, 'I'ri-cdldnrcd 'I'anauci-. and an cx- i|uisi((' limiting (Mssa. Tlu'i-e wri'c a ni.ndxT of otlicr ht'auiil'ul cxluhiis hy (uir nicndxTH and otIuTS :— lJcd-r(,|laivd Wliydali, IJcd-napcd L,„-i- kfct, I Jai-ra band's, Kin« and Criinsoii-wing Parrakeets, J^cadUcatci- Cockatoo, Ued-vented i'aiTot, l^lack-headed Siskins, IJainliow Bunting, Cape Sparrow, Cuban Trogon, Glossy Starlings, and many others — a feasi of beauty f()r all. We noticed the absence of the names of many well known exliil)itors from the catalogue, such as the Hon. Mrs. Pxjurkc, C. T. Maxwell, S. M. Townsend (owing to indisposition), F. Howe, R. Watts, and others. The Foreign Section, though smaller numerically tlian uSu- al, containfd many beautiful and rare birds, some of greai interest and won much admiration and enquii-y from the visiting public, while the catalogue values were a source of wonder -o some and amusement to others. Tlie date of the show comes too near our date of publication to permit a full report in this issue, but in March issue I hope to give a few notes of the rare species and a list of prize winners. To be Continued. Post Mortem Reports See Rules on page iii. of cover. liLUE Cuban Finch. (W. Shore Baily, Westbury, Wilts.^ Post iiiortL'm examination showed a thin breast and an enlarged rather pendulous abdomen. There was peritonitis, the exudate of which had glued all the coils of the bowels together. The liver was enlarged, blackish and friable. Tlie lungs were inflamed. 3 CoKDON-HLEUS. (The Hon. Mary C. Hawke, Tadcaster). There was ])neumonia in every instance. It is frequently set up by a change of locality or surroundings. A strange place often weakens the resistance of the sj'stem and renders birds liable to develop pneumonia. Lavenueh P'lNCH. (Capt. J. S. Reeve, Lincoln). Two poxt cards not answered Bi..\CKCAP ( ii'. FiN( II (Mrs. A. Storey, Tarporley, Cheshire.) Cause of death, enteritis. Diamond FiN( II ( ? ). CNFiss A. Eccles. Ditton Hill). Cause of death, pneumonia. Zkhha FiN( II. (Lieut. F.M. Littledale, Lydd). Cause of death, pneumoniii. Your letter was not under separate cover ; in future such will i not be answered. ' C(iKMF.N-i'.i.i;r ( ? ). (Harvey C. Cnrrey, Littlehampton). Cause of deaUi. jinennionia. Pknnant's PAiiUAKKF/r ( is rich f2:rey-l>lue, with an almost complete white rin.i^ roiiiHl tlic eye; the female is greenish- hrown, lightly washed with hluish. Mr. Ezra has kindly sent me the following notes con- eerning the cage life of the specimen, so alily depicted by Mr. Goodchild on our frontispiece. " Tlio Biii^ CliafTinch, as you know, is a very rare bird, and "only to Iic> foinid ii tlio fo:'es!s of tlio Island of TenerifTe. T '■feed Iniu like any otlier seed -cater, with seeds, greenfood, and a " few moalwoi-ms. also a small piece of spong© cake. He has a "song, which is not vcy pretty, hut all the same he makes a nice "pet" ' Black-headed Siskin {Chrysomitris icferica): A most interesting species which has been lired in captivity by our member Mr. W. E. Teschemaker,- a detailed account of which appeared in Bird Notes, -Vol. III., N.S., page 4. It is a species which has never been reaUy common on the English market, and much less so of late years. It is a most pleasing cage or aviary bird, and in good plumage both sexes are "really hnndsome birds. A reference to the figures on our frontis-- piece, which I consider exceptionally well drawn, will make a 'detailed description unnecessary, if I simply say that the light areas are bright yellow; medium, olive green, and the others, blackish -green or black; the hues of the female are all a trifle greyer and rhe lacks the black -hoad of her mate. It is a native of Argentina and Brazil. The Parrot and Parrakeet classes were judged by H. T. T. Camps, F.Z.S., and the others by W. Swaysland. BuDGER'GAKS AM) LovEBiTjDS (4): The 1st prize went to Mr. Ezra's rare Abyssin'an Lovebird (Q), 2nd to Miss A. B. Smyth's B'ack -cheeked Lovehi-ds. while the 3rd and 4th went to pairs of Yellow Budge'i"-ars, S. M. Davis and Colville and Sons — the smallest c'ass for many years. Pakrakkkts, Lokikkrts, axd Lokies (12): Nothing new, lui't a grand 'o^ rf 1 i-ds not an ill conditioned bird among' them. 1st and two spe'^ias Miss Lydia Cla'-e, Queen Alexandra's Parrakeet: 2, same owner's Hooded Parrakeet (P. ciicuUnfua), both birds of rich eo'our, and very steady; 3 W. Edmunds, Many Colour Parrakeet, one of the best the writer has seen ; 4 Christer and Son. R/ed-naped lorikeet: v.h.c. (2) G. Fletcher, Barraband's (beautiful colour) and King Parrakeets ; h.c, Miss Wade, Crimson- 68 The L.P.O.S. National Show. wing Parrakeet; c. W. Baxby, Alexandrine Pai-rakeets, Rp<1- rumped, Bai'nard's and a hybrid Pennant's also competed. Pakrots, Cockatoos, and Macaws (9j: Nothing really new, the rarity of the class, Rev. G. H. Kaynor's Aubry's Parrot (PoeocepJiahis auhryanus) hav - -V ing previously appeared at the L.C.B.A. Show in November last; this specimen is quite a young one and will show the distinctive colouration of the species more clearly after another moult. Many visi- tors took it for a Jardine's and one or two were rather indignant at being told it was not. The accompanying fig. I made at the show, complet- ing it at Hazeleigh, where 1 had Uie pleasure of seeing Mr. Eaynor's four representatives of roeocephalus viz., meyeri, senegalensis, auhryanus and robustus, at home, and very much "at "home" they were too, both with their owner and their quarters — the room they occupy is never heated at all, and on February 21st and 22nd, they were out of doors for an airing, though the ther- mometer only registered 32 degrees F. on either day. I never saw a group of birds more tit and hard in every way ; but I miis-t not linger here, as Aubry's Parrot was fully described in our last vol. The Meyer's Parrot was looking as well as ever, while the Senegal was one of the best coloured birds I iiave seen. Another exhil^it, a Leadbeater's Cockatoo was also very fine, not a feather out of place; an uncommon Eed-vented or Blue-headed Parrot (Fionus menstruus) was catalogued as a Blue-necked Parrot. 1, 2, and h.c. Rev. G. H. Raynoi-, Meyer's, Senegal, and Aubry's Parrots, in the order given, the latter rather hardly treated; 3 and v. h.c. J. C. Scliulter, Leadbeater Cockatoo, and Grey Parrot; 4, L. M. Wade, Red-vented Parrot; v. h.c, J. Ditchfleld, and c. G. W. Ballington, Bluie-fronted Amazons. Certain Named Species (11): Not a large class, and not calling for special comment, save to note the excellent plumage and condition of all the exhibits, and most of the unnoticed birds were fully equal to those receiving the awards. The L.r.O.Fi. National Show. 69 1 find 2, A. 0. Ynmie:, Diarnninl a'ld Parson Finches; 3 Miss Bousfic'd, St. irdcia W.ixbjlls; 1 T. J. IIo>e, Gold -breasted Waxbills; v.li.c. E. Hatfersley Zeb-a Finches; h.c. G. W. Leavers, and c, Mrs. Fi'ostick, Diamon 1 Fiiiciie^. Bib Finches, Wliite- headed Maniiikins ,ind G:o(mi .\vail.ivats Avoro also stag'cd. Gr.\srfincii- s, Ft(^ (10,: Al well known birds, the pick of the <'lass liciii^r Mr. F'.ra's cx|uisite paii' of Vinaceous Fireflnches, an uncomnioii Pcd -collared Whyr'ah, riul love'y pairs of Blue-breasted AV.ixbi'ls nnil Buficniida Finches. 1, A. Ezn, Vinaceous Firennchos; 2, .T. Chadwick, ■Red- collared AVhyilah; 3, Miss BousHeld, B.H. Gouldian Finches; 4, Miss Blnckhouse, Gculd^an Finch; v. h.c, and c, Andrews, Bros., Ruficauda and Red-headel Finches (the former might have been higher); h.c, Mdme. Fei'=;t Madewell, Red-billed Weavers. Blue- breasted Waxlii'ls (very hard'y treated), and a Marsh Bird, which should have been " wi'ong cla s^d," also competed. GnosBK.VKS, ETC. (11): Best filled class of the Foreign sec- tion and containing some beautiful and rare birds. The principal birds here have been already noticed, but it was somewhat of a mystei-y how Mr. Ezra's rare Chilian Siskin failed to catch the judge's eye, and in the winter's opinion the first and second prizes should have been t'aisp S'd. Mi--;s Smyt'i's interesting pair of Jap- anese Hawfinches we:o a hc-^ndsome pair of birds and very steady. 1 and 2, A. Ezra, Sepoy Fincli and Blue ChafRnch, both rare and interesting birds, but the former lacking* the beautiful scarlet of the wild bird, the latter beyond praise; 3, Miss A. B. Smyth, Japanese Hawfinches (Eophona personnta), very at- tractive and steady; 4, Miss Doo^y, Rainbow Bunting, rich colour and perfect condit'on; v. h.c, Mrs. E. Greene, an excellent pair of Blaok -headed S'iskins: h.c, J. Frostick, Virginian Nightingale, very rich colour and steady; c, L.- J. Arrighi, Cape Sparrow, one of the clea est and best markel specimens I have seen. Good specimens of Green Cardinal, Chilian Siskin, Red -crested Cardi- nals, and other Virginian Cardinals a'so staged. Tanageks (5): Some beauti'ul colouration covered these five entiles, but all were well known species. 1 and 2, Miss Bousfield, Festive (9) and White-capped Tanagers; 3, Mrs. Thynne, Maroon Tanager; 4, P. Arnott, and v. h.c. J. Frostick, Tri-colour Tanagers. SrGARBiRDS, HoNEYsrcKERS, ETC. (5): Another .small but intei'esting clas^s of exquisite and well known species. 1, A. Ezra, Amethyst-rumped Sunbird, the condition of thio specimen was beyond praise, its tight and glistening plumage radiating forth ever changing hues according to the play of light; 2, P. Arnott, Yellow-winged Sugarbird, beautiful colour and con- dition; 3, Miss Bousleld, YeMow-winged Sugarbird; 4, M. Meager, Red-eaved Bulbul; v. h.c, J. Yeal'and, good pair of Yellow-winged Sugarbirds, 70 The L.P.0.8. National Show. All Species, N.O.E. — Small (8): A most interesting class, but the remaikable birds have alreaJy been noted several times in our pages, though it would be easy to rhapsodise at length re the Mini- vet, Japanese and Loo-choo Eobins, etc., but space forbids. 1, 2j and 3, A. Ezra, Short-billed Minivet, Loo-choo Rob- in, and Japanese Redbreast, in the order given^ a rare and beau- tiful trio; 4, Miss A. B. Smyth, Red-breasted Marsh Bird {LeAsl.es gvianensis), an interesting exhibit and very steady for such a species; v.h.c, E. Fordred, richly coloured Pekin Robin, appar- ently colour fed; h.c, J. Yealland, two uncommon Hangnests, probably male and female, but of different species; c, Mrs. Tat- ten. Silky Cowbird. A pair of Lesser Hill Mynahs also com- peted and should have been marked "wrong class." All Species — Large (5): Five interesting exhibits, all prac- tically perfect in every way and very attractive. The Cuban Trogon was much nearer the full natural colour than any I have seen, but was a wee bit soft, probably not quite at home with the prevailing atmospheric conditions of the Palace. 1, J. Frostick, Hunting Cissa, an easy first, beautiful col- our and very steady; 2, R. E. Simpson, Cuban Trogon {Prionotelus temnurus) ; 3, E. Hattersley, Long-tailed Glossy Starling— perfect; 4, Hon. C. Agar-Robartes, Greater Hill Mynah— very loquacious; v.h.c, Aaidrews, Bros., Green Glossy Starling — exquisite plumage. LIST OF SPECIALS: Championship Diploma for Best Foreign Bird. — Mr. Ezra's Short-billed Minivet. Abiahams' Memorial Trophy for Rarest Foreign Bird.— Mr. Ezra's Short-billed Minivet. Peir Trophy for Best Austialasian Bird. — Miss L. Clare's Queen Alexandra's Parrakeet. O.P. Stiver Medal for Best Foreign Bird, other tlian winn,eas of above. — Mr. Ezra's Amethyst-rumped Sunbird. 5s. (Mr. Ezra) for best v.h.c. Parrot classes. — Mr. Fletcher's Bar- raband's Parrakeet. 6s. (Ml-. Ezra) for be^t v.h.c, Waxbils and Fniches. — Mrs. Greene's Black -headed Siskins. 5s. (Mr. Ezra) for best v.h.c, Tanagers and Sugarbirds. — Mr. J. Frostick's Tri-coloured Tanager. 5s. (Mr. Ezra) for best v.h.c, All Species. — Messrs. Andrews, Bros.' Glossy Starling. C.P. Bronze Medal, for best h.c. Parrot Classes. — Rev. G. H. Ray- nor's Aubry's Parrot. C.P. Bronze Medal, for best h.c, Waxbills and Finches. — Mr. Fros- tick's Virginian Nightingale. C.P. Bronae Medal, for best h.c, Tanagers and Sugarbirds. — Not not.ed. C.P. Bronze Medal for best h.c, All Species, — Mr. Everett's Lesser Hill Mynahs. Bird Notes. From life by H. Guudchild. Some Interesting British Exhibits at the National Show. The L.P.O.S. National Show. 71 BIUTISH BIRD SECTION. By H. GooncuiiiU, M.B.O.U. Oil our plate are ligured three most interesting species, viz.: Top \h'll) /i(/nrv-^ (JvL'-iit Spotted Woodpecker (9) Dendrocopus majar- Liiina'us) , Top {light) figuie Wryneck {I ijiix turquilla, Linuouus). lUiUom //(y«/(i— Sandpiper {Tolanus liypoleucus, Linnccus). The Britisli bh'ds at tlie Palace, numbering all told 5(57 entries, euntaine:! as usual, many species, interesting to both aviculturists and ornithologists. Most of tlie enti\es, cf course, were of the commonly kept seed-eating species; thus Bullfinches numbered 33, Goldfinches 35, Linmets 25. Chaihnciies 19^ Greenfinches 24, Lesser Redpolls 25, Mealy Redpolls or Twites 25, Siskins 26, Bramblefinches 8, Hawi- rmchn's 17, Yellowliammei's 20, other Buntings 25, Song Thrushes or Blackbirds 17, Starlings 5, Magpie, Jay, or Okough 8, Nightingale or Blackcap 6, Skylark 8, Woodlark, Pipit, Tit, etc. 15, Wagtails 8, Woodpeckers, Shrikes, etc. 12, small insectivorous birds lU, and tlie riied, Albino, and other abnormal birds 1(3. Taking the most interesting species first, those figured in our |i!at(! may well be put foremost. The most " out of the way " bird of the lot was undoubtedly the Sandpiper, shown by Mr. J. Lane. This little bird was evidently nervous, and though accommodated with a cage suitable in type for such a bird, and piovided moreover with turf to run about on, seemed somewhat ill at ease. It is open to question ir a wading bird is suited to cage life, though as they are naturally nimble anc' active and take a coneideiable amount of sxiercise, they un- doubtedjv might be less suitable for cage or aviary life than they are. Its timidity accounted for its taking fright now and tlien, when closely Looked a!, and I was glad to see the veteran attendant providing it with suitable animal food. The Great Spotted Woodpecker (3rd), a female, shown by Mr. J. Yeallaud, wias a very good specimen, being very tame and in perfect condition, also a good colour, the scarlet under-tail-ooverts being very brig'ht, land the white generally very pure. Our member, Mr. Millsum, came along with mealworms, and fed it, and remarked to me that he believed it was a hen bird that he had once possessed. Certainly the bird ti-eated him as if it knew and remembered him. This species is not so very easy to see, around London, as the Green species, at any rate in either Epping* Foiest or Richmond Park. The last bird on our plate, the Wryneck, shown by Mr. J, Jeffrey, was a nice tame bird, and when the electric lights W'ere turned on, showed some inclination to display. The owner told me that it "was accustomed to display when ai home, and the water made a sketch of it, with the tail partly spread, the neck extended, but not quite suffici- ently gooiin Ariar/pn (t])ii'>ar('l hi " li/n! Xntrx." Vol. I., N.S., paoes 341—4. E'l. April 4. Grexadiee Weaver {Pjiromelana oryx). LeacJenham AiHarj/ Nntrs, 1012. 73 (o") .i'lst honfan lo shoAv r-olnui\ I'avin.i? gono nnl nlvniit Ootobor 7lh. 1011: by 23r(l (Api-il) lie was in full co'our. April 20. I^Kn-cincsTKi) r.\T!T)ivAis (Paroaria curvl- lafa) had laiM oiio oy-e:, huf on 2(Sth, \\vo or throo o,ir2:s wrro found l)i'okon on tl)(^ i^round undoi'ncatli t'lo nest, and the bi'Tls practically never altcmpleil lo nest a,i,'-ain; they hatched one younir one soon after lh(\v \ver(> put foLTcther in the la!e suinnirr or 1011. hut failed to rear it. Afay 8. Pk'Tokai, Ftn'ttks! {Munia pectoral in): T put a pair (?) of I his spe'-'cs nu^ whi':".h, at time of writing- (February Asi. 101 ;>) ai'c still out and doing- "well: these birds .spend much time on the g-round and roost on or very near it. Canary (9) having: paired with a Cape Canary (Seri- nus camcollis) built, bu^ affe^: the third egg T unfortunately had to destroy her. May 8. Lo^t a Spicebird after four years out of doors. June. Pate Zebr \ Ftn' hits (Trrjiinpiiffia rastanofis): This pair during June rea^-el four cTs- On July 24th two more young o^s appeared, on September 18th, four more young- cT-'^ were on the w'ng. On October 1 7th this indefati- gable pair were sitting again, in a p'gcon hole in the sheet, and by November 1 8th, had four more cf s and one O on the wing, making, I believe, fourteen cfs and one 9 ^^ ^^^"e months. June. Olive Finchi^ (Phonipara lepida): A pair of this species in same aviary nearly as prolific! During my absence in June they reared three young cfs- and on July 14th T found they had young in a nest; by 23rd they had begun building again in a climbing ro'^e, and oi 24th two young left the former nest; they anpear to tear otT the top of the nest before the young quit — partly perhaps, to hurry them out and partly lo slart their fresh nest with! By August 12 they had eggs in a nest in a holly, the cf at same time being busy build- ing another nest! By August 22nd they had Tiatched in the holly, and on Sept. 4th three young left the nest. September 20th. the^ had built again in a flowering cur -ant and by 'SOth had hatched out, three young leaving the ne-it on Oct. 11th;. Thus in four months they had reared eleven young, which were also nearly all cfs and so far as I know, except one, all alive at present time; this, in spite of their nests and young being 74 Leadenham Aviary 'Notes, 1912. out in the deluging rains of July and August, during which tico mo)ilhs we had here over ten inchesl When feeding the young they (especially the 9) ^''e never still, catching midges all over the wire of the aviary without ceasing, and they appear to rear their young on theise entirely at first, using more canary .seed as the chiekf; grow older. No '.withstanding all this hard work of five or six nests, four broods reared and the weather, they ■appeared none the worse, in fact are as sprightly as ever, and I hope they may do the same this year, but it is almost too much to expect of them! Another pair of Olives in the next aviary reared two young, but one of these and one of above pairs were drowned I bcii^ve by the heavy rains. At the next attempt the 9 o^ this latter pair became egg-bound; I brought her in and she lejovered. They nested again, but did not hatch out any mo/e; on November 29th, the cT died; the 9 is still well and lively! July 18. Cuba Finches (Phofiipara canora), had reared two young and were aga'n sitting on four or five eggs in a nest built in a hop; on August 2nd they had hatched, but on 4th the nest was empty! July 23. Canary (cf) after two other attempts was hatching young in pigeon hole in shelter shed, and on 12th three Grey Singing-Finch x Canary hybrids left the nest; one of these subsequently died, and has b&en described in '* B.N." On September 4th the Singing-Finch was still feeding them, and on 28th one began to sing. I have now got this bird in a cage in the house, and he sings divinely all day. September 3rd. Geenadjee Weaver (cT) began to go out of colour. I Tound that a supposed 9 Pelzeln's Saffron Finch proved to be a cock after the moult. October 11th. A Zebea Finch (cT) bred this summer by pair described above, having paired with a bought hen, had three young in nest, which flew on 26th. Madaoascae {Foudia madagascariensis) and Napoleon (/'. afro) Weavers (cTs) began to go out of colour on the last named date, and both of these have been since murdered— the assassin is not yet identified! Only one other peculiar happening have I to relate, viz., that a Blue-winged Lovebird (cf) and St. Helena Seed- Leadenham Avianj Notes, 1012. 75 tvitcr (cf) struck up a great friendship during the summer and I have seen them sitting- together and "kissing" like love-birds! Failukks: The^e inclu le Cutthroats {Anmdina fasciala), Z('l)ra Doves {Gcopclia striata), Avadavats {S. am.adava), IMai'k-eheeked Lovebirds {Agapornis nigrigenis), and Cordon Bleus {Estrilda phoenicotis), all of which had eggs, also St. He- lena Waxbills (Esfri'daasrildi) and Red-billed Weavers (Quelca qtielea), who built. Biu-h Bronze-wing Pigeons (Phaps ele- gans) have been nesting and sitting ever since they were given to me in July! Have had many infertile eggs, but some have been ready to hatch, which failed from one cause or another; these birds are very fond of wo/ms, also lettuce. A pair of Painted Quails {Excal,'acloi in chlnoisis) which had been in the aviary for three years never attempted to nest! Both have died during the year. I possess at the present moment just under one liun- dreil birds, and hope these few not^s re their doings may be of interest to readers of "B.N." -■■- Birds of Gambia. By E. Hoi'KiNSi.N D.S.O., M.A., M.B. Conlinucd from page 40. PAllKIDJE. Phyllopezus africana. AFRICAN J AC AN A. Range. Africa. {R.L.). This bird, the Jito-suseo (= water-chicken) of the Maadingos, is extremely common everywhere on the swamps, where one may often see hundreds on or round a single pool. Their general coluiu' is chestnut brown, darker on back, wings and tail; the head and neck are white with a leaden-blue frontal shield, blaclc eye-streak and yellowish throat patch bordered with black. Tlieir chief char- acteristic is the enormous length of the toes, which enables them to move easily over the matted grass and other vegetation of their favourite haunts. Lengtli 10 inches. Bill and legs leal-blue. CHARADRIID^. In the Gambia we have three common Plovers. (1) our "Brown Plover " with big yellow face-wattles and short strong wing-spurs — Lobivavellus scnc(jalensis. SENEGAL WATTLED LAPWING Range. West antl North-east Africa. {H.L). (2) and (3^ both black and white. 7(i Birds of GamMa. ('2) the bird which shouts at one in the marshes and also haunts clearings and fields: beak and legs black, no wattles, a long black wing -spur, black abdomen = Hoplnpfem.'! .'^phwavs. SPUE-WINGED PLOVER. Bange. "West and North-east Africa, S.E. Europe. (H.L). f3) A field (not a swamp) bird: beak and legs pink, a small pink wattle, a nodule instead of a wing-spur, white abdomen= Sarewphorus tecftis. HOODED PLOVEH. Ranffe. Senegambia: North east Africa. (H.L.) These three are all weU known and common throughout the Pr'otectorate. They are u.suallv found in pairs but also sometimes in small parties. The native name=, Temmi-tenmo in Mandingo and Wetawet in .Toloff apply to all three. About the occurrence in the Gambia of most of the other members of this family T can o-ive but little certain information and will therefore only for the sake of completeness ('as earlier) give a list of those whose range includes our locality with notes of those T feel sure T have seen or shot, and references to the specimlens obtained in this country by Kendall Tlbis, 1892, p. 218), and Bud- gett (Ibis, 1901. p. 481), both of whom made collections here, the former in Bathurst and its neiThbourhood, the latter chiefly up-nver. Fiqnafarola helvetica. GBEY PLOVER. Bangle. Almost cosmopolitan. 1 male, October. (Rendall). Aecrialifis olrTa-drim.. KENTISH PLOVER. Bancfe. Europe and Central Asia to China and Japan. Africa, India, and Australia in winter. (H.L.) Ae. pecuaria. Bancfe. Africa, north to Nile Delta. (H.L.) Ae. hmficula. RING-PLOVER. Banffe. Europe, east to Lake Baikal. E. North .America (casual). Africa and India in winter. (H.L.) Ae. dubm. LITTLE RING-PLOVER. Range. Europe and North As'a to Japan. "West N. America (casual). Africa. India and Malaya in winter. (H.L.) Small flocks (4 to 6) of Ring-plover frequently seen near Bathurst and the Cape from about December to March ; they are probably th's species. Rendall obtained one female in April. Oxyerhv.9 forhesi. FORBES' PLOVER. Bange. "West Africa, Senegambia to Gaboon. Equatorial Africa. (H.L). Arenaria infcrprci^. TURNSTONE. Bange. Cosmopolitan. November 2 (Rendall). T th'nk I saw one at Karawan on the North Bank in January, 1904 and am sure I did at Bakau, November 14, 1908. 7'ringa suharquafa. CURLEAV-SANDPIPER. Birds of Gambia. 77 Range. North Siberia. Africa, Iiuiia to Auhtialia in winter. (H.L).. Eeudall yot " llircu uuL of an imniouiie ilock " in October. Captain Stanley sent me one he Jiad sliot at Boroba in I<'ebruary, lyOT, out of a Ilock of about HO. Twelve flocks of 20 to oO birds birds came over iiiin, as he was shooting' in the evening on the swamp. In January, I'JOt, on a dry swamp at Ivarawan I shot several birds wiucli I thought at the timo were Knots, but now I believe to have bcon Uiis species. T. canulus. KNOT. Range. Arctic liegions. Afiica, JniUa to Australia and New Zealand in winter. (ILL.),. T. minuta. LITTLE STINT. Range. North Europe; Nortii Asia to Lake Baikal. Africa, India, Ceylon in winter. (H.L.) Calidiis arenaria. SANDEliLING. Range. Arctic regions. South America, Africa, India to Australia. iMarshall Islands in winter. i^H.L.) Two October. (Kendall). Limosa lappouica. BAIl-TAILED GODWIT. Range. Sub-aictic regions fioni Lapland to the Yenesei. Mediterranean, Senegambia, Sind in -winter. {H.L.). Totanus calidiis. REDSHANK. Ranne. Europe and Central Asia to East Siberia. Afiica, India, to Malaya in winter. (H.L.) Met with occasionally along the river durijig the winter. I shot onie in the Upper Eiver in March, I'JO.'). Kendall obtained one in September. Tl. nebularius. GREENSHANK. Range. Korth Europe and North Asia. Africa, India, and Australia in winter. (E.L.) Rendall gx)t one in September. I shot two at the Cape in November, 1908. T. stagnalilis. MARbH-GREENsHANK. Range, South-east Europe to North-east Asia. Africa, India, to Australia in winter. {R.L.). T. g'aneola. WOOD-SANDPIPER. Range. Europe and Noith Asia. Africa, India to Australia in winter. {H.L.), One, November. (Rendall;. I saw a bird shot by Captain Sangster in Kombo in March, 1907, which I am practically certain was this species. T. ochropus. GREEN SANDPIPER. Range. Europe and North Asia. Africa, India to Malaya m winter. (H.L.) T. hypoleuciis. COMMON SANDPIPER. Range. Europe and Nortli Asia. Africa, India to Austi'alia in winter. {E.L.) 78 Birds of Gambia. " Found in every swamp." (Rendall). The oommonest of all the small waders, popu'arly known here as " snippets." Numenius arcuatus. CURLEW. Bancfe. Europe, east to Lake Baikal. Africa, India, South China, Malay Peninsula in winter. (H.L.). N. plaeopus. WHIMBEEL. Banqe. Europe. Africa, India to Malava in winter. (H.L). ■ ■ ' ' Our " Curlew " are nearly all really AMiimbrels, though among tliem one not infrequently sees the larerer longer-billed true Curlew. They abound w^herever suitable places occur, and these are common ■enough. Their favourite haunts perhaps are the low mangrove swamps, the " marigots " of the French, w^hich fringe the first forty miles or so of the river, before the commencement of the closer and more lofty mangrove growth of the next fifty miles. In such places one finds them in scores and in places where they are not much disturbed may make a fair bag, although always at the expense of much labour and tribulation in the black man- grove mud. Where, however, tJiey are much shot at they are as wary a bird as one can meet anywhere, and the shooting of even a single one is a ra'-e and extremely chancy event. Their Mandingo name is Kunun-kuko. {To he continued). Aviary Observations. By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., etc. I may state at once that this article has been prompted by correspondence with a friend, and has been somewhat hesi- tatingly entered upon, as I do not love the usual avicultural controversy and am not disposed to indulge those who do, but a statement of methods and their results will be a great gain to all concerned. At present there are supposed to be two "schools," somewhat fancifully called the "old" and the "new." I am not going to give a definition of either, nevertheless there are two methods which stand clearly out as forming, shall we say, the two extremes, viz.: — 1. Boldly making a daily observation of a Inrd's nest and their progeny, and taking any risk there may lie. for the sake of the information gained. 2. Leaving the birds very much to themselves, glean- ing what data is possible by unobtrusively observing them from a spy hole, distance, or other means not directly apparent to the birds. Avmry Observations. 79 Having thus briefly stated the case, I feel that my purpose can be best served by stating: How I Observe My Birds. First, however, T must emphasize the importance of systematic and methodical observation and note-taking, if our bird-keeping is to be elevated from a mere hobby to an act- ual cult, and also indicate what I consider the main lines calling for persistent study. Aviculture should solve many points of the life his- tories of many species, especially sue"h species as are of a retiring demeanour, concerning whose life histories but little can be learned by the ordinary process of field observation — though much ha«! been done of late years by observers arrang- ing some concealment whereby they are able to watch, the watched being ignorant of their presence. The points most calling for the attention of avicul- turists are roughly as follows : — 1. Character of nest, and do both sexes build? 2. Period of incubation, and do both sexes incubate? 3. Colour of egg-s. 4. Description of callow young. 5. Description of nestling plumage. 6. Age young leave the nest. 7. Manner they are fed and what on. 8. Demeanour of parent birds during feeding and learing. 9. Age young are able to fend for themselves. 10. Age they assume adult plumage and process. 11. Age. at which the young have their first nest. There are many other features which will commend themselves to the thoughtful observer, and every interesting epi.sode should be entered in a lx)ok kept handy for the purpose. The demeanour of each species kept should be observed and recorded, and not merely of one individual pair, 'but the re- cord should be continuous for comparison purposes: for, the records of a single pair or individual, as to amiability and other features of their life prove but little. Now, how best can we secure this? Observation must be made, or we gain but little for the expenditure of time and money we lavish upon our birds, save a little personal interest and pleasure. When I first began to take up and record the doings of the birds in my aviary, 1 read other people's meth- ods, as many as I could get hold of, and thought the matter so Aviary Observations. out for myself, carefully weighing what seemed to me the best points of each. Quite early I was called upon to face the question of direct interference with nests and examination of young, or take tlie other counse of making such observation as I could unobtrusively. In other words, should I observe them under the most natural conditions possible, or should I by active interference and bold curiosity, set up even more arti- ficial conditions than the limitations of aviary life enforced? For myself I decided on the former course, viz., to practise unobtrusive observation as the principal means to reach the end I had in view, viz., to secure as much information as possible, combined wi;h the most natural conditions my accom- modation would permit. I will illustrate my point by referring my readers to Mr. Willford's beautiful photos of bird life, which have ap- peared in recent volumes of Bird Notes — compare these with the earlier photos depicting similar scenes; in the latter the birds mostly had an alarmed and scared appearance, while in the former the birds are quite natural and unconcerned, whe- ther engaged in the duties of incubation or feeding their young, and so complete has been the success of the hiding- tent and other similar means that time exposures are pos- sible in some cases— it is idle to ask which photos are the most valuable— thus unobtrusively I would glean the life history of the birds in my aviary. At the same time I have held, and still hold, no hard and fast method, but use every means, which the environment of the aviary permits, and my ingenuity can contrive, to pry as closely into their domestic affairs as is possible without destroying the naturalness of their demeanour. JSIow before describing the various methods I have used, among which has been the direct examination of eggs and young, let me state what I have gleaned from this practice and when 1 have used it. In the first place, when I have once bred a species, I never hesitate to examme the eggs and the young in the second or following nest.s, to supply any data lacking from the previ- ous event. At the samo time I must confess, that with one exception (Orange -cheeked ^^'axbill), all the nests I so treated this past season (iyi2) were deserted m the end, such as : Aviary Observations. 81 Olive Finches, Mag-pie Mannikins, Zebra Finches, and several others — ye^ on hcing away from home for a time and others at- tending to the hiids, most of them successfully brought ofT broods! A question arises here: What species are there whose nests can be examined without fear of their deserting- eggs or young? Well, speaking from an experience extending over more than thii-ty years, I dare not name a single species, ihat one can be safe with, not even Zebra Finches oi Ikidgerigars, for though most pairs of these two species will permit al- most any amount of familiarity, yet I have lost several nests of both species from this cause, and I may add here that I have bred over sixty different species in my aviaries, most of them for several years in succession. There are those, who, persistently examine eggs and young for the sake of gaining knowledge as to colour of the egg and the callow young in various stages of growth, and who have succeeded in breeding many species too, but while I admire their boldness in pursuit of the ob.je(.-t in view, I ask myself, how many failures have preceded the successful result? Moreover, apart from the points named, such persistent interference with the birds sets up an arti- ficial condition o'f things, however natural the aviary may be, that renders the demeanour of the adult l)ird, anything but tliat of the wild bird in its native haunts. Now my main object is not to discourage close observa- tion, but to encourage it, neither is it to condemn the methods of others, but I am seeking to show that much valuable data can be secured without direct interference with nests or birds. Moreover, moving in and out among our birds in the aviary disturbs them but little, and for such species as build open, cup -shaped nests at a low elevation, observation is easy in- deed; for instance, very many visitors saw the eggs and young of the Indian White-eyes and theparent birds feeding their pro- geny from a distance of four to isix feet, and the birds were not disturbed at all, but would go on foraging for their prey and carry it to their young, taking no notice whatever of those in- specting them; of course I insisted on visitors standing still and not talking (even ladies) while in the aviary But as for taking steps or ladder into the aviary and npsa species. Wonderful birds aie these Bulbuls. Next to the Crows, Sparrows, and Doves, they are the most success- ful species in India. They are equally at home in the garden, the hedgerow, the grove, or the low jungle, dense forest, and in the long 'grass of the tarai. Nearly as numerous as the Bulbuls are the Doves. The spotted species {Turtar surateusis) is the most abundant- Ring Doves {Turtur risorius), too, are plentiful, as are the beautiful little Bronze -winged Doves (Chalcophaps indica)^ but these last keep as a rule to the densest parts of the forest, and rarely show themselves in the fire-lines. Occasionally a noisy flock of green Parrots {Paloeorms) flies overhead. The other birds most often seen are the Black-headed Oriole (Ori- Birds of the ".'?rt7" Forrist. 87 olufi nu'ldiiorriiliiiliix), tli(> T.oiit^-failcil Ti-cc-pic (Deinlmi-i/fti nifa) and llie (!ol(lon-l);i(i\(Ml A\'()!)(l|)('ck(^i' ( ninfliz/p/crniis aurm a)if!u,s). Amid tlio lon.i,'- .i^n-iss stems tliat cover (lie opon s'lados Urctty little Avadiiva's (Sporrvqivthus hdii mlnni), spi'iulitly Rush-chats (1^ rat in cola )i/n'ira). haiu'somo Crested nimtinq-s {Melophus mrlanicierus) and several species of Warblers dis- port themselves. The recesses of the forests liold many strange and beautiful l)irds, especially in winter when a great many Flycatchers and Warblers seek refuge in these forests from the rigours of the Himalayas. Amid the areeu foliaye tlit splendid BJiinirrtJ^' ">v Racket-tailed Di-oiigns (Diss',n/ir/'s jinrddiscus) and re- splendent P)lne Whistlinu-'riirushes (M n'tophoucux temwinchi). Perhaps the most interesting birds in the forest are the Pied Hornbills {.\ntln;icnerrox ullnrnah-h). These ureat birds are nearly a yard long, and have the casque pretty well developed. Their flight is very noisy, and the swish of their wings can be heard for a long distance: in contrast to this is the absurdly weak voice, which always puts me in mind of the squeak of a mechanical toy. Other large birds that haunt the sal forests are the Pea-fowl (Pavo rrislafns), and the Jungle-fowl (GdlJns frrnt- gincufi); the latter is said never to bo found away from sal forests. : ! ■' ' '' j '"' { •^ "'i^ These two species are most numerous at the edi^(> of the forest or near the clearings in which the houses for the use of forest officers are built. These two species li;' up in t'lc dense jungle. They issue forth to feed in the very early morning, and just after- sunset. They then betake themselves to the cultivation on the fringe of the forest where they feed. At such times a field looks very like a farmyard, since in addition to a dozen Peafowl p(M-haps twenty or tliirty Jungle cocks and liens are pick-ini; up iii-ains in it. If one can manage to ix ^ le'w'cn such a nock and the forest, one has good sport w'itli tlie gun, when the birds, being startled, fly to cover. BdHi species take a lot of lead, and run swiftly. I was about to say that the sal forests are the only 88 Editorial. places in India that are not haunted by Crows and Mynahs, but this would not be strictly accurate, for these ubiquitous birds are invariably to be found in the neiijhbourhood of the clearings made for the erection of forest bungalows. In all othei" parts, however, the jungle is free from these birds and it is the absence of these, quite as much as the presence of Pied Hornbills, Racket -tailed Drongos, and Bronze -winged Doves, which gives the sal forest its distinctive character. Editorial. The Endurance of Birds: This should prove a useful topic, if the members would give details of the Inrds they keep. This winter has certainly been mild, but its ever changing temperature, cold rains, and furious winds have made it a some- what trying time, out of doors, both for man and beast. Yet time abundantly proves thnt, given' suitably constructed aviaries even the reputably delica+e species, fe.g.. Cordon Bleus, Fire- finches. Lavender Finches, etc., can be, and are, so kept in almost every county of Great Britain. Lady Dunleath (Co. Down), informs us that her birds are all doing well, flying out of doors during the daytime, but are shut in the shelter at night. She mentions Waxbills (several species). Cordon Bleus, Avadavats (full colour)', and Firefinches as looking particularly happy and fit. Hangnest Laying Egos tn Captivity: Lady Dunleath has a common Hangnest (Icterus vulqaris)\ which she ob- tained quite young at Pernambuco two and a half years ago. It is now quite a pet and accompanies her everywhere : it is also (luito an accomplished whistler. Last year it laid three eggs — first two in a cage, which were broken — it was then put in an aviary with a cock Hangnest of another species, of which it would ta'-e no no'i -e; 1 oweve"^ f^e hen huilt a nest, laid another egg (infertile)— there the episode ends for the present; but Hangnests have so very seldom laid in captivity that w^ consider the event wortli putting on record. The Aviaries at the Cripples' Hospital and College: We have to acknowledge with many thanks the following gifts to these aviaries: 4 Waxbills and a pair of 7ebra Finches from H. L. Sich, Esq. Editorial. 89 4 Budgerigars, a Cockateel, and a Riga Jay, from H. Siiarey, Esq. 1 pair Californian Quail, and a Grey-winged Ou/.cl, from Wesley T. Page, Esq. Gifts of Foreign Fringillidce and Ploceldce, a cock Cock- alcel, and a pair of Blue-wing Lovebirds would be highly ap- preciated by the Trustees. African Sunbikds: Our member, Mr. P. Owen, in- forms us that he has successfully imported and has still living in his bird -room, specimens of the Malachite Sunbird (Seddrinia fmnnsu) and several others including three which are new to aviculture, viz: The Cape Long-tailed Sunbird {Pronierup.s cajcr), with a tail 14 inches long; Amethyst Sunbird {Cinnyria amethijstinus), with a crown of metallic emerald-green and a gorgel of shining ro^y li!ac, which is also the colour of the upper tail -coverts, remainder of plumage black with a rich violet sheen. Orange-breasted Sunbird {Antliro- baphes violacca) the principle colouration being metallic green above the resplendatit yellow l)ene,ith, with washings of orange -red on the chest and upper tail coverts, and two yellow tufts at the shoulders. We congratulate Mr. Owen on the possession of such rare and beautiful species of an exquisite group of birds. Eratta: Page 37, bottom line, for " guadrichictus" read quadricinctus „ 47 line 12 from bottom, for '' diamidiatus" read dim- idiatus. „ 53, line 1, for " inola" read Lifiota. „ 53, line 1, for " Pyrrlula" read Pyrrhula. „ 54, line 8, ^ov " Poephila modesta" read Poep)hila per- sonata. „ 54, line 30, for " ta7is" read cantans. „ 56, line 4, for " casianeoihorax" read castaneithorax. „ 56, line 5, for '' Sporuyinthus" read Sporaeginthiis. „ 60, transpose line 6 to between lines 3 and 4. British Bird Calendar. It is urgently requested that members from all round the coast will note the movement of birds, more especially 90 British Bird Calendar. ir- the Southern and Eastern Counties, and regularly (28th of each month) sf^nl in their notes — on this the ultimate success and permanent interest of tJie Calendar will de- pend.— Ki). January 27: On this exceptionally early date for this species, a Chiff-chafT was caught in Ireland. It came into my hands, was well nourished, but has since died. A.S., Feb. 13th, 1913. Owing- to the mild weather there has been very little movement of birds during the last two months. Any notes I have taken, suca a.i large flocks of Knots moving south, have been counterbalanced within a few days by similar move- ments in the opposite direction, which can only be attributed to a change in the direction of the wind, and consequently were local movements. Severe weather causes the birds to make longer flights, and recently when visiting a Plover -catcher, who has had very nian\ years' experience, he informed me that in a season like the present he could make a precarious living only, wherea- in short sharp periods the Plover moved south when the frost set in and always the daj^ berore the break they com- mence to move north again, and a week of severe weather followed by a mild one was good for the catcher, but, bad fur the bird-'y; there will, however, be some real movements during March and April, and I sincerely hope many of our members will keep a look-out and report their observations. K.S. 2 7/2/' 13. February. — Besi:le3 many Curlew, Dunlin, and Wigeon, I have ide.iliiled a couple of White Stork on the mud- flats. The Percaers are mostly in hiding from our miserable weather. Single specimens of the Chiffchaft', Corn Bunting and Bull- fincli, have been seen, and i)airs as follows : Song Thrush 10th ; Blackbird 13tli; Blackcap 4th; Blue Tit 3rd; Wren 10th; Linne! 13th; .Jay 28th; Magpie Uth. Small parties of Marsh Tits 2nd; and of Goldfinches 27th. Skylarks and Hedge Accentors were in full .^ong on 10th; Thrushes and Blackbirds warbling on 12th. Rooks and Thrushes are now building. The Black-headed Gull lias begun to change his plumage. The migrants so far are represented Ly a solitary Lesser Whitethroat, D.L. (Salcombe;. 28;2/'13. < Boole Notices and Revicivs. 91 February.- In llic lirst week of this month the cock Chadinches were in lull xtng, as also the Song Thrushes. On the 7th a pair of Starlings wci'c Imsy getting ready a favoui'ite nesting hole high up an old elm. They seemed to l)e throwing out hits of the old nest. By the end of the month each nest- ing h()\ in the garden was in possession of a pair of Starl- ings. Several Hocks of I^rent Geese have been seen feeding on the shore here all this month, some of the flocks consisting of al)0ut one hundred birds. A Shelduck, mirked with a j'ing as a ■■ llappcr " m the summer oi' 1912 was shot at Saltash in Cornwall on tlu- lOtli of February thi-; year. On the same cfay af G a.m. a Song Thrush was found dying at the St. CallH'i-iiu'"s Li{,dith()use, which was jninni to be. fnnii ilic num- bered ring on one leg, one marked near here on the 25th of April, 1912, as a nestling. The lighthouse keeper reported that an immigration from the south, of Thrushes, had been going on for three days before, and so it seems very likely that this Thrush was coming back to the neighbourhood of its birth: St. Catherine's light being about 20 miles due south of this village. These and other birds, which have since been " reported " were marked with aluminium rings, supplied by the Aberdeen University Bird Migration Inquiry. P.G. (Beaulieu).3/3/'13. Book Notices and Reviews. A Ststkm ok Vkteki\aj;y AIkdici-xe, by various writers.^ Edited by E. Wallis Hoare, P.U.C.V.S. In two vols., £2 2s. net. Vol. I. now ready. Price £1 Is. net. London: Bailliere, Tia- dall, and Cox, 8, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. A prospectus of this valuable work has been sent us, ancf we note that our Hon. Veterinary Surgeon, H. Gray, j\I. 11. C.V.J''., is a large (the laigest) contributor to Vol. I. The Editor, in the preface to Vol. I. writes thus of Mr. Gray's share in the preparation of the volume: — " A largte share of ttie task has fallen to Mr. Henry Gray, wiio has " not only written on the subjects on which he has specialised, " but also has read the pi'oof-sheets as they passed through the "pjiess, and suggested many useful alterations and additions. His "wide experience of canine medicine has enabled him to write " authioritatively on this subject, and the sections on Canine Disf- " temper, Canine Typhus, and other microbial affections of the dog. 92 Correspondence. "cannot but prove of marked value to practitionei'S interested ia " thie diseases of this animal." Fr,om the prospectus ()iid tip of tail). .4.(1 hII Finiiilc: DifTors fiom the liialo, being- dull Prussian hlui', )iio-t (if thr I'lMllii'is having du^ky centres, washed with cobalt on llii- runij) and upper tail coverts; wings aiul tail dark broAvn, the coveits and quills narrowly edged, and the coverts and second - ai-ies washed with blue. "Hahilaf: .lava" (B.M.C.). The title on lioutispiecc should he .lavan Fairy Blue Bii'd. This plaic has been in course of preparation for a long- period, and tlie i-op/ular designation of the genus "Fairy Blue Bird," was then applied to tliis speeies before T had looked up the genus. Dur meml)er, Mr. }Iul)ert D. Astley, kindly responded to my request and sent me the followin.g notes of this exquisite species: "iThe leautiful pair of Fairy Blue-Birds, which were "brought over by Mr. Goodfellow some three or four years "ago, in a wonderful collection made for Mrs. Johnstone, "came into my possession. "Tlic fomale unfortunately met with an accident, "being disturbed, probably by Owls, at nig-lit; banging- her "head; and although she lived for some time, she never "really recovered, and finally died." ''Tn captivity these birds are apt to eat too much "and take insufficient exercise, feeding chiefly on banana and "other fruits. They passed two summers in an out-door "aviarj'. but never attempted to nest, sitting rather sluggishly " in the bushes. " When the male bird was on the wing, he was a most "beautiful sight, the blue of the Kingfisher being dull com- " pared with his ujiper parts of brilliant turquoise, wliich "locked like silk with underparts of black velvet. A lady, "who formerly passed many years in the Malay Archipelago, "told me that these birds are known as Coffee Birds, be- " cause they always i)ut in an appearance in the 'Coffee "plai'taticns, to feed on the I'ipe berries. The Fairy Blue "Bird has a melodious twitter, or call note; but I never "beard the male give out any marked song-. Their short 98 Fairy Blue -Birds. " legs make them unadapted for hopping on the ground, and " if they flew down for mealworms, they never remained there "longer than was necessary. — Hubert. D. Astley." The Sumatean Fairy Blue Bird. (I c>^inif/pr). ■ Adult Male: Top of head, entire upper surface, scanulais, lesser and median wing -coverts, upper and under tail -coverts rich cobalt-hlue, very bright and pure on the top cf the head; wings (with above exceptions), tail, sides of face, sides of neck and entire under sui'face black, greater wing'-ooverts tipped with cobalt, secondaries, and central tail feathers wa.shed with blue; bill and legs black; iris deep red. Total length 9^ inches, tail 3,^-. (The upper tail coverts extend nearly and the under coverts right to the tip of tail). Adult Female: Very similar to 9 turro.'a — dull blue, mottled with dusky and brown ; slight'y smaller than the male. Total lengtl' 9 inches, tail 3^. The Fairy Blue Bird (I. puella). Some weeks ago, when I got rough pulls of the charming coloured p'ate accompanying the^e notes, I wrote our member, Mr. Hugh Whistler, asking if he could tell me any- thing about the wild life of the Fairy Blue Bird and he very kindly sent one the following letter: " I am much obliged to you for your letf^er and the plate "of Irena furcofa. I regret that I can tell you nothing about " Jrena in a wild state, as it does not occur within 500 miles or S'O' "of my province — the Punjab; however as T have observed that "you do not appear to use 'The Fauna of British India: Birds,* " by Blanford and Gates, I am extracting ce-tain facts from it "in ca,se they may contain a detail or two unknown to you. " I am only referring to /. p-ueUa, as turcom does not " occur in India. " The distribution of the species I have indicated on the ''^ enclosed ropgh sketch map. By way of parenthesis I may "note here that so many well-know^n birds that are reg'arded as '■ typically Indian do not occiii' in the Punjab, which, as far as my "observations extend, tends to be Western Pal Himalayas to Dibrugarh in Assam; the Khasi hills; Cachar; Manipur; Arrakan; Pegu, Tenasserim; the Aiidamans and Nioobars. This species is confined entirely to the evergreen forests of the hills and plains, and it is found up to about 4^000 feet of elevation. It extends some distance down the Malay Peninsular and into Siam. — (''Fauna of Brit. India: Birds" 0. and B.). Thk Twekdale's Faiky Blue Bird. (/. ■UveedalU). Adult Male: Crown of head, nape, and entire upper surface^ scapulars, lesser and median wing-coverts, and under tail-coverts shining turquoise -blue, the top of the head with a silvery sheen; sides of head; sides of neck, wings (some of the greater coverts) tipped with blue, tail and entim under surface velvety black; bill and legs black; iris carmine. Total length 8 inches, tail 3| inches. Adult Female: Above and below dull Prussian blue, more or less mottled with dusky -brownish; wings and tail dark brown, outer webs washed with blue. Habiiat: Island of Balabac, Philippines." (B.M.C.). IThe Malaccan Faiky Blue Bikd (/. cyanea). Adult Male: Similar to /. criniger, but the under tail- coverts do not extend to the tip of the tail — distance between tip 'lue-Bin is. 101 \ iiicli; I)ill and legs black. Total !■ (liaii t hi' J male ; siniiiai' to tlic Q (I5.A1.C. ,)• of tail-coverts and tip of tail length 9.' inclios, tail 3^. Adnll Fniialr: "snialli of /. pari la. ILihihil: '•Malacca." I''urtlir rcri'f.-iu li;is kindly coiisciitcd lo ui'Kc us an Mccminl of the hirds Ik^. piocurcd, d'apiicd and ix'i'sonally lu'ou^'lil u\t'i' last niontli, providing;' ! would write an iii- trodui'tioa; tliis task is iudced a [jlcasuic, for the condition of the liirds on arrival bespoke that ceaseless care and per-, .suual attention, en loalc, which only the amateur importer bestows. On Saturday, March 22nd, Major Perreau landed a consij^Minient of over 2U0 rare Indian soft-bills. On Mai'ch 3rd he left Bombay with a total of 250, and actually arrived at Paris with 240, the Ijulk of which were then in i)ractically exhibition trim; l)ut, at Calais the mishap of the journey occurred, for while he was engag-ed with the transit offi- cials, two of the large cages were sent down the baggage shute, swamping the uafortunate inmates with milk sop, etc., besides the shock, nevertheless, he actually arrived at Mit- cham with 220 birds — all of which were in excellent health, and in robust condition, yet they spent the Avhole of the .voyage on the open deck, in the form of an open square by day, and stacked face to face during the night. With the exception of the Laughing-Thrushes, which arrived very fit and healthy, but very travel worn, most of the birds were in really good feather; such as Niltavas, Nuthatches, Minivets, Babblers, Spider-Hunter, Crow-Tit, etc., being, save for slightly frayed tails, in exhibition plumage. A perusal of Major Perreau's article (a small portion only of wdiich can appear this month) will amply indicate what a notable series of birds has been landed with almost infinitesimal loss of life en route, and fully demonstrates how complete a success Major Perreau's undertaking has been. Quite a number of species new to aviculture A^ere included in the collection, and I am pleased to say that the bulk of not only the rarer species, but of the Avhole series, have passed into the possession of members of the Foreign Bird Club, and I trust that during the jiresent season many of them may reproduce their kind. In conclusion, I heartily congratulate our member on such a successful termination to his enterprise — an achieve- ment of which any importer may well be pi^oud. — P]d,J. 106 ^y Indian Consignment. After writing this article, or a large part of it, in the rough, I have been shown our esteemed Editor's most ilat- tering introduction. J think this is a good place in which to thank him not only for this but for the way in which he has given time ^nd trouble to help me in making ar- rangements for me on arrival in London and in helping with the birds and correspondence, I do not know how I sjiould have got on without his assistance and that of my wife. L had meant to open with a brief history of my collec- tion, but I lind that it is by no means brief, and with our energetic Editor almost literally at my elbow as a reminder that I promised that this should be in at least two days ago, 1 had better start with the three birds which are figured in this issue. After that the Editor can take as much of the "history" as he thinks our members can stand at one dose. I would have preferred to write when I had jnore leisure, but needs must when the Editor drives— and is close at hand— and has done so much for one, ]VJr. Goodchild has caught the character of each bird in a wonderful way. To my mind the Ixulus takes a lot of beating but then so does the Wren -Babbler; the more so, perhaps, as it has no such distinctive feature as has the Ixulus in its crest; and then again the Pigmy Woodpecker is what the bird is — a pigmy woodpecker. 1. The Himalayan Pigmy Woodpecker {Ii/ngipicus pygmaeus) is a delightful little bird in the cage. I have never seen it wild, so can say nothing about it in that state. Our member, Mr. Appleby, of Lahore, kindly got it for me and gave it me with many others as I passed through. The ligure renders description unnecessary as it is not a "bird of colour (browns and white). Its minute size (only 5^ inches), tame- uess, and quaint ways give this bird its charm. It is very destructive to woodwoi'k, and on the voyage had to be changed from one eompaitment to another everj thr(!e or four days. It is very ht and in splendid feather, apparently doing very well on a good strong insect mixture with a few mealworms, of which it is very fond. I gather from Blandford that it is a bird of the foothills from Kliat- mandu to Mussoorie. The cock has a shoit narrow stripe of i;ii;i. Not l-rnn, Ihr h>l II. (in.JrInh/. Tun Jiilii i'imiiy \Vn(Ml,,r,-k Ixuliis : llnllnni Jiiinrr. I Mnhllr lUjurr. V,.l|,,w-ii:ii).' k-llircawM \Vrrn-l';iM>l.T. Mil In (7 ion CofLsigt/moff. 107 scarlet foathoi's on oarli side of the ooriput. My bird is a hen. 2. Tnio Yellow- NATEn Txtlt^r. (Iniliis flaviroUis) is a curious and decidedly pretty little bird of much the same haliits in a way as llic ^^'ilife-eve, ri>(|uii'iirir the saine food, i.e., sop, fi'uit, inject tiiixlure, Avifli a few meahvornis. I found them not utwoinnion near Darjeplin.q-, at 4,000, to G.OOQ feet, commoner at the latter elevation. I never saw them in parties like AVhite-eyes, but I only saw them just at the end of the breedins: s(>a^on, when tiiey were either in pairs or small parties of four or five. At the end of August I saw a pair feeding barely fledged j^oung. They as a rule frequent fairly high trees and were always on the move inspecting flowers or the crevices among the orchids, not in bloom when T was in Darjeeling. The figure in the plate roquii-es little description. The collar is chestnut-yellow, upper parts brown and grey, shad- ing off into each other and conti^asting strongly with the white; of the sides of the face and lower parts, the former with a beautiful silvery sheen. Dates gives the distribution as the Himalayas from the Gutlej to Assam, the Khasi Hills, Manipur. from 5,000 to 8 000 feet. The nest is a deep cup of moss and fibre, suspended from one or two twigs of a branch. Length of bird about 5 inches. I only got home three, all that I started with from Bakloh; of these one has gone to our member Mr. Towns- end and two to Mr. Weslev Page. Of the latter one had a curious and unfoi-tunat^ a^-ciden^^, hanging itself in a fork of a myrtle bush growiuLT in o'le of our Editor's exceflent green- house flights. T remember losing a Plumbeous Redstart in a somewhat similar way some yea'^s ago, and can sympathise with him in his loss. ;>. Thr Plapk-throatrd Babblrr (Starlnirisi niari- ar-p-^) is named a Wren-Pabb'er bv Jerdon. probably because of its small size, but it has little of the Wren about it. Cer- tainly it skulks up low underg>^owth but quite in a different way, more like a Siva o^ Liothrix in tliis respect. It is a smnrt, viviicious littb^ bird, well nble to look after itself, with much larger birds in a mixed aviary. Tt was evidently 108 I^J-U Indian 'Consig}iment. going "down the hill" for the winter, as at about 4,000 feet ■I found it very rare in early September, whilst at the end of that month it wa-; quite the commonest capture made dur- ing my brief stay in Darjeeling. I was letting them go in fair numbers as I had twelve (my limit for one bird, and a limit only reached in one o: two ca^es). I found them not too easy to meat off, but doing well when once the critical stage was past. I gave four away in Calcutta, a gift I rather regretted later, as I lost five chiefly by accident, be- fore starting, and two inore in the Pathankot mishap, of which, more later. Food as for the Woodpecker, but maggots are readily accepted, and in the aviary the sponge -cake and milk dish was visited. The one 1)ird landed is in beautiful condition and has now passed into the hands of our member, Lady Kathleen Pilkington. I refuse to attempt the description of this bird in full detail. Head black, streaked with white, upper parts rich olive brown, lower parts bright fulvous, throat in all specimens I have seen black, mottled with white, a white ring round the eye, ear coverts rufous brown. Oates 'gives distribution as the Himalayas from Nepal to the East of Assam and from thence south and earst to Tenasseiim. Found up to 10,000 feet in summer. Length about 5| inches. [We hope Major Perreau will give us the history, of the collection, after desc ibing the species, as the incidents of collection, trapping, field notes, etc., also the details of the journey to the coast and the voyage to England will, we are assured, be of general interest. — Ed]. On the Keeping of Soft-Bills in Cages By Otto Puck. What lover of birds, when taking a walk through hill and dale in "Ye Merrie Month of May" has not become en- amoured with nature's concert of our various songsters, and felt a desire for a closer acquaintance with them, to admire their beauty, and listen to their song within four walls ? I certainly am among the number, and how could I help it. having grown up in one of nature's most lovely spots. My wish to possess every kind of native bird could easily 0)1 Ihr Krrpinfi oj f^ojI-lVilh in Cages. lO'.l liavc l)C(Mi salislicd. hul a kiiul iiiollicr slronirly ol.jV'otod to my ki'cpiii,-' liii'ds ill ca-vs, as she llinii-lil tlirrc would 1)0 the dilliculty to piovido tliciii with adc:|uaJc I'ood, and a'tliou,i,''h 1 diMiiunc'd. I do iiol tliiidx she was alto^ndhcr wi-ouf,^ when donyiiiii- iik^ this t'lcasui'c, coiisidctiii.i,'' my tender years. T am all-aid that oven to-(hiy many a liiif l)ird's life is saerificed owin-i' t<» its k(M']MM' not supplying it with suitablo food. ,My advice thorerorc to all Ix'.i^'inncrs is " ^-o slow," study first soini^ ,U(iod liird lilei'aturo, liecome a/"(|uainted with tlio habits and leedin,i; ol the hird you ai'o desirous of keepinq-, make tlie acquaint.anee of some hirddover who keep> the variety you a]-<' anxious to cage, and g(»t some preetieal hints; these ai-e often more valuable than all theory. Next start your experiene(^ with an easily kept soft -bill, and liaving gained success, then gradually mount the ladder. The essential points to success are cleanliness, wholesome food, and regulai- atten- tion. Remember you never come across a dirty bird at large; some may develop dirty hab'ts when caged, but they are not naturalh inclined to be dirty. Don't blame the bird; the cage may be too small, or you do not give a bath freely enough, or in the case of fruit -eating birds, you do not provide the food in the right kind of vessel. The fault therefore lies ■Avi/th you, and not the bird, and the remedy is in your hands. Some may consider these small matters too trouble- some, but I can assure them thev are very important in keep- ing birds, especially soft -bills, in good health and condition, and no trouble in this respect should be too great, but made a " Labour of Love," to make the life of your pets as com- foi'table and as near to theii- natural habits as possible. Now the first and most important point after you have decided what kind of bird to cage, is to know what food to keep it on. Soft-Bills, as the name implies, are insectivor- ous, and feed moS[tly on live insects. It would therefore be out of the question to feed them on seeds, and, again, as human beings, w^i'thout detriment to their 'health, could not for a length of time exist on one diet alone, neither can Ibirds; there must be variation, and also variation according to the seasons. Another point, the food should always be of the best (luality anfl fresh, best is cheapest in the long run. There are excellent preparations of ready-made food in the market 110 On the Keeping of Soft-Bills in Cages. which can be made palatable to the birds without much trouble, and I have nothing to say against them, but still prefer to mix my own ingredients, as I can then better vary the mix- ture according to the particular taste or requirements of each inldividual bird. Dried ants' eggs should form the staple food, but there are ants' eggs and ants' eggs (cocoons is more correct). Be sure that they are fresh and have an agreeable smell of formic acid; they should be of a uniform flesh colour, and each cocoon contains an ant in the njmph state. Those that are grey or black are valueless, as the insect is in too ad- vanced a state of developement and the birds will not par- take of them. The next important food is dried flies. There are two kinds imported : — 1. Muska Zeche, from the swamps of Mexico. 2. Whiteworm, or Day fly, from the swamps of the Danube and Elbe. The former have a strong flshy smell, and small dried up fish are found among them, caught, no douljt, in the meshes of the net when skimming the surface of the water in catching the flies, and of course the fishes should lie picked out tefore using the flies. There is no such trouble with the Whiteworm, but in- stead, there are found among them small pieces of charcoal emanating from the embers of fires lit along the banks of the riA'ers to trap the flies by night. Other valuable foods are Silkworms (ground) pre- served; preserved yolk of c'^g; cream cheese or dried milk curds (free from sugar); rusks (ground and free from sugar). I do not care for biscuits, as in my opinion they contain matter foreign to and indigestible by cage birds. Sponge cake (ground); hemp seed (ground small); maw seed; carrot (raw and finely grated); and last, but not least, mealworms: but in the use of these my advice is "caution," especially to the novice. Many feet troubles are due to the too fre- quent supply of mealworms. The above are the chief foods forming the menu of rnost caged insectivorous birds, and in addition, but not of On fhr K or ping of f^oft -Bills in Cages. HI least iiiipoi'tanei', is judicious admixture of fruil, which sliould always li:' full\- i'i|)i', aiui, accordin.i^- to tlic season, the fol- low iu.i;- I'i'uits will Ix" relished by most soll-l)ills, viz.: — Cherries, Currants (choi)iHMl up), Green Fiqs, Rasp- berries, Blackberries, Mountain Ash Berries, Privet Berries, Ripe Pears (sleepy), Apple (baked). Banana, and Elderberries. Then in spring-, as soon as obtainable, and all the sum- mer, while the supply lasts, freshly-gathered ants' -cocoons; also w(dl scoured i^nMitles and wasp-grubs. These thre(^ latter foods are particularly invaluable for "meating off" freshly caught soft-bills in the spring, and foi- moulting purposes in the autumn. To the novice this may appear a Tormidable ari'ay of fcods and almost deter him from embarking upon the keep- ing of softbills. but he will soon find in practice that it is not so bad, as all the foods are not given at once, but more or less in rotation. T have often been asked how I succeed in maintaining the natural glossy appearance in the plumage of cage-moulted birds. "Well, every oi'nithologist knows that all birds have a fat gland, from which they extract oily matter to impart to their feathers by means of their beaks; no doubt soft- bills obtain a supply of oliferous matter from the various kinds of live insects they feed on when at large, whereas the food substitutes we supply them with, bging dried to pre- serve them, are deprived more or less of same. It, therefore, struck me, that here was something to make up, and for years I have occasionally added to the food a little grated Brazil nut or grated pine kernels, with beneficial results. In fact all my birds relish their food much more when nut is added to same. There is a great divergence of opinion as to the cor- rect formula for mixing the various foods in riglit proportion. I have studied this important point for many years, and culled much valuable information not only from our own " Fancy " press, Init also from Continental bird literature, and find that the following stock mixture for such birds as Blackcaps, Garden Warblers, Redstarts, Whitethroats, Nightingales, etc.; is hard to beat, viz. : At night put the daily supply of dried Ant-Cocoons 112 On the Kecp'mg of Soft-Bills in Cages. in a basin, add one -third of its bulk of finely grated raw carroit, mix well with a fork, then press down, and let it stand in a cool place over night. During- the nig-ht the Ants' -eggs will absorb the moisture from the carrot, and all you have to do next morning is to break them up with a fork, add some more dried Ant -Cocoons, if too damp (it is safer to have the food a little on the dry side than too damn) cream cheese or a little milk curd, ground ru^k, or preserved yolk of egg, and once or twice a week a little fly scalded first, and then dried between linen. During cold weather I also add a .little ground hemp, and mix the whole again with the hand until it feels crumbly and moist, with no lumps or pieces adhering together. Some of my birds are also fond of finely ground silk- worms, and these may be added occasionally to the food and for larger birds, such as Shamas, sometimes a little crissel and more fly. Blackcaps and the smaller Warblers look daily for the small supply of egg-food, and this I prepare as follows: 1 part ground rusks; 1 part ground sponge cake; \ part curds or cream cheese, \ part preserved yolk of Q^g. and a little ground Brazil nut, maw seed, moistening the whole with grated carrot. Some I know, give also minced lettuce or dandelion leaves, but I consider that the carrot supplies all the vegetable food necessary for the well-being of even dainty Warblers. All foods must, of course, be given fresh daily, any food left in the vessels from the previous day must be thrown away. My food waste, however, as everything is of the best quality, amounts to next to nothing, nearly everything is eaten, proving the old adage, that " the test of the cake lies in the eating." However, should there be any food left over ])y the more tender Warblers, same always comes in for the larger and stronger birds next day. Having digested th'S menu, I will noM' take the novice back to the starting point, assuming he has decided what kind of scft-bill to keep, the next question will be that of a suit- able cage, but as my present notes have already run . to such length, I am afraid I am transgressing too much upon our On Ihr Kcpp'nig of Soft -Bills in Gages. W?^ Editor's v;ilua1)lo sjiace, and will theroforo deal with this, hnportaiit qucsfion in another article. CAGES. A\'itli icyaid to cages for Soft-liiils, g(>nerally speaking tliesc cm never be too large. They should allow the ])irds plenty oi' looni for exorcise. In my oj)inion a ])ir(l keeps in niudi bettei- hrallh if, besides the juni])ing from i)erch to perch he has I'oom to make use of his wings, and can indulge in a "flight from side t,o side of the cage, and they do. For this reason an of)Iong sha])e is best, and to protect the bird against draughts the box pattern cage is generally adopted. The top of the cage should be made of some soft material to prevent birds from damaging their heads, as when freshly caught, and also during the migratory periods, they are very apt to Jump up against the top during the night, and if the top of the cage is made of hard material bad results will follow. Feeding vessels should always be inside the cage, and had best be made of glass, as such are easily kept clean. .4 bath is a sine-qua-non, and this should hang outside in front of the cage to prevent the cage from getting wet inside. The perches should be placed well apart and be of different thicknesses, and of soft wood, either willow, elder-: berrj, or lime and be easily removable for cleaning pur- poses. Nearly all soft-bills have rather tender feet. I •therefore cover the perch they mostly use, and rest on during the night, with rubber tubing, so as to rnake same more elastic. The trail should b.' of ,yood depth and had best be made from zinc, and for covering material I prefer leaf mould mixed with moss litter or cocoanut fibre, fine soil from the garden and a little silver sand. There is always some live live food in the leaf-mould or soil, and besides it is soft and therefore better for the birds' feet than sand alone. When mixing this, I put in a few drops of terebene, which not only makes it nice and sweet, but also acts as a sanitary deodoriser. As all soft-bills are large feeders, great attention as to cleanliness must be paid to the cage bottoms or trays. Qnce a week they should be thoroughly cleansed and scalded, 114 On the lieepivg of Snff-BlJhs hi Cages. adding a few drops of Lysol or Cond^'-'s Fluid to the water they are washed in, the soil taken away to be re-plenished by fresh, and if this is done at the week-end, then on Wednes- days the droppings accumulated by 'then should be removed, and a little fresh soil put in. Food and scoter vessels should bo kept scrupulously clean, and especially the latter washed out every day and re-filled. It is quite refreshing to see how birds appreciate fresh Avater, and especially how fond they are of their morning tub. When they do enjoy it, it is a sign of good health, and as a rule you will have little trouble with such birds, their feet are always clean. Once leave them without the fresh water, and you will find they will rather go without than bathe in stale water. The sizes of my stock cages are: Long. High. Wide. For Blackcaps ,18in. x 12in. x 9m. „ Warblers 28in. x 15in. x llin. „ Nightingales, Thrushes, Shamas— larger in pro- portion. But size of cage alone is not everything, the position they occupy in the room has a great deal to do with the well- being of the occupant. The best place is opposite the window, where the m-ornrng sun strikes the cage, and hung at a height that when you stand in front of the cage the bird on the perch is about level with your face. For;tunately soft -bills are not so subject to Eed Mites as hard -bills, but needless to say you must be on the look- out, therefore keep your cages clean, and if you detect the slightest sign, paint ends of perches and corners with a solution of lysol. I do not think that I have any more to say on the subject of cages, except that some birds, shy in their nature, strongly object to being exposed to full view, and feel more happy if part of the open front is covered with lino or some light material behind which they can hide from the gaze of intruders, even that of their own master. Some soft-bills are naturally shy ; much depends upon Bird Notes. | I'hnin fr„m i;/r h,, II. W >l Ifnrd . 'lie l'.l;ick-llii'(i;iic.l or Lanceolated .lav. Oil /he Kccpinjj ()/ Sojt-li'dl.s in Cages. 115 luidri' what siiiiouiidiiig.s they grew up, and although they scttk- (luw 11 to ca.uc life, and are tame in a way, yet they never lose thi'ir shyness and Ijeiomc really confidential. On approaching tlu'ir cage, they will not lly mildly about, but try tu hide in a corner, and no coaxing in the; world will i'l'tch them out oi it ; lease the room, and they are inunediately on the pt'rch. Others are as "hold as brass," as the saying has it, ami woe betide you if you spoiled them by giving them a tit-bit in the shape of a worm too often, you never hear the eiul of it. As regards the shy birds, I have a case in point at the present moment. Three years ago I acquired a Nightingale, first year very shy, no song; second year, little more confidential, would snap a worm from finger and sang Tor one month — this year I thought I would alter the position of his cage, so put same in a darker corner of the room, and decorated the front of cage with artificial evergreens, result: incessant song, almost too loud for room, from early morning, and even at night by light, since October 30th. The best bird I ever had as regards song, and all brought about through a little. fore- thought and no doubt by accidentally bringing the position of the cage and surroundings into a line with the natural con- ditions under which the bird lived when at large. As with human beings, so with birds. There are hardly two natures alike in their habits, these you must study, and experience gained with patience must be your teacher. Success depends upon good management, and as there is a great deal to be said under this heading, I will devote another article to General Management, before giving my experiences, and a treatise on the various kinds of Soft- bills I iiave kept in cages. (To he confinued). ! Some Interesting Birds. By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., Etc. Illustrated from Life by H. AVili.ford. {Continued from page 36). The Laxceolated Jay {Garrulus lanceolatus) \ The 116 Some Interesting Birds. range of Jays is world-wide, and their plumage is as diversi- fied as their range — ranging from sombre, yet beautiful, ar- rangements of black, brown, and white, to the gorgeous col- oura,tion of the tropics; but it is not with the latter that this short account deals, but with the Black -throated or Lanceo- lated Jay of the Himalayas. A glance at Mr. Willford's beautiful photo of this striking and handsome species, indi- cates fully its bold, fearless, and also mischievous demeanour; its plumage is as beautiful as the arrangement of it is striking in its contrasts, as the following description will show: Description : The upper and lower plumage is principally vinous-grey, much brighter on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; the forehead, crown, nape, crest, and sides of head rich velvety black ; chin, throat and fore-neck black with white sbaft streaks ; upper breast grey; tail, blue, barred and banded with black and tipped with white ; primaries and secondaries tipped with white, tertiaries grey, banded with black and tipped with white ; median and greater wing-covert^ black ; primary-coverts white ; bastard wing (winglet) blue barred with white ; bill pinkish, slaty at base and yel- lowish at tip ; legs and feet slaty-pink ; iris red. Total length 13 inches, tail 6i inches. Major Perreau, in his '* Birds of the Station " (Bak- loh, Punjab), writes as follows: "The Black-throated Jay, sometimes advertised at home as the " Lanceolated Jay*, 'Ms very common about the station in winter, going but "a short way outside to breed. They are cheery noisy chaps, "and make excellent pets. They do not seem to descend to "the foot of the hills, and I have seen them pretty high up "in the winter. The nest is often quite low down. They " go about in small parties, and are noisy, except in the breed- " ing season, when they go in pairs and are very quiet unless "disturbed by intruders." Gates in the "Fauna of British India," gives the habits, etc., as follows: " Breeds from April to June, constructing a shallow "nest of twigs and sticks and lined with grass. The nest "is built in medium -sized trees in a fork or close to the trunk " up to 30 feet in height. The eggs, three or four in number, " varj in colour from stone-colour to greenish-white and are 'marked with sep a b/own; they measure 1.12 by .85." Distkibution: The Himalayas from Hazai-a to Nepal * Commonly known by this name in England.- Ed, Soiiie hiiercsfing Birds. 117 ;iii([ ovfi iicMily till' wliolo o[ K'asliinir. The sijccies appears to l)i' [);iitiall\- iiii,i;Tat()i'\ , liciii,!^' louiid in winter as low as JJolira. Jn .suinnu'i' it ascends to 8,000 feet (Gates). Ij, Captivity: For a large cage this is a grand bird, aS; once tame, it is never dull, but cheery, vivacious, fearless and confiding, and has a great faculty lor mischief— it makes a charming pet. It is etjually interesting in a roomy aviary, with other inmates of similar size and strength. In such quarters the beautiful wing and tail plumage are displayed to great ad- vantage, and its forceful, independent character is very apparent. A friend once said to me "if bird lovers only knew how interesting and quaint Jays are, they would be more frequently kept, both as cage pets and in the aviary "—and with this statement I certainly agree. They are very fond of bathing, and also very knowing and mischievous. As regards food they are practically omnivorous and nothing comes amiss to them— a coarse insectivorous mixture, table leavings, such as vegetables, scraps of meat, rice pud- ding, etc., fruit, nuts; but while variety will be easy, animal food must be supplied liberally — the best form in which to supply this is, all kinds of insects, scarcely any come amiss, but we can name, cockroaches, beetles, catei'pillars, meal- worms, grasshoppers, small reptiles, and mammals, etc.; fail- nig a good supply of live insects, a little finely minced raw meat may be given occasionally (I have never supplied this), and minced cooked meat and grated cooked liver stirred into insectik mixture. All the Jays, are beautiful and striking, whether their hues are sombre or of gorgeous tropical colouration, and certainly not the least striking or beautiful of them all is the subject of this brief sketch. THE COMMON REDSTART. (Ruticilla phoenicurus, Linn.) The Common Redstart is one of our most interesting visitors and always attracts the attention, whenever "he is caught sight of, on the top of some low wall, stump, or large stone, standing erect and flicking his perpetual -motion -tail. Usually they are with us from April to September, inclusive, though there are earlier and later records. 118 Some Interesting Birds. Mr Willford's fine photo of the m.'ile, illustratiug these notes, IS a characteristic portrait of tnis dianning bird, in one of its most striking poses. Descrittion. Adult Male: Forehead hoaiy- white; crown, nape, and upper back slate-grey; wings dark brown, with lighter outer margins; rump and tail ruddy-chestnut, witli the exception of the two central feathers of the latter, which are brown; narrow frontal band, chin, throat, and cheeks deep velvety black; breast bright ruddy chestnut; abdomen paler than breast; ventral region whitisii; bill black; legs and feet deep brown. Total length 5| inches. Adult Female: Lighter and generally less brilliant than male, she lacks the black on the face and throat, Avhich is so striking a feature of her mate. Young: Nestlings are much spotted above and below and much resemble young Robins, but they have a chestnut tail. Birds of the year resemble the adult female. 'Range: Broadly, it is generally distributed throughout the British Isles, though it is less common in the north and west. Its summer and winter distribution outside the Brit. Isles, includes: Europe, Africa, Madeira, Canaries; Arabia; Persia. Eastwards it extends to Lake Baikal. BEEEDl^•G: The Common Ecdstart has not yet been bred m captivity, but in 1912, Mr. W. E. Teschemaker success- fully bred tire Black Redstart {R. titys) in his Devonshire aviaries. In a state of nature the Redstart almost invari- ably builds his nest in the hole of a tree, crevice of a stone wall, or other similar site. It is mostly constructed of dried grass, fine rootlets, occasionally a few leaves are used, and is lined with liuir or feathers or a combination of both. The eggs are bright bluish -green— similar to, but paler and a little smaller than those of the Hedge Accentor— without any markings of any kind. The nesting season is from May to July, inclusive. Food: In a state of nature this consists of insects- flies, gnats, butterflies, spiders, etc.; and their larvic and pupob. In captivity a similar diet must be given, also some strong insectile mixture, also soft ripe fruit. In Captivity: I have not kept the English species, but I have found them altogether charming; birds, and full So»/e Intcrcsiiufi Birds. 110 of interest when watching their deportment in Mr. Willford's aviaries, and muucious as the species are which i)e keeps, none were inoie attractive or of greater interest than the subject of these notes, viz., tlie Common Redstart. I have kept tlie Plumbeous Redstart, a native of the Himalayas, and during the period (several years) this species was an occu- pant of my aviaries, all visitois were attracted to it at once, its deportment is exactly similar to that of the Common Red- start, and he tlnove ou insectile mixture, the insects he cap- tured in a roomy aviary, supplemented with mealworms, spiders, etc.; he also was fond of a little fruit; ho also regu- larly visited the milk-sop piovided lor Tanagers, etc., con- fined in the same aviary. They are well called "•' flick - tails," for their caudal appendages are a fair example of per- petual motion, with their up and down, and criss-cross move- ments; never still save for some -brief moment to snap up some passing lly or other insect — They have many of the characteristics which makes the Robin so dear to English hearts, the luminous eye, fearless demeanour, etc.; short of allowing one to pick them up, the individuals I have made the acquaintance of, were perfectly fearless, and confiding, taking an insect from the fingers, or hopping about one's feet, looking askance at the live bait tin — thus one could ramble on, but space forbids, and now one species has been bred, why not others? Thus the group of birds called Redstarts present a wide field for aspiring aviculturists. {To he. continued). —. ■■ — Editorial. Nksting Notes: From many sources come records of young birds out of the nest of such species as: Zebra Finches; Long-tailed Grassfinches; Cuba Finches; Diamond Finches; Cutthroats; Bicheno Finches; Budgerigars; Black-cheeked and Madagascar Lovebirds; and Alexandrine Parrakeets; Grey Cardinals; Rusty-cheeked Babblers; and others are busy build- ing Of incubating, and there are many signs that the season will be an early, and we also hope a successful one. Zoo Notes: Among the more recent additions to the Loudon Zoological Gardens, are many interesting birds, of 120 Editorial. which the more notable are: Guatemalan Ouzel (Merula in- fuscaia)*; Cuban Black Bullfinches {Melopyrrha nigra); Wliite- eyebrowed Finches {Spermophila super ciliaris)*; Lesser Scaup (Fuligula affinis)*; Einged Duck {F . coUaris)*; Mikado Pheas- ant (CalojjJiasis mikado)*; Cinnamon 'Tiriamou {Crypturus cin- namomeus)*; and Mantell's Kiwi {Apteryx mantelli). Quite recently our member, Major Perreau, has presented the fol- lowing species: Two pairs Black-throated Ouzels {Merula atri- gularis); one Dark Grey Bush-Chat (Oreicola ferrea)*; one 9 Plumbeous Eedstart {Bhyacornis fullginosa)*; two AVhite- tailed Blue Eobins {Notodela leucura)*; one Eed- flanked Bush- Eobin {lanthla rufilata); Large Niltava {Niltava 'grandis)*; two Short-billed Minivets (Pericrocotus hrevirostris); one Cin- namon-bellied Nuthatch {Sittu cinnamomeiventris); one Lar- ger Red-headed Crow-Tit {Schaeorhyncus ruficeps)* ; one Large Pied Wagtail {Motacilla maderaspatensis) ; one White -throated Laughing Thrush {Garrulus albigularis); one Grey -sided Laugh- ing Thrush (Dryotiastes caerulatus)*; four Eufous -necked Laughing Thrushes (D. ruficolUs)*: two Silver-eared Mesias {Mesia argentauris); one Cinnamon Tree Sparrow (Passer cin- 7iamomeus); one Warbler {sp. inc); one Great-billed Desert Finch (Erythrospiza crassiiostris); one Glossy Calornis (Lam- procorax chalybea); two Eain Quail {Coturnix coroniandeUca); one Jungle Bush Quail {Perdlcula asiatica); two Eock Bush- Quail {P. argoo)idah); one Indian Button Quail {Turnix tamlci), and one Little Button Quail (T. dussumieri). *ISIew to the collection. An Avian Catastrophe: We regret to learn as we go to press, that our member, the Hon. Mary C. Hawke, lost the whole of her birds and aviaries by fire on Saturday night, 5th inst. Details will be given in our next issue. All we are assured deeply sympathise with her in the loss of so many rare feathered favourites under such distressing circumstances. British Bird Calendar. 121 British Bird Calendar. It is urgently I'Ctiucslcd th.it iiicin])('is frf)in all round the coast will note the movement of birds, more especially ill the Southern and Eastern Counties, and regularly (28th ot each month) send in their notes — on this the ultimate success and permanent ifiterest of the Calendar will de- pend.— Ed. March: I heard and saw the ChifT-Chafl on March 21st; the Wryneck on March 2i)tli; the latter species I did not heai till Apiil 2nd last year. P.F.M.G., Heading, 31/3/'i;3. March 1st. Brent Geese in large Hocks feeding on the shore. March 3rd. Wrens have built a nest in an old coffee tin, placed in the twigs of an elm tree in the garden, A Grey Wagtail {R. hoarula) reported in the neigh- bourhood. March 18th. Greater Spotted Woodpecker heard "drumming" for the first time this season. March 19th. Saw the first Cliilf- Chair to-day; feed- ing in some bushes. March 27th. Heard and saw three Ohiff-Chaffs. March 28th. Watched a Hoopoe feeding on a lawn "not 100 miles away." It arrived five days ago, and seems very tame. March 31st. Every other bush appears to contain a nest and eggs now: 'Thrushes and Blackbirds. P. G., Beaulieu, Hants, 1/4/' 13. My tame garden Eobin has to-day begun to carry mealworms to his mate and feed her with them. He pursues me everywhere and flies on to my hand for the worms, but he will not allow his mate to follow his example, though she is desirous of doing so. A Blue Tit comes to hand for pine nuts during the winter, but leaves me in summer. This is the third year he has re -appeared. E. F. C, 14/3/'13. You have mis -quoted me re Chiff-ChalT in B.B. Calendar. The bird died before it came into my hands.- I received it in the llesh, but not living. A.S., 23/3/'13. 122 British Bird Calendar. March. Since 16th ult, vast numbers of Pcrchers and of ^^'atcrfo\\i have deserted this wind-swept promontory. If birds are arrivhig from the Continent, they do not remain. I have .seen only a .small party of Lapwing (8th). D. L. Salcombe, 29,3 '13. March. As to the movements of birds in south Oxon , I have noticed just this last fortnight, an unusual num- ber of separate flocks of Redwings within a 5 mile ride on my bicycle. I passed four large flocks; the last flock I came upon in a meadow beside a wood and there must have been several hundi'eds of them, the field was covered, and there were in addition to these scores flying out of the trees. These birds have been collecting together, and have been singing in chorus for some time past. Generally this takes place towards the end of March, prior to their leaving for their northern breeding quarters, but they ai'e much earlier in flocks this yeai', and considering what a mild winter it has been it is strange to find such a number of them. Haw- Ihiches are in good numbers here, and are in song. I have only noticed them this last ten days. Peewits are in i)airs on the hills, the flocks have broken up, and they have left the low lands and are rising and tumbling in the air, uttering their peculiar spring note.g, intended for the benefit of their mates; this is always one of the first signs of spring. On March 11th, at 4 o'clock in the morning, I heard strange notes of birds, which seemed to be circling round and round over my house. Although I was on my perch, I was wide awake, the birds kept up the peculiar notes unfamiliar to me, for about twenty minutes, and then as they moved off, they grew fainter. The call was of three notes, which sounded exactly like someone whistling for a dog in a rather low pitched tone. P. F. M. G., Caversham, 12;3;'13. AVheatear. The only Spring migrant I have seen was a Wheatear, on March 30th. I have heard the passing of many Waders on fine nights during the latter portion of March; a few days however, should herald the arrival of our visitors. R. S. Cleethorpes,3/4/"13. Bodh Xtilnrs (ind Uci'iofx. 123 Book Notices and Reviews. A Systkim of \'i;ti;ki\akv Mkdicixk. By v;irious writ9rs; edited, by K. Walla/r lloaio. F.ll.O.V.S. In two vols., £2 2s., net. Vol 1. now ready, prioo £1 Is., net. London: Baillioro, Tin- dall and Cox, 8, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. A copy of Vol. I. luis now reaelied us, and in eonlinualion of our previou;- notice wo would add: That the sections dealing with bii'ds are mostly from the pen of our Hon. Vet. Surgeo;i (Mr. H. Gray, M.E.C.V.S.), but every section of tiie animal world is dealt with, and the work should appeal not oiUy to professional men, but to all stock-owners, poultiy- keepers, and owners of zoological series of all kinds. The i)ird .section will apiu-al mainly to oui' readei-s. The ai'ticles referring to the coccidiosis of bii'ds, the aspergillosis of birds, avian cholera, avian jdague, bird-fever, bird septicaemia, and psitta-cosis, fiom the pen of Mr. H. Gray, should prove of great value to the students of aviary diseases, and greatly assist the aviculturist in ^the care of the occupants of his aviaries and cages. Mr. G. L. Ingram, M.E.C.V.S., of the " Browni " Institution, Lonnon, has devoted a chapter to avian tuberculosis, and points out Die .special characters of this disease in birds. Tlie writer of the articles on avian diphtheria (loup of poultry- farmers) and epithelioma conta,giosum (pigeon or fowl-pox) has des- cribed them as two distinct diseases. But modern investigators have concluded they are due to the same virus, wdiich wall pro- duce one or the other, that is to say, some birds, after inoculation, will manifest diphtheritic symptoms, others eruptive symptoms or both sets of symptoms combined. They aie due to an ult-a visible organism, wdiich cannot be seen lay the most powerful microscope. Catarrhal roup, which is probably a mild form of avian diphtheria, is also ably described by Mr. Gray. The pigeon or fowl -pox is one of the oldest known diseases of birds. It was noticed by Pal- ladius, A.D., 300; Demetrius described it A.D. 12G1, and De Cresentij A.D., 1233—1307, and occurs in every part of the woild : but although frequent in the United Kingdom, is particularly, common in India, Italy, and other warm countries. We believe tlie Italian veterinary surgeons pay the greatest attention to the diseases of poultry; the Germans next, then Russians, French, Americans, Roumanians, etc., and tlie English the least. Several diseases of rabbits and fishes are fully de- scribed, and also the bee plague, the silkworm disease, and two diseases of mice, liaving an economic value. One mouse disease is allied to or identical with that of swine erysipelas, the other supplies the haccilus for the mauufactui'e of Danysz Mouse and Rat virus. Psittacosis (Parrot disease or plague) is described in its relation to public health, as well as from a veterinary point of view. 124 Correspondence. Tjhe diseases are described from a scientific as well as a practical point of view, and the work is a fair resume of the present knowledg-e of them. All the diseases included in it ha,ve been investigated by the g^reatest authorities in medical science. The work should appeal to all those requiring the most authoritative knowledge on any of the microbial or contagious diseases of the economic animals. Mr. Gray draws attention to the lack of knowledge of the diseases dealt with by the main body of those who advise re the treatment of poultry, pigeons, etc., in the public Press; even our Board of Agricultui'e takes very little interest in the welfare of the poultryi-fai-mer, who in foreign countries is well catered for by his respective Government, which investig'ates the diseases of poultry, especially the more deadly diseases, and advises as to their treatment. In a future issue, with the permission of the publishers:, we may qoute from its pages. The thoughtful avictilturist (this applies equally to every sec- tion of animal life) will gain much practical insti'uction from a cai'eful study of the articles on the diseases of birds, and the result will be a lessening of the death-rate and the saving of needless suf-" fering to many captive birds. We cordially commend this work to our readers, and, while mainly iwritten for veterinary surgeons, it should appeal strongly 1o medical men, aviculturists, pisciculturists, dog and poultry breeders, country gentlemen, and the owners of cattle, sheep, and horses. This volume deals with the microbial or contagious diseases. Correspondence. ALEXANDRINE PARRAKEETS AND RUSTY-CHEEKED BABBLERS. Sir, — It may interest you to know that my Alexandrine Pairakeets (Pala'-tornis nepalensis) have hatched out three young' one^s. The hen with much labour excavated a hole in the ground, right in the open part of the aviary, and I had to put a cover over her, or she would have been drowned in the heavy rains we have had here lately. She is feeding them well and I have great Jioipes of rearing them.. Have they been bred here previously? — [Yes, several times, but not fi'equent'y. — Ed.]. My Rusty -cheek Babblers are also sitting steadily, and I have not seen the hen off the nest yet, since incubation began. If they hatch and rear will let you have particulars. — [Details in any case will be* of interest, but we wish you full success. — Ed.]. Westbuiy, Wilts, WM. SHORE BAILEY. April 2, 1913, rosi Morlc}}} Rrporfs. 125 NO PINK BIRDS. ;?ii\- \\'illi rvguid (o Mr^. Haitloy's remarks on tfiL' rarity of l>iiik l)ii-ds, is not tlie Rosy Pastor in Indki i)iiik in paiLs ? \\\vdi about the Desert Ti-umpeter Bullfiaeh? I liavi." heard of a beautiful pink -breasted Kobin or Chat whieli iiiliabits New Zealand and is unknown to avienllure. These arc all thai (in in- to me, .ind certainly they are not a great number. (Miss) ETHEL F. CHAWNF'R. Sir,- Re Pink Piids, do not the following species come under this designation? Salmon -crested and Leadbeater's Cockatoos; Rosy- fa.eied Lovebird; Rosy Pastor; Roseate Spoonbill and Tern; Flam- ingo, Pine Grosbeak; Linnet; Mealy and Lesser Redpolls. .1. WEIR. Post Mortem Reports. See Rules on page iii. of cover. Red-Rump Parrakket (cT). (B. Hamilton Seott, Ipswich). The lungs were extensively inflamed. I should say the bird was four or five years of age. Pekin Robin (9). (Mrs. N. Storey, Cheshire). The cause of death was pneumo-enteritis. Crimson Finch. (Geo. Scott Freeland, Tonbridge). Cause of death, pneumonia. Hayes Partridge (cf). (W. A. Bainbridge, Surrey). The cause of death vms pericarditis, no doubt due to rheumatism, whicii you noticed during the bird's life-time. Thanks for your kindly expression but am afraid I shall not be able to attend. Cutthroat. (Philip Gosse, Beaulieu, Hants.) Death due to the so-called egg-binding. The Zebra-finch's trouble was pneu- monia. T\\Q changeable and chilly weather is very trying. Yellow Budgerigar (F. W. Bull, Sutton, Surrey). Was too fat. The liver was extensively infiltrated with fat. The other bird died from pneumonia. Yellow Haxgnkst. (Wm. Shore Baily, Westbury). The cause of death was enteritis. The paralysis of the legs is fre([uently associated with several bird diseases. Black-headed Sugarbird 9- (M^ss E. P. Chawner, Lynd- hurst). The cause of death was pneumonia. Grey ^VAXBILL. (A. S. Eccles, Ditton Hill, Surrey). Cause of deatli pneumonia. '[2C) Post Mortem Rrporfs. Mrs Caktwright. The Post Mortem Eules were not ob- served. Ansiccred by Post — Colonel Koutli, Mrs. C. H. William'*, Lady Kathleen Pilkington. H. GRAY. M.R.C.V.S The Current Number of "Bird Notes." Th3 sympathy of all our meml ei-s will, I am sure, go out to our esteemed Editor, who has just suflTered a sad and very- sudden bereavement. He has asked me to see to the re- vision of the proof-sheets of this number of our magazine, whicli I have done to the best of my ability. Doaotless my fellow -members will kindly pardon any imperfections they may detect. — G. H. Raynor, April 9th, 1913. The Lapland }3untinj BIRD NOTES. k H.Goodotuia, aeletlith. BLUE-RUMPEX) PARROT, t^? (Psi-btii3u.s incertxis) Dra.'wii from, life . Sutli,amp, All right.^ reserved. May, 1018. BIRD NOTES: __ THE JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB The Blue-rumped Parrot (Psif til/us incertus). By L. W. Hawkins. i\I> first ac(juaintanc(' ^vith this species was in March, 1904. when a London dealer advertised a male for sale. On referring- to my books I found the Parrot menfoned in Mr. Seth-Smith"s " Parrakeets," and also in the well known Ger- man book by Dr. Karl Russ. From these I gathered that it was quite a dwarf Parrot, of beautiful appearance, and very rarely to be seen in Euroj)e, its native land being the region of the Malay Peninsula. I asked to see the bird and it was sent on to me. It proved to be in faultless condition and in full colour, but reminded me very much of the Eclectus Parrots by its lack of activity in a cage. I noticed also that the colour of the beak (the upper mandible, being red and the lower one black), and likewise the great patches of red under the wings were quite similar to the same parts of the male Grand Eclectus. I was not surprised therefore to find that Dr. Karl Euss placed the bird as a near relative of the Eclectus Parrots, though only a little larger tlian a Love- bird, I wrote to say I would keep the little Parrot, and re- ceived a letter from the dealer saying that I had the only living male in Europe. A female had arrived a few weeks previously and was then on deposit at the Zoo. It was only by a chance that the male had not also found its way there. I was delighted with the bird, and quite expected it would live with me for years as it was apparently quite healthy iind fairly tame. It would allow me to take it in my hand and place it on a finger. But although it made no attempt to bite, it would jump off as soon as released. I could not, however, get it to eat any other seeds than hemp. It would take a large quantity of this, and the effect of it was most 128 The Blue-tumped Parrot. likely injurious, for in a few weeks the little Parrot was ill, and soon afterwards it died. T went to the Zoo to see if the female still survived, l)ut, failing- to find it there, I eoncluded that it also had died. I much regretted the loss of this 1)ird and for a long time kept a close watch on Parrot arrivals, both here and on the Continent, in the hope of obtaining another example, Tn 1910 a dealer in the north of England wrote to say he had a dwarf Parrot and described its size and colours. I took this bird to l)e an adult hen Rlue-runi]-), liut as ne [ixed the price at ten pounds T had to leave it. T liad no trace of further arrivals till DecemT>er, 1911, when T obtaine(' my present pair. Four young birds were then imported by Mr. Hamlyn, \vho wrote to say he had two pairs of Pigmy- Parrots. On seeing the liirds I recognised the Blue-rumped Parrots at once, although they were all out of colour. They were chiefly a mixture of grey and sage green, and the beaks were horn colour, l)ut the b'ue on the bick, the i^ed patches under the wings, and the bordered wing feathers were there. All four were in perfect henltb and plnma^e. and two of them had decidedly broader heads than the other two, which seemed to indicate that they were males, and this supposition turned out to be correct. I had doubts at first, however, be- cause one of these males had on its neck some tiny patches of red-brown which is seen in the adult hen, and the other male had a few specks of the same colour on its head. T retained one pair, and the O'her pair was promptly secured for the Zoo. T put my pair in a ca'^e in a warm aviary and was glad to see that thov partook freely of all the usual seeds such as canary, milh^t, jxiddy rice, wheat, oats, hemp and monkey nuts. Tliey would also oat dried fg^ and prunes, and later on would eagerly take such ripe fruit as plums, pears, cherries, and bananas. T was i-ather sui'prised at this as the Blue-rumped Parrots mentioned by Dr. Euss took "chiefly hemp, of 'canary seed, millet, and cooked rice only a few grains. while fruit they never touched." Tn May. 1912, my hen moulted into adult plumage, but the male did not do so till July. This year they have again moulted and they seem to have grown considerably in Bird Notes. Top //V///yv— Ht'(l-lit-a(lf(l 'I'ir. Middle ji(iare—\A\v\i^\' Streaked Spi.lcr-Hmite Bottom figure — Larger Hed-headetl Crow-Tit. The Bhic-rumpcd "Parrot. 120 size. At tinios they aic li\<'ly oMou,i,''h, but tlicy g-enerally roniain inolioiilcss and limnp l)ack(Ml. They have quite a plea- sant warhh' a'lil occasioiially .yivc a loud rail note. When a stranger (Miters the aviary the male will sometimes sus- pend himsoir by tlic lirak only on tlio sido of the cage and draw up liis |(\us. I'c IIkmi looks a curious object and 1 think this attitude; is a sign of fear. T have not seen them 'bathe but the water is made (piitc dirty on account of their habit of carrying fruit stones, nutshells, etc., to the water tray and drooping them in. The only times When they have appeared out of sorts were on the iwo occasions when they returned home after being exhibited. They then remained somewhat thick for a few days but happily quite recovered. I recently saw the other pair at the Zoo and was glad to find them in such j^erfect condition. The success of these four birds shows that they can live well in captivity, but it must be remembered that they were imported quite young. The record of Blue-rumped Parrots imported in adult plumage does not appear so satisfactory. The birds I have men- tioned which arrived in 1 904 did not live long, and -our Editor speaks of a pair {B.N. iii., p. 5.3), which arrived in 1910 and soon died. Moreover I heard that others were privately sent over last year, but owing to the difficultj'- of getting them to eat the importation was not a success. I find in Mr Seth- Smith's book that the Blue-rumped Parrot " feeds chiefly on the small gummy flowers of a plant that always springs up where forest has been felled and burnt.'" r am afraid that sometimes a substitute for these small gummy flowers is necessary for recently imported adults of this species to thrive. [The studies of Mr. Goodchild's beautiful drawing were made from. Mr. Hawkins' birds at the C.P. Show]. My Indian Consignment, By Ma.tor G. a. Perreau, F.Z.S. (Cotifnnied from page 108). The Red-tteaded Tit {Arcfiihnliscus erythrocephalus) is a charming wee mite, very much of the type of our Long- 130 ^ly Indian Consignment. requires little description, and the attitude is very character- istic. Eoughly described the top of the head is ruddy chest- nut, the light parts about the face are wliite and the dark parts black, the upper parts are bluish grey and the lower parts are reddish-white. Size a little over four inches, of which the tail takes two. The nest is much like that of our Long-tailed Tit. They form a large proportion of the hunting parties that to toy mind form the chief attraction of the deodar forest. It is largely distributed, ranging throughout the Himalayas and common at any rate in the parts I know. "When trapping near Darjeeling, where I got most of my best birds, I found it very hard to meat off: the season of the year may account for this, but above Bakloh I had little difficulty after the first day, but little and often is decidedly their motto as regards live food. They took readily to very ripe wild medlar (really, I believe, a sma'l round wild pear) and mealworms broken into three or four pieces and stuck about the crossbars of the wood -fronted cages I meated them off in. From this to sponge cake and milk and then on to insect food was only a matter of a few days, but I never dropped the cut up mealworms or sponge cake. By the way, talking of sponge cake, except perhaps for Sun- birds and such like I do not believe in giving " sop " too wet, nor do I break up the sponge cake. I simply break off a chunk large enough to fill the dish almost, then I pour on the milk (ov Mellin's mixture) over the sponge cake to do little more than cover the bottom. Some birds require more, but ] always let the cake stand up out of the milk. To some birds, especially Hanging Parrakeets, I often give a dry bit as well, and And it much appreciated. They ought to stand cold remarkably well as, above Bakloh, I have never seen them below about 6,000 feet, even in the hardest winter when their relative the Crested Black Tit, a much stouter and hardier bird to look at, is easily driven down by snow. I only saved two of my Darjeeling birds out of more than I care to think, but these birds were limed and brought to me ev^en after I had given up trying them and had ordered no more to be caught. 1 detest the use of lime, but more of that later. I caught ten on a 'four days' My Indian Consignment. 131 trip near Dalhousie, and two of those days were practically spoilt hy heavy hail ami wind storms, which almost made me regret camping out in a bivouac tent above Bakloh in February. The birds, my jjcnsiuncr liii'd orderly and my servant were (juitc coniforlalilc in a cowhouse very dirty, it is true. By ni.^lit and u:i line days I was all right, but by day in bad weather it was trying, and the thought of time being wasted did not help to make one take things philosopically. I had my two Darjceling Tits as call birds in two oT my own p:attern trao cages. I spent most of my timCj wandering about with a cage in either hand searching i^r a party. On hear- ing or seeing the advanced guard, usually Tree-creepers and Crested Tits, 1 huri-iedly put down the traps and took the nearest cover, generally within twenty yards. I always got one bird at once, but very seldom more than one, though the; party would stream by, a thin stream after the first rush, for seven or eight minutes, ample time to get more if all be- haved like the first comers. But apparently it is a good thing to be in front, and stragglers were too much engrossed in getting there to pay any attention to my strangers. It is surprisingly hard to pick up a party again, and then one seems to hit the stragglers. I lost a few by accident, but had eight beauties prac- tically in show condition on departure from Paris. At Calais there was the shute accident and at Charing Cross, the first chance I had of really seeing the birds after Calais', I used the language of a life -time. Other birds, notably White -eyes. Hanging Parrakeets, and Fruitsuckers, were bad enough, but the Tits — three were dead, stuck to the floor with condensed milk, two were dying, and the other three looked the most forlorn creatures one could wish not to see. These three, however, pulled round in a marvellous way and soon became quite their lively selves, but alas — at the expense of their plumage. They are now in the possession of our member, the Marquis of Tavistock. I had just the same luck (or want of itj with my AVhite- eyes, for only three survived out of eight with a similar loss of feathers ; they too were in show con- dition. These three are now in the possession of our Editor, and are doing very well. Imagine bathing in condensed milk! How I hated the stufi" on my hands even, but cleaning had 132 ^y Indian Consignment. to be done, and water was too plentiful on the \0) age. Think of it on your hair. The Laegeb IStkeaked Spidek-hunter {Arachnothcra magna) is admirably figured by Mr. Goodchild. I think it is the best portrait of the srx which ihe has done of my birds . This, in mj opinion, of course, is as it should be, for this bird was a great favourite of mine, quite the first. I was a little dis- appomted at the comparatively little enthusiasm he evoked ;irom visitors in England, but i am very glad to say that he gets the appreciation he deserves from nis present owner, our member J^ady rvaiLhieen Tilkington. Oi course he is single, and not brightly coloured, but he is distinctly handsome and very quaiat. He was caught m Uarjeeling, one oi my earliest cap- tures there. 1 only saw three, and this one was the only one 1 caught; heavy ' bakshish" was ofieied for others, but without result. I rather expected disappointment with him and pro- vided him with every luxury, I could tnmk oi in the iood line, putting him in a special cage with mosquito netting iront and wmdow, so that i could supply •'net-sweepings" and in- sects all alive -oh. A very good cage, but quite wasted on him. He settled down at once to sponge cake and milk, with an occasional taste from tlie insect lOod, and soon got to like a suck at a decapitated mealworm. 8piders, at any rate out- door "web" ones, he ignored, and i never saw him tackle much from amongst the varied collection supplied from the "nejt-sweepmgs." 1 soon gave up worrying about him, and he's not been sick or sorry a day since. 1 might except that that awful tonga (light cart) drive from Bakloh to the rail, and even then he was less worried than most birds as he circumvented the awiul jolting in an ingenious way. One would expect higenuity from so knowing -looking a bird, and he is that, though he does look such a fool at times.: Hei took a iirm grip oi the iront perch which was low, and rested his shoulders on the floor. He gave me an awful shock at the nrst halt to change horses, but he seemed all rigut directly J put my hand in to move hini. He was on his back again at the next halt, and again pericetiy all rignt, so f watched him at the start; at nrst there was nothing to see; I could not' see him except by walking beside the tonga. Near the end My Indian Consignment. 133 of tln' joLUiicy liL' bueaiuf vi'i\y knowing-, and was on his itack aIniDsl hcioro the tonya started yctliny bads, oii Ihe pci'eh and iccdiiiy very suun alter tlic lunya stopped. Tliu bird in a wild state lias ratiicr an unyaiuly lliylit, and is seen at Us best busily bustling about the branches ()[ dowering trees or peering into the cre\-ices abounding in tlie clumps of orchid bullts (I. fancy bulb is not the cor- leet term) . My bird was caught in lan Erythrijna ( Coral Tree), the gorgeous Howers oi which ai'c most popular witli Sunbirds antl such like, and whose thorns ar emost unpopular with a would-be t'att;liei'. A\e (my cheery planter Iriend and my- seli) to a certain extent beat the thorns by fastening a Hue ne' to a split bamboo Irame and hoisting the whole con- ce.rn into a suitable place by a rope, throwing a stone at- laciieu to a string over a suitable branch, hauling lip -md steadying with guy-ropes at the lower corners. The Gur- kha coolie simply slices off the thorns, but as these trees are all thorns and very iiice trees, we stopped that. It is qiiite easy to lix up a line net or nets in suitable positions up a tree when one is in the tree, though one may have to be- come i'airiy expert in balancing with one toe round a branch to leave the hands fi'ee, but hoisting up a frame in a fiullable place is really no joke. However it was worth it. My bird and his next-door neighbour, the Crow-Tit, were quite the most popular birds on board ship; Beaky and cstutty they were nick-named. Beaky took some time over his mealworm. Stuffy having finished the head used to get very impatient ior his I'ind; heads and rinds were his perk, and ihis sometnnes put Beaky oft' his feed. The latter seemed not to iwiderstand that Stuffy 's stunipy little beak, the curious fea- ture hi a Crow Tit, could not possibly harm him through the wire. His own long beak was often in one of his neighbour's dishes. His bath, too, ^\'as watched with interest; it was rather a fraudulent affair, as he would not get into the Avatei, (the dish may have been unsuitable) but that didn't matter, he did it all with much fuss with his beak, and enjoyed it immensely, and what's more kept very clean. I believe he could bathe in a thimble if it was deep enough. But his great act was making love. Huffing out all his leathers and causing them to quiver, drumming slightly, with 134 My Indian Consignment. l^urtly opened wings, turning liis iiead and poking his beak through the bars to tickle the heads of his neighbours. The Hanging Parrakeets on his other side would have none of it, but Stuffy seemed to enjoy it very much, though lie always seemed a bit nervous at the start of a bout. This would go on sometimes for twenty minutes at a time. According to our standard of beauty the bird had no special vanity to display. One could have understood it, had he possessed axillary plumes; perhaps his ancestors once had them, or his descendants will have them. I wish he had a chance of de- scendants in captivit5^ People asked if I was going to breed from the incongruous pair. I can hardly think of a less likely hybrid. I should not think he would stand great cold, though I had him in an unheated room with a door always open when it was snowing outside. I would not tru^t him again with a smaller bird; verb. sap. His plumage is greenish, lighter below, with Iblack streaks. Sizeji 7 inches, including a tail of two and a Ijill of 1.8 inches. Gates states that the nest is an open cup of vegetable fibres felted together, mingled with dead leaves, and lined with grass. It has a wide range, and occurs up to 5,000 feet. I believe it is fairly common in some parts, so I hope others will come home. I ought to apologise again, but will try to make up for tlie length of this by cutting down the writing about the remaining bird figured. The Larger Red -headed Grow -Tit {Scacorhynchus rujiceps) is the only one of their curious family and my bird (now presented to the Zoo) is the only one of his species I have seen alive, and that I never saw wild as he, (or may b& she) wa3 brought to me, with several Laughing Thrushes, in a loosely -woven grass bag. Gur first acquaintance was pain- ful as he got first grip; I couldn't see into the bag, and the Gurkha coolies thoroughly enjoyed the joke of not telling me there was a biter in the bag. Several men had been caught with the same joke. I thought it was a Parrot from the feel, but concluded it must be a rare one from the size and. hung on, though I fancy I 'liad little choice, as the bird was fright- ened and in the dark. He did not let go at once even when My hiillan Consignment. 135 loosed into a cage. Since then I've taken good care to get first grip. He toolv readily to captivity, partalvingof mealworms and calvc and millv at once, and very soon took to insect food. He likes the cake unbroken and nearly dry. Fiuit he did not seem to care for, but he had little choice in this line. Urc^en- stuft' was appreciated. I found seed untouched and dropped giving it, but he would be very likely to eat it, fading other food. Mealworms he places under his foot, in true Tit-style, and then proceeds to masticate the worm deliberately; he gets through them more quickly now than he did. He is not so tame as he was; probably misses his individual attention and w'ants Beaky to "bring him out." For show he has not points, but he should be most in- terestnig to the aviculturist who could give him room to himself (this I should advise, remembering that bite). Tl:e figure is excellent. Rough description, head chestnut; upper parts olive brown, under parts white, eyelids and mouth biue. Size 7| inches, tail 3|-, bill from gape .6 inches. It is found in the E. Himalayas up to 2,500 feet. Mr. Kinnear, of the Bombay Naiuz^al History Society, was much struck with the narrow face waen viewed from in front. From skins he thought the face wa? full and round like a Parrot's. I mention this to show the value of drawings from the live bird. "Mr. Goodchiid shows this char- acteristic, and I doubt if even lie could have done so from a skin and a description. {To he continued). Some Interesting Birds By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., Etc. Illustrated from Life by H. AVillford. {Continued from page 119). The Lady Amherst's Pheasant {Chnjsolophus am- herstiao). A beautiful species of a gorgeously plumaged group; some idea of its elegance, and also its exquisitely barred and variegated plumage will be gathered from Mr, A\'illford's characteristic photograph {see opposite), taken as 136 Some hiteresling Birds. it r^^'andered naturally in one of his roomy wilderness aviaries; ol its lull beauty even the brush of the artist must fall far short, and the word -picture given below of its plumage is poor hideed compared with the glowing beauty of the living bird. Adult Male: Top of head rich, sheeny, dai'k bronze-green; long crest plumes intense blood -red; cape -like feathers of the back of the neck glistening snow-white, margined and barred with glossy steel-blue; shoulders, mantle and chest sheeny dark green; rump, giossy black, each feather tipped with rich buff; throat and lore -neck brownish -black, glossed with dark green; remainder of underparts snow-white, barred with black on the flanks; tne two central tail-feathers are white, barred and lined with black; with the other tail- feaithers barred with black ana Dulf; set off by the beautiful broad iscarlet- tipped side hangers; naked skin round eye blue; eye, white; legs, bluish -green. Length: Fi'oni tip to tip of tail 4;i feet, tail 3 feet. Adult Female: Head and mantle bx'own, barred with black and buff' and variegated with rufous -brown; lower back and rump light brown, thickly and finely mottled with black; ■throat buff'; sides of head and under -parts buff, barred with 'black except on the middle of abdomen: naked skin round eye blue. Length 2^ feet, tail 11 inches. Hahiiai: This fine species ranges over the mountains of Western Cnma and Eastern Tibet. Eggs: Short stubby oval in shape, of a light bull colour, with smooth and glossy shells. Average size 1^ x Ig inches. 1)1 CapUcity: To view this line species, as has been been mj privilege on many occasions, is to indulge in a feast of beauty not easily forgotten, and to make one long for spacious ffights to indulge one's appetite, not merely with this species, but also Oiher rare species of the PHASIANIN^. It is little short of maryelious to see the ease and grace withl which the cock carries his 3 feet tail, and also avoids obstruc- ;tions likely to damage same, so that even in somewhat limited quarters, it is kept in good condition for a long period. Pheasants are the better for spacious runs, and these should not be overcrowded, or the ground soon becomes tainted. 3^ k^^ Some Interesting Birds. 137 Ther<3 should also be plenty of cover, both m the open (light.?, and shelters; in the latter heaps of brushwood lyiny on sand will fully meet the case; while as to the former, low giowing and| si)rt.';uling evergreen bushi'S, such as ik'rl)(.'iis, Luurel, Rhodo- dendron, Gorse, Heather, etc., all make good cover: of course such kinds must be chosen as flourish best in respective locali- ties; any local nurseryman would suggest others of similar character, where many of the above do not flourish. Pheasan,ts do well on a general mixture of small feereals jand seeds, with game meal, and an abundance of greenfood, where the runs are not of sullicicnt extent to furnish this it must be liberally supplied. During the winter, when greenfood fails, various roots, such as Mangel -Wurzel, may be 'given, but they should not be left in the open on frosty nigl^ts. In fact, the better plan is to supply what will be ea,ten, or to make a practice of taking indoors nightly any unconsumed roots during the periods frosts are likely to occur. Pheasant chicks in their earlier stages should get plenty of live food — ants' cocoons, maggots, etc.— also custard and meal. If the runs are at all confined, a frequent gathering up of the birds' voidings wUl tend to keep the earth sweet for a much longer period, and a light annual top dressing of fresh soil, together with an occasional digging and re -sodding, will keep theni fresh and sweet for quite long periods. The Lady Amherst's Pheasant inhabits rocky regions, and their run should be well drained, and, if it can be raised above the ordinary ground level, so much the better for the birds. Pheasants readily interbreed, and very fine hybrids result from crossing this species with the Golden (C pieties) and also the Reeves's (Phasianus revesii). Thl Elliot's Pheasant (Calophasis ellioti) . Another beautiful Pheasant, which like the preceding species is most difficult for either pen or brush to adequately depict. It be- longs to the group of Barred-back Pheasants, and though very dillerent from the Lady Amherst's Pheasant, is equally beautiful; in fact their exquisite and contrasty plumage make them even more noticeable as they wander about a roomy and natural run, as depicted in the fine photograph illustrating these 138 Some Interesting Birds. notes. It is fully as large a bodied bird as the Lady Am- herst's, the dLlerence in the length of 'the tail accounting for the wide dillei-ence in the measurement of the two species. The fol- lowing is little more than a sketchy description of the exquisite plumage of this species: Adult Male: Head and neck whitish-grey; mantle, shoulders, wing and breast fiery bronze -red, glossed with a rich golden sheen; the mancic 'is bordered by two white bands, and two white bars cross each wing; a band of metallic purplish-steel crosses the lesser wing-coverts; throat, fore- neck and abdomen white; lower back and rump black, laced with white; tail whitish-grey, barred with cinnamon-chestnut. Total length 33 inches, tail 19. Adult Female: General colour light drab-brown, barred and variegated with black above and spotted on the breast; abdomen white; back and sides of neck greyish -brown; throat and fore-neck black; outer tail-feathei's cinnamon-chestnut with black and white tips. Total lengih 20 inches, tail 7|. Habitat: It ranges over the mountains of South-eastern China; where it was first discovered by Swinhoe in (the (province of Che-Kiang. It lives in the wooded mountains, moving from place to place, and is not by any means com- mon . Eggs: Bufilsh-cream colour, shell smooth and glossy. Average size, Ij by Ij inches. In Captivity: AVhile watching this species amid the na,turai environment of one of Mr. Wilhord's numerous aviaries I could not avoid the conclusion how well they earned their title '■ magnificent species," their contrasty plumage standing out grandly against a background of living green. The vice of savagery (common in a greater or lesser degree to most species of Pheasants; is very noticeable with this species, and at pairing time the cock may kill the hens, unless careiully watched, ii the run be a small one; in roomy, najtural quarters this trait is not so apparent. With a very- vicious cock it is a good plan to clip his wings and also hobble his legs by tying with a cord, leaving the hen full and free use of wings and feet. The food and general treatment ^iven for the pre- Some Interpsting Birds. 139 ceding species will fully iiu-i't the needs of this, and need not be re -capitulated. As the purport of these articles is not merely to de- scribe their plumage and characteristics, but also to be inform- ative as to how to keep and breed, a few concluding re- marks, refen-jiig to ])heasants generally may not be out of place. Their quarters should be a roomy grass run, with a sheltei- shed at the back, and should have a south aspect. They are mostly hill birds and cannot endure heat, so their run should be planted with spreading evergreens and other bushes to provide an abundance of shade and cover. As already indicated they must be watched at pairing time, and the movements of really vicious cocks hampered to some extent. Pheasant hens do not often show much inclination to sit, and the common practice is to collect the eggs and place them under Silky or Bantam hens. Pheasant chicks need much animal food in their earlier stages, but success can usually be attained with custard, ants' cocoons, 'gentles, also game meals, canary and millet seed^ greenfood, i.e., Idttuce, etc., must he liberally supplied even to those occupying grass runs. {To he continued). The Breeding of Grey Finches ( SjtrrtH o/)/i ild (jf/.^ra ) , and Guttural Finches (iS' gutturalis). By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., Etc. Among the small Grosbeaks, the Spermophilce and their near allies have for some years past greatly interested me, why, perhaps, it is difficult to say, for as a rule they are quietly clad and under some conditions are somewhat lethargic in demeanour — they do not ahvays find a ready sale when on the market, for, speaking generally of the genus as a whole, there is nor much to look at for your money, when you've bought them; 'nevertheless, in spite of all this they are in- 140 The Breeding of Grey Finch&s, etc. teresting and pretty birds, very shapely, with some most happy combinations of grey, brown, tawny, white and black among them, while the Marsh Finch (S. pahistris) is strikingly handsome. They certainly call into being all one's powers of observation if you are going to know anything about their doings, for, in a roomy wilderness aviary, unless looked for, they are not seen for weeks at a stretch. Most of them have really passable songs; courting disp'ay, so far as I have noted it, only consists of the fluttering of the wings and a tremulous movement of the whole body, as if every part worked on springs, and then a chasing of its mate. Well, I expect my readers will consider this as writing in rather a minor key; be this as it may, they certainly are favourites of mine. Thk Geey Finch {Sper^nophiJa grisea) is rather a hand- some species in his garment of various greys, blackish and white; and before giving the nesting episode, I had better describe the plumage. Adii/f Male : Above it is mostly dark ^rey, with a slaty sheen, and washed lightly with brown on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wing- coverts blackish, narrowlv edged with ash,\ grey, outer webs of the inner primaries are white at the base, forming a small white piitch, which is al- most obscured by the coverts ; tail feathers blackish, with dusky grey margin, the central feathers with a slight ashy sheen ; lores and base of cheeks blackish ; crown, sides of face, ear-coverts, sides of neck and throat, sides of body and flanks dark grey with a slaty sheen ; chin whitish ; breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; beak yellow ; legs and feet brownish grey. Total length, 4s inches, tail H. Afhilt Fcmnl.^: Above palish olive brown ; wings dusky brown with grey margins : crown dusky ; lores, eye region, ear-coverts, cheeks, thighs, and under tail-coverts pale olive ;" centre of breast and abdomen whitish brown. Total length IJ inches ; tail H. H^h/faf : According to the British Museum Catalogue the dis- tribution is from Guiana to Venezuela ; Trinidad and Colombia, extending to Panama. In 1911 two young Grey Finches were successfully reared in my aviary, and lived some time after being able to fend for themselves, but as all I knew about these birds (Mr. W. E. Teschemaker had a similar happening almost concurrently), Avas the increase in "the number of my stock and knew nothing about either nest or incubation — certainly I did see the old cock feed them on two occasions — the event was not claimed as a record and practically no notice taken The Brrrdinq of Crrji Fhirhr.f. cfc. 141 of it. TIk^ only s;at isfaclioii oiio could claim from such an occurrence was the kiiowl('ili;<> (liat yoiiii^ liad been reared from a species o*" a ,q-onus particularly shy of reproducing" their kind in captivity. Tlio rollowinT A-ea'- MOI''). tlie '-a^-'in pa^'r repeated their succcs- n'" tlic^ )^'•cviou■^ yoiv "'omi": o-"-. p-.f*or, for two broods of thi'ce each m'oi-c vci'mmI but fh'^ second brood d'ed about a month after l(\av!n!T the nc^t. TTnfortuna'elv for mc. T012 was a year of continuous hi^rh pressu''e, and the details I crathered of the eiii>-o'le are but meaTre more esnecially as oAvintT to the a''ore mentioned 1 pre sure T lo-^t my loose notes bcfori they 'were cn'ered up. and of cour e under such cir- cumstances T '-hall no* ir"ve daVr;. thouTh T promptly entered up the facts. M-lien T d'scovced the lo^s. In Anril T noticed them n>oth mile and femaV^ take part in nest construction and also in the duties of incubation, buihbng- a nest in a rambler rose, am'd the thick groAvth and close airainst the standard sun'iortincr the ro e: nothing- came of this: they deserted, evidently lieing: disturbed by other birds — later a pair of Olive Finches altered the nest and successfully broug^ht off a brood, so perhaps they were the cause of the Grey Finches discomfiture. ^ The Grey Finches did not 'ose much time, for I saw them carryin.g- material again within a very few davs, and soon a nest was completed in a privet bush. A clutch of three e^s:s ^\^as duly laid and incubation went steadily for- ward. The nest,, a substantial cup-shaped structure of hay and ffrass. was avcII she'tered bv a densely foliaged and over- hang"in£: branch of a ha-^el bush The bird commenced to sit with the second cr-r and incubation lasted thirteen days. The voung- birds left the nest when aT)out twenty-one days old. They then ro -cmbicl t'^c ahi't ben but were slightly greyer and lightlv -treaked on the breast. T regret that my editorial duties etc.. le^t m- sca^'cclv anv time to observe mv birds, but for the fir4 seven davs th(> vounc birds were fed entirely on live food -manv insects wc-e cantured in the aviary, in addition mealwo>-ms. e-entle«. ants' cocoons, and wasps' srrub. Avere liberallv sunnb'ed • .^t about the t'^nth day T saw them £ro ^trai'-ht fi'oni f'c soft-food di^h to the nest and feed their i^rog-eny, yet on ordinary occasions they never take soft 142 The Breeding of Grey Finehes, etc. food, simply seed, greenfood, and a few insects. Of this brood I can't say definitely how many are still living, certainly one, as I saw to-day (April 30th) two cocks together, one of which must be a young bird; they were exactly alike as to size and plumage-. The second nest was placed in the flowering heads of a large dock, four feet alwve the ground, and right in the centre of the aviary. On this occasion the cup -shaped struc- ture was partly roofed in, and I was able to watch the two birds busily engaged in their task; the nest could not be called a sphere, or yet an oval, the cup was finished first, then round alx)ut two-thirds of it a low slight wall wa> built and then a thick top put on. The clutch was again three and again all hatched out an I t'le three young were fully reared, but they only survived their exit from the nest about one month. T found the cold wet of last autumn very fatal to young birds, and losi many. The Guttural Fixch (S. guffuraUs). It is rather fortunate I am coupling these two nesting accounts together, for one is almost a replica of the other, and this account need be but brief. The appearance of this species is certainly not brilliant, yet it certainly is pleasing, and the plumage is totally different from that of the preceding species, and I had better describe it before going on with the nesting episode. AihfJt Male: Above dull olive-green; wings dusky with olive-green margins : a band of vellowish white at the base of the inner primaries ,• tail dusky brown with olive-green margins ; crown, sides of face, ear-coverts, cheeks, sides of neck, and fore-neck dusky black ; throat black ; breast, abdomen, sides of body, flanks and under tail-coverts pale yellowish white' with a greenish tinge: sides of flanks slightly mottled with black; beak blackish horn : legs and feet brownish grey. Total length 44 inches, tail 1r. Adult Female: Above olive-brown : median and gi'eater coverts dusky with olive-brown margins and whitish tips : primaries, flights and tail feathers dusky with olive-brown margins : crown, sides of face and ear coverts olive-brown, the latter slightly streaked with whitish ; lores, eye region, and breast whitish buff : cheeks and under surface of body buffish- ochre ; sides and flanks light olive-brown : thighs and under tail-coverts pale whitish-ochre. Total length 4 inches, tail \L Hahitat : "Brazil. Guiana, Venezuela. Colombia, extending into Panama, Ecuador, and Peru." (B,^[.C.) There really remains very little to tell of the nesting episode, as it is so similar to the details already given of Tlie Breeding oj (hen t'^inchcs, etc. 14;') the preceding species. They did not show a desire to go to nest so eurly as the Circy Finches, and it was not till July that their nc-^l was complete, cunningly set in Iho joi'k of a Bay bush. The nest wa^ cup-shaped, l)Ut neater and not so l)ulky as that constructed by llie Griseas. Three eggs were laid on successive days, and incubation lasted thirteen days. Like grisea both male and female took part in nest const lud ion and also in the care of the young. They reared their young on live food, for at least seven days, and then began to take soft food and scerl, but insects foi'nicd ;i large part of the food of tlic young up to the time of leaving its nest; for out of the two hatched out oidy one left the nest; it still lives and is now indis- tinguishable from its father. When it left the nest it resembled the adult female, a little duller perhaps, but even then signs of black on the throat proclaimed it to Ije of the male sex. Now, in conclusion, just a word on the genus generally. They certainly are interesting birds and if not gorgeous in plumage are chastely and prettily clad birds, not one among them that can be readily termed plain. They haVe a nice little song, some a really good one, and very few of the numerous .species and sub-species (about 40) have been bred. I have possessed at least twelve species of this genus at different times, and with the exception of the White -throated P^'inch (S. albifjulai is) all have proved themselves safe in a mixed series, and as one observes them, with their almost natural deportment in a large wilderness aviary, they are most pleas- ing and interesting birds. Their wants are very simple; the main dietary when not feeding young is canary and millet seeds, greenfood, and an occasional mealworm, but in the aviary they are not keen on the latter, as they undoubtedly capture what live food they require for themselves; they are very fond of cuttlefish bone, and bathe daily, even in the winter. There is one difficulty in connection with them, for though the plumage of male and female is distict, yet the femalco of some of the species are so similar, that though one certainly has male and female, it is by no means easy to ascertain if they are of the same species. However, though very annoying and troublesome, such difficulties and their accompanying disappointments are the sauce that ^ives zest to the pursuit of aviculture. IM Keepbig of Soft bills in Cages On the Keeping of Soft Bills in Cages By Otto Puck. Continued from page 115. The two golden rules of successful management are CLEANLiNKSr^ and KEGULAKiTY in feeding. As "cleanliness •comes next to godliness," I could not imagine a good bird being kept in a dirty cage. I like to see them kept in stock - ■cages, as nice and clean as you see them in show -cages on the bench, and as a matter of fact always keep mine under such conditions so that they make a little show of themselves, 'a pleasure to me and I leel sure to them-.elves. As a healthy mind goes with a healthy l>ody, so healthy surroundings must keep birds healthy. There should be a place for every- thing and everything in its place. Leave nothing to chance. Malvc sure you have a good stock of all the various foods on hand; nothing is more annoying than to run short of a ■certain food just when you may want it most. By a good stock I do not mean that you should lay in sufficient to last you, say all winter, that would be a mistake, as some foods might deteriorate. Buy enough to last you a month or two, then you can make sure of getting the food in a fresh state. Always keep your foods in a dry and airy place. Dampness is fatal and breeds mites which destroy the food. Ants' -eggs" and flies should always be screened to free tliem from dust, also silkworm pupas and hempseed. Hand in hand with cleanliness goes Hygiene, .\lways provide for plenty of fresh air in the Bird-room, and ventilate freely without exjiosing the birds to a draught. Draughts are very dangerous, and once a bird has caught a cold, it is often very difficult to cure it, and here I may give a word of caution. "When you buy a new bird, especially in the autumn, when the nights get chilly, do not let it indulge in a bath on arrival. Allow it to satisfy its thirst, and no more; it will be all right next day. If on the other hand the bird takes a bath, wliicli naturally a healthy l>ird coming from a long Journey is most anxious to do on being liberated from Ihe travelling box, in nine cases out of ten, the ]>ird, if it arrived in the evening, will not be able to thoroughly i\vy its phinra^;e ; some wet themselves through and through. • Keepivq of SnflhiJJs in Cages 145 and noxt inoi'iiiiii^- xdw ItdioM ;iii oltjV^ct of porfect misery, suffering' from a had cold, and |nu'uinonia g'oncrally follows, with fatal results. To ,c:ivc' liirds the honefit of open air treatment, I always, during- tlio suniinoi- moiilh-^. fi'om June to September, put sonic in tlnn'r r:\'j:('s out of dooi-s in a covered verandah. Tare mu-^t l)c takmi, howcvei-. tiiat they are not exposed to draughts. M'ith cai-eful feeding they will stand a good deal of cold dui'ing tiic night, and as long as the cage is big' enougl: foi- thoni for them (o take plenty of exercise, no harm will follow. Cold veksts AVakm Treatmknt. I am no believer in coddling, but if you want to keep tender Soft-bills in cages in good health during the winter months, some amount of warmth and a regular temperature are necessary. T have heard Nightingales singing in Aviaries with the water frozen; the comparison between aviary kept and birds kept in cages is obvious. In the former they can enjoy plenty of exiercise, 'whereas in the latter, room is restricted, and the birds not so active; hence they are more susceptible to climatic changes. I believe in maintaining during the day-time of the winter months an average temperature of 60 degrees F.; during the night it may go down to 50 degrees F., and the birds wMU l)e all the better foi' it, as, when roosting, they tuck their heads under their wing, and their own respiration keeps their body warm by circulating warm air round it. It is in the day time, Avhen at rest, that they need a comfortable, warm room. How to get this even temperature has been a vexed question, land a trouble for years with me, and I have spent a lot of time and labour on it. Oil stoves, gas stoves, and hot -water apparatus are things of the past, they all have their disadvantages; either it is the fumes, or when the boiler is placed in an adjacent room, not sufTicient heat is developed, or the air of the room gets too dry and dries up the food, or they fail to act when mostly iieeded, say on a cold day in .lanuary. However, I think I have now solved the difficulty, and hit upon the right thing, and that is an anthracite stove, similar to a greenhouse Tortoise stove. There are no fumes and the heat can be regulated to a nicety. It burns night and day, requires attention only twice a day, and consumes 140) Keeping of SofthiJls in Cages very little fuel, about 2s. a week, whereas the gas-bil!! least said about it the bette". To provide for moisture, a small tank filled with water put on top of rhe stove keeps evaporating day and night. On very mild days T open the window at top and close the door of the room, and during the night reverse the order of things, so there is always plenty of fresh air, and as my cages are arranged round the room, no direct draughts strike on the birds. No bird -room should be without a minimum- and maximum -registering thermometer, as it is very important to know how much the temperature falls during the night. My method of feeding is simplicity itself, provided you can carry it out regularly and systematically. You cannot give soft -bills a supply to 'last them several days, as the food would turn bad. You must give them their daily ration at a fixed hour in the morning. All the year round T give the Stock-mixture, described in a previous article, as a basis, for this reason. If you want to keep your birds during the summer months till autumn on live foods only, first of all you will have to carefully and gradually get them used to same, a little at first, increasing the quantity day by day, and vice versa fwhen live food is getting scarcer in the autumn, to get the birds used again to stock -mixture. Now, although you may take precautions for a continuous supply of live ants -eggs during the season, it may happen that through stress of weather the supply fails for a week, and what happens? If your birds have been used to nothing else but live ants- eggs for say a month, and you all of a sudden put stock - mixture before them, their digestion gets upset, it is all over with song, soft-moult may set in, and you will have some losses to mourn; therefore take the lesson, never let them be without stock -mixture, sprinkle live ants -eggs on top, and if they should have to go without them for a short time, there is no danger of losing any birds. The above applies to adult birds which have been caged some time; freshly caught ones must be fed differently, and " meated off " before they get used to any prepared food. When at large they feed on nothing but live insects, and in the autumn some eat berries; they will therefore not touch any but live food, and the process of gradually weaning them from live insect food to prepared or Krrphjp of f^nffhill'=! hi Cagr.9 147 inert insect food, is (\-i11p(1 " iii(\itiii,2r ofT." Why "moatinpr off," I do not know, luil flio iiaiiH^ iiin.v bo a sui-vivor of byerone days, -wlion s()ffl)ills \v(M(> " inoatod-ofT " on hard boiled eg-g and scrapod loan boof, oi- miUtoM; honcc "moating." Xothinu is .^nsici' tliim to mcat-olT a f]-(>slily-cau«bt bird, bul T am afi-aid through the ignorance or thoughtlessness of their purchaser many are added to the death roll every year. First of all cover the entire front of Stock-cage with calico, to keep the freshly-caught bird quiet, put water in the botto'm of the cage, and s]>Tinkle some dried ants'-eggs on the top 'of the water. On tho bird jnmpiufj about, these will move on the surface Ibf the water, and he may eat them, also throw some mealworms with heads brui'^ed on the cage bottom, and put in a vessel Avith gentles, small mealworms, and a few earth- worms (small): put your bird into the cage, and stand same in a quiet and light place, and leave well alone. After an hour see if the bird has partaken of some food, if it has, the battle is won. but if it has not done so, and will not do so, after another hour, then you must cram some of the live food minced up down its throat, and be sure it swallows it, else you will have a corpse next morning. Once a bird has taken to feeding itself, it is easy enough to get it on to the stock - food. All you have to do is to mix a little of it at first with his live food, cut un some mealworms, and as particles of the prepared food Avill adhere to same he will soon learn to eat the latter. No more than you would like to be kept on the same diet all the year round, would same agree with the birds: it must be varied and varied according to the seasons. During the winter months the stock -mixture answers very well, but when the days lengthen, and as spring advances, the caged soft-bills require some additional "live" insect food to lay in some fresh stamina for the coming season, and to assist them in getting well through the moulting period. There is nothing better for this purpose than live ants*- cocoons, and you should procure these, if possible a fresh supply daily, as early as they can be obtained in April or ATay. Do not change the birds' diet at once, that would result in disaster, as already explained; Init sprinkle a few cocoons at once in the morning, but give half then, and the other half in the afternoon, otherwise the birds will over -eat themselves 148 Keep/77 f) of SnffhiJJs in Cages on the live-food, and leave the stock-food alone. Another splendid adjunct is wasp-gruh, and a few of these might also be added with advantage to the food. As these live foods are very stimulating, the use of mealworms, if the birds have been used to any, must be discontinued during the whole time they are fed upon additional live food. As a matter of fact I lam rather inclined to discourage the use of mealworms ; at any rate they should be given sparingly, and only at a time when the birds are actually in song, and then, according to size of bird, from 6 to 24 a day will do no harm. On the other hand, if birds are largely fed on same, mischief, particularly! foot trouble, is sure to follow. Being very stimulative and fattening, some birds will get such a craving for mealworms as almost to refuse other food, and once a bird has become unduly corpulent, it is one of the most difficult problems to reduce the bulk and restore the equilibrium. Stout birds as a rule do not enjoy good health, and very seldom sing. Whilst on this subject I may state my personal experience with two birds which are very much given to over feeding during the 'winter months, and in consequence not long lived, and further how I overcame the difficulty. The two birds in question are the Garden "Warbler and Icterine Warbler, and the 'guardian angel has been fruit and plenty of exercise. Nearly all Warblers will eat fruit in the autumn, so I thought I would try it also on the two above mentioned, although none of the authorities I consulted made a mention of it. All are agreed that both these birds are rather voracious and over- feed during the winter months: they eat nearly all day long, which makes them very corpulent by January or February, amd as that is their time of moulting, either they do not moult at all, or die in the attempt. The question therefore was how to keep them in a good state of health to get over the moult. To this end I first of all put them in a large cage, ktept the food vessels far apart, so as to induce exercise, and then tried a fruit diet, leaving curds and eggs out of the stock-food. Both birds throve well, and the Icterine Warbler is now in his third year of captivity, looking as well as ever.' All healthy soft -bills should be in song from Becemb-er —January, to June— July. They do not break into full song at once, but conimence softly at first, increasing their volume Keeping of Sollbills in Cages 149 day by day until tJicy reach tln-ir full climax alxHit April. From that time they will •,^raduaily drop oil', and liiuUy «top alioiretlKM', and one liiu> morning in July you will find a few small Icathei's on tiie cage bottom; tlie.se are the first signs ol' the beginning ol' the moult, and you must take steps ac- cordingly to bring this to a successful issue. There is nothhig alarming about the moult; it is one of nature's laws that all birds shall shed their pjunuige, and renew same once annually. All you have to tlo is to keep the biixls quiet, give them plenty of light, live anls-eggs, and wasp-grub, and guard against draughts. Spiders are very benelieial during the moult, and now and again 1 mix a lew drops of sulphite of ii'on (1 to lU in water), with the stock-food and also some i>owdered cuttle-fish bone. Cages containing freshly- caught birds should be gradually uncovered after the bird has stopped singing, and when there are the first signs of moult, the cage front should be quite uncovered, to allow plenty of light and air, which are essential to successful moulting. Nearly ail soft -bills will eat fruit during the autumn, some all the year round; fruit, therefore, such as cherries, elderberries, green-ligs, blackberries, ripe pears, etc., should always form part of the menu during the moult, and after; when pears run short, a baked appie will do equally well; hi fact apple is a splendid aperient, and a preventative agahist obesity, and raw apple may be mixed, grated with the ants-eggs, instead of eai'rot, and given to such birds as are inclined to over -feed themselves. The moult should be finished in from four to six weeks, and when your birds have again resumed their normal plumage you must examine each one as to its state of bodily health — if too thin, feed on richer food; if found too stout — feed on plainer food, and generally speakhig make the latter a practice after moult until December- -January, when the birds begin to start sing- ing again. During the long winter evenings light a lamp in the bird room for two hours, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. .so that the birds can see to feed, as from -1 p.m. to 8 a.m. is too long a time for them to fast. I think 1 have very nearly exhausted my subject on management; there is only one item left, and not a very ioO Reefing of SuftbUls in Cages. pl;eiasant one to deal with, and that is aihnents. But if you follow out my instructions as to feedhig you need not antieiiiate much trouble from ailments— of course, accidents will happen. There is no better indicator oi a bird's health than its excreta; when normal, this should be comj)act and whitish; if greenish, thin, and watery, it shows that the bird has either caught a cold or its food has disagreed with it; in that case I have always found, if applied immediately on being de- tected, that a few drops of sulphite of iron (1 in 10 of water) either added to the food, or put into the drhiking water, will put matters right. If on the other hand the droppings are hard, and the bird has trouble in passing them, then either some liquid magnesia or a few drops of sulphate of soda (i in 10 of water) will effect a cure. Water is often the cause of trouble. It should never be given icy cold, but always with the chill olf. Sometimes it may be too hard, especially for new arrivals; a few drops of magnesia will rectify this. . Some trouble may be experienced after moulting during the birds natural migratmg period — in August and September. Instinct teaches them, as insect food becomes scarcer, at the end of the summer, to migrate to southerly, climes, where the rainy period has set in, and in consequence insect life is abundant. Particularly during their first season of caged life the desire to be on the whig and go south is very strong in some birds, and although they keep perfectly quiet during the day-time, they become restless during the night. Migration takes place during the nigiii, and as the birds will flutter about their cages at night time, the inside of the cage, except for the perches, should be fi'ee from any obstacle, and the top of soft material, as already advised, so that they cannot hurt themselves. You can do nothing to stop this nightly fiuttermg except to keep the room dark, and as the unwonted exercise leaves them somewhat ex- hausted ha the day-time, supply extra nourishing food to keep up their strength. With some birds this nocturnal unrest occurs again in spring during March — April, corresponding with their migratory flight when returnmg to our shores from the sunny south, but then it is ox shorter duration, and requii'es very iijttle extra attention, if the birds are strong and healthy. Editorial. 151 Vou should keep only siron^-- ;iii(l licalMiy birds, woakling.s in a ca^'' iii'\<'r ili' ucll, and iiisicad of (ryiii,!,'- lo doctor thciii, il is licsl lo |Mit thcui oiil oi' thcii' misery. Ill coiiclusion' ilii'ic arc (uio or iwo points wliicli (,'vury k.vjx-r of birds should take \v(dl lo heart, .\lway8 be kind to the l)irds, and never lose your teiiii)er. Approach tliem always in the same I'riendly way, and i/ you come across some stubborn one> have pat ieiice - your rewai'd will c-ome. Do not handle birds more than you c-aii help. They are very sensitive and remember I'ouy-h treatment lor a long- time. 11" you want to remove a bird Irom its cayo, in order to cleanse the latter, drive the bird mentioned into another cage, and let it hop back into its own cage when ready. Never introduce a freshly acquired bird at once into your bird-room, keep it in quarantine in another room for at least a week, it may to all ai)pearances look perfectly well, yet be infected with that dread disease, septic fever, ajid last but not least, never keep more birds than you can conveniently look after, and re- member the alpha and omega "cleanliness and regularity." Editorial, The Hon. Kditoi and his Family express sincer'e thanks for expressions of kind sympathy, and condolence. Mr. Page I'egrets that it is quite impossible to answer them individually and asks that one and all will accept this acknowledgment of their keen appreciation and thanks. Nesting Notes: These notes from all sources cannot appear this month, as doubtless a feeling of sympathy has checked communications on this topic recently, and probably the long continued cold winds and rains, following the early mild si)ell have checked nesting operation. However, there are young of various Grassflnches, Budgerigars, and Parrakeets already on the wing, details of which must be deferred till next issue. In the Editor's aviary Olive Finches and one or two species of Spermophiloi are either building or incu- bating, l)ut a clutch of Grey-wing Ouzel's eggs, all but due to hatch, have been deserted owing to too apparent observation of their doings. 152 Mitorial Foster Parents: Our member Mr. W. A. Bainbridge placed the egg of a Diamond Finch (Steganopleura gutfata) under a Beng-alese, the egg duly hatched out and the young Diamond Finch (ten days old at the time of penning these notes) is thriving, with every appearance of being fully reared. Members' Aviaries: We recently visited the aviaries Mr. R. S. de Quincy Quincy at Chislehurst. He has a nice series of naiturally arranged and roomy flights with suitable shelters; the largest of the latter is fitted up as a bird -room, having several roomy flights at one end and large flight cages at the back, for the winter housing of stock. A photo of these aviaries appeared in our last volume, and we need not fur- ther enlarge upon them here, save perhaps to state, that the cover consisted mainly of rhododendrons, gorse, and one or two deciduous shrubs, the gorse being a mass of gold on the occasion of our visit. Upper Aviaries. A pair of roomy flights with shelters a»ttached; one of these contained pairs of Redrumps and Cockatiels, 2 young Grenadier Weavers, a Comoro Weaver and an Orange Bishop; the other was given up to an exquisit€= pair of Red-naped Lorikeets. Lower Aviaries. A group of Ave picturesque and prac- tical flights and shelters, with occupants, as follows: 1. Six pairs Gouldian Finches, and ipairs of Ruficauda Finches and Blue -winged Sivas. 2. 11 young Gouldian Finches (1912 reared birds, not yet in colour), 1 Long -tailed Grassflnch x Parson Finch hybrid, 2 Long -tailed Grassflnches, and 1 Parson Finch, and 2 Blue -winged Sivas. 3. Blue Tanager and Golden -eyed Babbler. 4. Pair of Silver -eared Mesias. 5. 1 pair Rufous -bellied Niltavas, 2 pairs Diamond Finches, 3 Ringed Finches, 1 Yellow -headed Gouldian (9), the cock having died on the morning of our visit; and 1 Rufi- cauda Finch (cf). Bank Aviary, Built on a steep bank over a huge, denseclumpof rhododendrons, and given up to a pair of Silver- eared Mesias, which have already built a nest in a dense portion of the cover. We had the pleasure of seeing the nests in which the Editorial. I53 Grenadier Weavers reared their young last year; it will be remembered we figured these nests in our last volume to show the apparent practice of the parent birds to tear out the front of the nest when they considered the young should emerge. In nest Ko. 1, practically the whole of the front was torn down, and in nest No. 2, the same practice was apparent, only a stout fork of the bush to which it was attached prevented' it' being carried to the same extent. We congratulate our member both on his aviaries and also the beautiful and uncommon series of birds he possesses, the pair of Rufous -bellied Niltavas is, we ])elieve, the first true pair to reach England. We were shown the plan of a large bird-room, which is to have a central service passage, with five roomy flights on each side of same, those on the south side to h^ve roomy out -door flights attached to them for summer use. We also enjoyed the hospitality of our new member Dr. L. Lovell-Keys at East Hoathly for a few days, and had the opportunity of seeing his as yet incomplete aviaries and also those of Mr. H. L. Sich, and Mrs. A. Bonnick. Dr. Lovell-Iveays is erecting a Parrakeet and also a Finch aviary; both practical and i^oomy, but details must be deferred for the present. The Parrakeet aviary is now com- plete, and partly stocked, containing 2 pairs Green Budgeri- gars, and 1 pair each Tovi, All-Green, Moustache and Eosella Parrakeets, and Yellow Budgerigars. Wa wish our member a very successful initial season. Ux. Sich's Aviary has already been "described in our pages, but it is now well planted and the various bushes, ci'eepers, etc., have developed well and provide excellent cover, and, combined with the small pond, make a very picturesque whole. It was practically unoccupied at the time of our visit, as, by an oversight, either a door was left open, or was in- securely fastened, and the wind blew it open, and when the aviary was visited in the morning, all the birds had escaped save two Waders and a Calif ornian Quail. Mr. Sich is also extending, and two roomy and well planned aviaries are in course of erection. Mrs. Bonnick's aviaries are fairly numerous, and con- tain Cockatoos, Parrakeets, Doves, Pigeons, Pheasants, Pea- 154 Editorial. fowl, Budgerigars, and small Ornamental Finches; one aviary, on the bank of a small lake, contained Gulls and Mandarin Ducks; this aviary is to be largely extended and to iiK-lude a portion of the lake for a larger series of Waterfowl. AH the birds are in excellent condition, and Budgerigars and the Finches were already nesting. The Rev. G. H. Raynor, has also recently joined the ranks of aviculturists, and now possesses both Parrakeet and Finch aviaries, which we hope to figure in a future issue. In the Parrakeet aviary, there are Mealy Rosellas, 2 pairs Cockatiels (both the cocks talk), and Green Budgerigars, the . latter of which have young ready to leave the nest, and the Mealy Rosellas are mcubating. The Finch aviary has quite recently been stocked with Grassfinches, Waxbills, Mannikins, and Weavers. We refrain from further details re the above aviaries, as we hope to have accounts from the respective aviarists later on. - A GoNSiGNMENT OF AusTEALiAN FiNCHES: Mr. Wallace successfully landed another large consignment of Australian Finches (said to be the last) about the middle of April, the whole going to Messrs. De Von and Co., and the bulk of them have been already distributed. Gouldian Finches, both Red- and Black -headed, formed the bulk of the consignment, but Crimson, Zebra, and Pectoral Finches, Long -tail and Masked Grassfinches; Diamond Doves, and Yellow -rumped Manni- kins, and Bicheno's Finches were all included, some only in small numbers. As regards the Bicheno's Finches we did not see the bulk, but several pairs we have seen in the aviaries of purchasers were not Bicheno's but Ringed Finches {Stic- topiera annulosa) . The consignment included a pair of the rare Yellow -headed Gouldian Finch, probably the first to reac"b England alive, these passed into the hands of Mr. Maxwell, then to Mr. P. Owen, finally finding a lodgment in Mr. R. S. de Q. Quincy's aviary, where the cock has unfortunately died, but the hen will probably survive; if so, it will bey mated with a Red -headed cock, and an attempt made to breed them this season. They were evidently young birds not fully in colour, their heads being yellowish-brick-red, with traces of bright yellow already apparent. I^ditorial. 155 Another Consignment of Rake Iindian Birds: Mr. W. Fro.sit, who has been away in India for .some months ooilejcting birds i'or our nicnibcr Major B. R. Hoisl)ru,gh, arrived with a lar^^e cuusiyiinient (.mostly soft-ljills) of rare species, some of wliich are new to aviculture; the whole of the birds, though some of them (are somewhat travel -worn, are in very good condition, and should do well when distributed among our members and other English aviculturists. Unfor- tunately details have only come to hand just as we are going* (to press, and we can only give a bare list in this issue, Hed-headed Tit (^K(jithuliHcus eri/ihrorerhalas). Crested Black Tit (Lopliopfuuies melaiiolophux). Yellow cheeked Tit {Macfilolophns u-a/il/ioije>i//s). Green-backed Tit (Parun inonticola). Indian (xrey Tit {P.atrirepsK Rufous-necked Laughing Thrush {Dri/nmstcK riijiroUia). Ked-thruated Laughing Thrush ((uurula.r rnficallis). Kusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler ( I'diuaturli'nniii tnjlliroijeiiysj. Golden-eyed Babbler {I'yrtorhh sinensis). Black-throated Babbler {iStarhi/rhis )iigrirepg). Yellow-breasted Babbler {Mixornis rubricapillus). Pied-billed Babbler {Stachyrliidopsis pyrrl(.ij)i^). Jungle Babbler {Ci-atenipus canorit^). *Black-chinned Yuhina{l'«/j<«a nigri/neiitum). Yellow-naped Ixulus [IjcuIus flavicollis). Indian White-eye (Zosterops palpebrusa). Hardwick's Green Fruitsucker (Chloni^ .sv's Jim-dirichii) Gold-fronted Green Fruitsucker (C'. aurlfni/in). Silver-eared AJesia {Mesia avgentuuris). Blue-winged Siva [Sivu cyanuroptera). Brown-eared Bulbuls {Hexlintis flavala). Rufous-bellied Bulbuls (//. macdellandi). *Velvet-fronted Nuthatch {Sittafrnutalis). Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch (S. ciimatnoiKc/rr/itrix). *Large Indian Minivet (Pericrucot/is xpeciosiiaj. Short-billed Minivet (F. brerirostrix). ♦Rosy Minivet (P. ruaeus). Small Minivet (P. peregrhtus,). Ruby-throat (Calliope camtscliatkenms). Verditer Flycatcher (67'<;jaro/a melanops). Orange-gorgeted Flycatcher (Siphia strophiafa). *White-browed Blue Flycatcher )Cyonils sxperrillarls). Rufous-bellied Niltava (Xiltara sioidara). White-capped Redstart ( Chiiiiarrhornit< leucoccphtdus). Blue-fronted Redstart ( Jiuticllla frontalis), Indian Redstart {li. ruficentris) 156 Editorial. Plumbeous Redstart [Rhyacornis fuUg'uiosvs). *Golden Bush-Robin {Tarslger ehrynaeua). Brown-backed Robin (Tliauunilj/n cainlHiicuxia). Shamas and Dhyal-Birds. Pied Mynah (Sfuniopastor contra). Chestnut- bellied Rock-Thrush (I'rtniiiliila n->/fIiro,jatilher/i anil Etistern Coiintu's.and re,,nlarl!i{2Sthof rarh luontli) .owl n, tl,e!r im/rs-OU thiS the ultimate success and permanent interest of the Calendar will depend.— Eu. British Bird Calendar. 157 NOTES FROM N. UIST IJCiHTIIorSE. Jaiiuiiry >^ — ft FuIiiKirs (il;iily visitors). 1()-Starliiit;s. Flock of Snow Rmitiiigs. 11 — Common Twite in flouks ; mornini,' and eveniiii,' ; daily visitors. A few Eider l>nck roniid the rock. 21 — Several Puffins seen on the watci-, unusnally early. 22 — About 2r) Snow Runtinsjs seen. 2;J-Glaucous Oull and Flock of lilack (hiillemots. 24— Several Common (Tuillcmots on the watei'. February H — Guillemots and Razorbills. AT SHORE STATIOX. 5— Flock of Snow Buntings. „ 6 - 5 Ravens (.") carrying nesting stuff). 15_Northern Diver on Loch of Cliff. OX ROCK. !()— Kittiwakes, several on water. 20 Peregrine Falcon, hovering above Lighthouse Dome. 2S —Oyster-Catcher (first of sea.son). March 20— Kittiwake on cliffs. 22— One Skylark 24—2 Glaucous Gulls „ 28 — Lapwing seen. 28 — Four Arctic Tern „ 30 — One Kestrel, inside Courtyard. „ 30— Manx Shearwater, caught at Lantern. Per D. E. P., April 14th, 1913. 28— Saw the Ring-Ouzel at Seagrave iNIarsh (near Luton). 31 — Saw the Chiff-chaff in Luton ; I had heard it several times for more than a fortnight. April 6 — Starlings nesting. 20— Heard the Cuckoo. ,, 22- Saw Swallow flying overhead. 24— Hear f lom reliable source that Martins are in the neighbourhood. H. ]\I. (Luton, Beds.) 7 —Wryneck at Danbury. 22 — Wryneck at Hazeleigh. 16— Cuckoo at Danbury. 20— Cuckoo at Hazeleigh. 19— Swallow at Latchingdon, about noon. 19— First Swallow at Hazeleigh, 4 p.m. 20— Nightingale in Hazeleigh Wood, 9-30 p.m ; still and warm, wind in South ; not heard again till 3 p.m. on 24th. 22— Tree Pipit, several seen, and heard singing at Hazeleigh at 5 p.m., temperature 50, wind E. 24— Chiff-chaff abundant at 3 p.m. in Hazeleigh Wood which con- tains about 100 acres, and consists chiefly of oak anast authors — 1544 to date. (•2) Accejited names of tlie i.resent day, with their history and first usage. (3) Provincial, Local, and Dialect names, with their locality and meaning. (4) AVelsh, Gaelic, Cornish and Irish names. (')) Folk-Lore, Weather-Lore, Legends, etc., connected with each bird. It should i)rovc of great interest to ornithologists and also to all keepers and admirers of our native avifauna. WiLO LrKK, An Illustrated Monthly, Edited l)y Douglas English. Dudley House, Southami)toii Street, London, W.C. We cannot attempt a full review or description in this issue, the con- tents, notes and reproduced photographs (the illustrations are from photos mill/] are the work of the Zoological Photograjihic Cluli. To all interestep in wild creatures in their native haunts and natural surroundings, this monthly will strongly appeal, and no one who loves wild life can fail to be interested therein. We believe the annual subscription is 30s., and it is most e.xcellent value. In the parts already issued birds have been to the fore, in- cluding some of our memb'ir's, (Mr. H. Willfordi, whose beautiful i)hotos of bird life so frecpiently adorn our pages. Every phase of nature is repre- sented, and the reproduced photos present them to us "at home" in the midst of their natural sui ronndings. More than this we cannot say. It should oe upon the table of every public and i)rivate library, and adorn the bookshelves of every ornithologist an Love Bird ( 3 ). (Mrs. R. Hollins, Preston, Lanes.) Cause of death, inflammation of bowels. Olive Finch ( 3 ). (John S. Reeve, Leadenham House, Lincoln.) Cause of death, pneumonia. Aimrered h), /'r,,s/— Colonel Routh, Miss Johnson, T. W. Bull. Mis. Easton Scott. E T. Lewis. BIRD NOTES. Photo from lite by H. WUKorc Creat Spotted Woodpecker, BIRD NOTES. Plioto trom life by H. WUiford. Great Spotted Woodpecker. AH rifihi.^ reserved. June, 1913. BIRD NOTES: THE JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB Some Interesting Birds. Bv Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., etc. Illustrated from TiiFE I$Y H. Wir^LFORD. Continued from page 139. Great-spotted Woodpecker (Dendroeopus major, Lin- nipus) : In Mr. Willford's exceptionally fine photos, this bird is caught in two characteristic and typical poses, and the skill of the photographer is shown, in having secured so natural a result, as evidenced by the calm and unruffled expression of the bird figured, for the two photos are of the same bird— a female. The photos also indicate that in captivity (not a large aviary is represented), almost natural conditions may be sup- plied, or at any rate sufficient to enable them to take exercise in a natural manner. The Great -spotted Woodpecker is not a bird that is fre- quently seen owing to its retiring demeanour, and usually it is only the careful and persistent ob-erver that gets a glimpse at this species of the British Wood -hewers. At the same time it is not really rare or very uncommon in England, but is less common in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Eecently. I have had the pleasure of seeing it in Surrey, Kent, and Sussex, though the glimpses were l)ut passing ones, but sufficiently long for reliable identification; however, I have never had the pleasure of witnessing its skill as a wood -cutter, save in captivity. It usually favours the higher branches of lofty trees, and mostly scuttles away out of sight immediately it is cognisant of being observed, and the watcher must stand al- most immovable if he is to get more than a passing glimpse of this shy species. Usually it is content with passing round to the other side of the branch or trunk, but if followed up flies off to some other tree. Its mode of progression is both diagonal and spiral. The nesting hole is usually cut almost horizontally to 164 Some Interesting Birds. the centre of the trunk or branch, and then turned downwards and enlarged to form a suitable domicile for the upbringing of a family. Occasionally a hole of the previous year is used, also at times a natural cavity in a dead branch is ex- tended and enlarged. With this species several holes are by no means unfrequently excavated before they secure one to their entire satisfaction. The neit cavity is not lined, and the eggA are laid on the bare wood amid a few chips left behind when excavating. About the middle of May, or later, six or seven creamy -white eggs are deposited, barely one inch long by three-quarters 6*f an inch through the thickest part. Both sexes incubate, and the incubation period is about fourteen days. It breeds freely in this country up to Yorkshire, but is rare as a breeding species farther north and in Scotland. It also breeds in Wales, but I cannot call to mind any in- stance of its doing so in Ireland. It has a wide range and is found all over temperate Europe, extending over Siberia to Japan. Description: Adult male: Above it is mostly black; forehead pale bufflsh-white; cheeks and ear-coverts white, the former tinged with buff; nape crimson; a black band ex- tends from the gape under the eye to the back of the neck and also down the sides of the throat; a white patch just below the ear-coverts adorns each side of the neck; scapulars white; wing-feathers barred with white on the outer webs; tail-feathers black, with the outer ones edged and tipped with white; underparts dull white; vent pale crimson. Total length barely 91- inches. Adult female : Similar, but slightly smaller and has no crimson on the nape. Young: Bath sexes have the crown of the head red. In Captivity: This species is not very interesting to my mind as a cage pet, biit as an aviary bird it 'is most interesting, land would, I should say, ultimate'y breed if suitable accommodation were given it. On May 19th last, I had an opportunity of seeing Major Johnson's fine specimen " Jim " in his roomy aviary at Hove; he will not tolerate any other Woodpecker in his enclosure, but lives at peace with a unique series of British hard- and soft-bills and Waders. The aviary attendant informed me that the woodwork of the SoniP Tnfrresfing Birds. -[^5 aviary was watcliod, hut (hat tlio hird usually ronfincd its attentions to the branches or trunk provided for the purpose. It certainly was most fascinating and interesting to see " Jim " rovini,' about at will, with, hut little evidence of his natural tiiuidily and also clin.^'ini,'- in typical style to ordinary or (^ork bark. Dr. r.oss(\ of B(\auliou, Hants., has also kept this species; 'he too founrf it a 'most interesting aviary bird, and that if suit^able thick "branches were erected for it, the shell of the aviary was fairly safe. At the same time, if a /cage (aviary -cage) can be provided for it of sufTicicnit ])ulk and height to accommodate a thick branch, set almost perpendicularly, tlie bird will soon make itself at home, but all said and done, it is scon to best advantage in the aviary. Food : In a state of nafure this consists of insects and their larvae, supplemented in the autumn with mountain ash berries, nuts, acorns, etc. In captivity a course of insectile mixture, live insects (particularly "beetles and their larvsp), nuts, sunflower seed, and in the au^umn,berries, acorns, etc. It is 'good for all captive birds to be given some of their na- tural Wild diet as opportunity offers. The species just described is of great interest whether as an aviary bird or studied at home in its native haunts, and well repays the expenditure of time and patience in stalk- ing and patient observation, but the > observer must remain motionless, whether he is fortunate enough to find partial cover or must remain in the open, or the Grea*^ -spotted di appears at once. {To he continued). My Indian Consignment. By Ma.tor G. a. Perkeau, F.Z.S. I {Continu&d from page 135). Perhaps a brief notice of birds I brought home and which were not obtained near Bakloh would not come amiss here. These consist chiefly of birds caught in Darjeeling, where trapping i; not encouraged, chiefly, becau'^e a good many l)irds from England and Kashmir were piit down at some^ 166 Some Interesting Birds. expense a good many years ago, and also, because the author- ities rather naturally fear, that a collrctor loose on the district would levy such a vast toll on the bird life that the district would lose one of it's attractions. As a matter of fact the absence of bird life is remarked on by the local "guide." The .author was not a Ivird man I fancy, as the birds are there all right, but are not in evidence mu^'h, as t'le bulk of them prefer the jungle and belong to retiriag species. Even the heavy persecution they undergo from the hands of the " garden " coolies, who lime them for food, has little effect, I believe, on the numbers of the birds of the species which are so caught. There may be some effect indirectly on the carniv- orous birds and animals. However that may be, I was re- stricted to one tea garden and I consider myself lucky to have had trapping rights of that, es'pecially as it ranged from 2,000 feet up to nearly 6,000 and contained a good deal of forest. Still, I should have liked to try a bit higher up as well, short as my time was. One ought to get quite a nice collection of Laughing- Thrushes. Even the sober coloured ones are charming aviary birds, but, alas, few are safe with smaller fry, hence they are not good birds to bring home from a selling point of view. Also they are not nice birds on the journey, not over -clean and given to sudden uncalled for panics, especially at night. Ex- cept perhaps Sibias, I 'know of no birds more given to stripping themselves or eacTi other, and, thus they "arrive in a condition which spoils the look of a whole consignment, though in reality they may be far fitter than their better feathered fellowi captives. My first experience of them on a voyage made me vow to leave them alone in future, this vow I have already broken and shall probably do so again. The Eufous-necked Laughing-Thrush CDryonastcs rujicollis) reminds me rather of a miniature Jackdaw, though the birds are not really at all alike except in being perky. Under the tail and sides of the head bright chestnut; top of head grey; upper breast and tail and remainder of head black: upper plumage and rest of lower plumage olive brown. Bill and legs black. Iris red. Length about 10 inches; tail 4-5 Found in the Eastern Himalayas, prolmbly not above 4,000 feet (Gates). Jerdon states that it is kept by the natives as Some tntercsting Tiirds. \{\1 a pet on account of its musical notes. I never saw it wild, l)ut tlie men wlio brouglit them in seemed very pleased with tlieir Captures. 1 riid no trai)i)ing myself below 4,000 feet, and fancy these were caught at below 3,000. Ten were brought in and 1 got eight home, having given away two in Calcutta. Thry did very well in an out -door aviary in P.ale un- wise to attempt keeping an Owl in a town; for one reason, one's neighbours might strenuously object to the serenade they perform at times 1 It may interest some Bird JS'ofcs readers to know my experiences in keeping Owls of difleretit species. This article, being on the subject of British Owls, l-.IRI) XOTHS. b&I^BG Some British Owls. British Owls- 169 I will confine my remarks to those, although I have kept others equally interesting. No Owl is suited for a cage. An aviary is a sine qua 7ion, and the larger the better. They are sociable creatures, generally speaking. 1 have kept Tawny, Barn, Little, Long- eared, and Short -eared Owls in one aviary, and they have lived quite amicably. The Eagle Owl {Bubo ignacus, Forster), the largest of the family, is a powerful bird. In the Hartz Mountains these birds are by no means rare and are frequently employed by gamekeepers and bird catchers to attract other species. When caught young, they soon become tame and affectionate . One of mine was very I'ond of having his head scratched, blinking with pleasure in an absurd way, while the process continued. Eagle Owls will breed in captivity, but I cannot atate this from personal experience as I did not have a pair. This bird never formed such an attraction for small birds as the Little Owls, who were always being mobbed, chiefly by Swallows and Missel Thrushes. The Little Owl (^Athene noctua, Soopoli), was formerly, extremely rare in England, but owing to many importations, is now a common variety in North Bucks, and Northants dis- tricts. You will meet them at every turn if you walk across the fields. They hunt in the day time as well as at night and are more des,tructive to bird lire than any other Owl. Lideed, 1 will go as far as to say that all English Owls are uscfuL with the one exception — the Little Owl, who is rapidly becoming a pest in its wild state. I find their nests, usually in the hole of an oak tree, containing the usual white eggs. It is the fiercest of all for its size, and practically untameabie., I have had them before they were fully fledged and brought them up by hand, but they always remain wild. It is only lair to add that i have heard of some which showed aft'ection to their keepers, but my own experience was contrary. I consider the Little Owl quite the " lunny man" in the aviary; his grotesque "jack-in-the-box" movements compel laughter from anyone seeing him for the first time. Quite different is the Tawny Owl {Si/rnium aluco, Linnaeus)^ perhaps the best known species, which is easily tamed when obtained from the nest. It is a common bird in 170 British Owls. in most districts, and the "Hoo-lioo" in woods at night must be a familiar sound to most people. " Making night hideous " is an expression I have sometimes heard in reier- ence to their long-drawn wailing note, but, personally, I like to hear them, which is, jjerhaps, iortunate, as my tame birds a^ttract their wild kind and practice vocal duets alwut a dozen yards from my bedroom window. A pair oi Tawny Owls in my aviary, nest regularly every year. The fema'e makes a most devoted mother, yet never loses her excessive tameness. As a rule. Owls defend their young with great courage, and strongly resent anybody approaching the nest, but my bird "Flufl"' is ridiculously tame and loving. The moment she hears my voice, she calls me in a soi't prolonged trill; if I fail to go in response, she positively wails like a child, and will not be pacified until I have comforted her by calling her all the endearing names I can think of, and stroking and scratching her head. To show how extremely gentle she is, I may add that she will let me take her feggs up and look at them while she '" trills " haj^pily to me. Alter this you will not be surprised to hear that Flutf is very much my favourite among my Owls. I am fond of them all, but Fiuil is facile princeps. The Tawny is not a particularly sleepy Owl. Aline always seem fairly aiert in the day-time, and will run up to me to get a mouse or sparrow when I ofter these delicacies. This species is very ioad of bathing in contradistinction to the Little Owl which is noL fond of water. One of the sleepiest is the Barn Owl {Strix flammea, Linnaeus), who scarcely opens his eyes in the day-time, much less eats: Consequently they are not so attractive in confine- ment as- the Tawny species, although extremely quaint. The appearance of a Barn Owl is more striking than any other I know of. Tiie majority of those I have kept have been tame and quite gentle, but not very sociable with their keeper. If disturbed during the day they reel backwards and lorwards on their perches in a most curious way, reminding one forcibly of the movements of an intoxicated man. An- other habit of a rather wild Barn Owl I had, was to "play 'possum." If I took himin my hand and put him back after- wards, on the aviary floor, he would lie on his side motionless with eyes closed, nor would he move from this position until Brilish Owls. 171 ho was lirinly coiivincL'd 1 Iiad j^axic. It. is iiifere.sting to sec a Hari! Owl willi a dead rat or mouse. Tlic inouso, if small, is swallowed whole, hill a I'at is skiiuicd first. Most Owls prel'ei- mice to anything else, hut the Little Owl nmeh prefers Spariows and other small birds. Long-eared Owl {Asio otus, Linnaeus) also prefers hirds to mice. Tliis is a handsome fellow and becomes very tame. It is, by no means, as playful as the Barn and Tawny Owls, but resembles the Tawny in being fond of bathing. All m\ Long -eared Owls go boldly into a large shallow bath and llai and splash until they are soaked, following which ^hey sit on the perches to dry and preen themselves. Young Long-eared Owls are some'timcs mistaken for Short-eared, but it is dillicult to understand why, for they are totally diU'erent. The Short-eared Owl {Asio accipitiinus, Pallas) is a much lighter coloured bird than the Long -eared, and far more strongly built. 'And the Short -eared does not always agree with his Long -eared compatriot as I have discovered to my cost, one of the former killing and eating a Long -ear, a cannabalistic act, for which there was no excuse, seeing; that there was plenty of food in the aviary. The Short-- eared Owls agree well with the Tawny Owls, into whose aviary I have removed them. They feed in the day as well as at nigliit, and are fondest oi mice as a staple article of 'diet. 1 have only once seen this bird in a wild state, and that one was Hushed from some stubble in broad daj^ight. In some districts they are known as Hawk-owls, owing to their day- time hunting. Another interesting member of the Owl family is the Scops -eared {Scoips giu, Soopoli) This is an extremely prettily marked Horned Owl, common on the continent, but rarely seen in England. They soon get very tame, and make delightful pets, especially for those who have noL much room to spare. Mine were all caught when adult, but were quite tame in a fortnight. Their behaviour before settling down was very comical. On my approaching their home, they would crouch down on the perch, and ruMe out their feathers until they were twice their normal size, and snap their beaks ferociously. Most owls when frightened or angry will snap l72 British Owls. their beaks — a short, sharp, vicious snap — they all do it, from the Great Eagle Owl down to its small relative, the Scops. A Scops resembles an Eagle-owl in everything but size. Mine are fond of beetles in addition to birds and mice, and they also take full advantage oi their bathing tank. Certain species bathe, but others never appear to touch water. Among the former are the Eagle, Tawny, Long -eared, and Scops Owls, while the Little, the Barn, the Short -eared and Tengmalm's Owls are those that eschew water. The last named, Tengmalm's {JSyctala tengmalmi, Gmelin) is a very rare visitor to England. My si)ecimen — I have only one — came "from Austria, and is the most attractive Owl I have kept. They are described, by some people, as being " like a Little Owl," but on looking at a specimen in an aviary [there could be no confusion. The Little Owl has a sinister expression, with a hard fixed stare, but the Tengmalm's posi- tively radiates benignity and virtue! Owls are not at all difficult to cater for. I give them " fur and feather " when obtainable and fill up the intermediate time with any kind of raw lean meat. A certain amount of "fur and feather" is necessary to their well-being; mice, small ra,ts, and birds. "Fluff" is very partial to sheep's paunch, and fleshy bits of fresh fish. . I fear I have encroached too much already on the space available in Bird .Notes, otherwise I could enlarge a good deal on the subject of Owls. Still, I think I have said enough to prove that Owls are extremely interesting and beautiful birds, well worth the consideration and attention of intending aviculturists. Bird Notes from Trieste to Bombay. By Hugh Whistleb, I. P., M.B.O.U. As there are doubtless many of our members who have bad occasion to make a long sea -voyage, it has occurred to me that they might find some interest in an account of the birds noted in a recent trip from Europe to India; since from it some idea may be gained of the material which passes un(ier the observation of the traveller and helps to vary the monotony of the long days on board. Also, since I know from personal ^P ^B^^iU^ Bird Nates from Trieste to Bombay. 173 experience how dillicult it is to identify the birds seen on one's first voyage— many of them, though exiremely common, l>eing then met with for the first time. I have inserted short descrip- tions of the birds as they appear through field glasses to the ma)i on deck. 1 saiteci in the Austrian J>Ioyd s.s. " Semiramis," from Trieste on March l(Jth of this year and landed at Bombay on Mai'cli 31st; the result of my daily observations is as follows: March IGth. Went on board the "Semiramis" which sailed about -4 p.m. Two species of Gull were extremely numerous in the harbour and followed us for a time after we had started; these were Larus ridihmidus — the Black -headed Gull, the majority of which were already in full breeding plumage, and Larus cachinnans— the Yellow -legged Herring - Gull, to be distinguished from the English bird, Larus argen- tatus, by the colour of its feet, which are yehow. Towards dusk two distant parties of birds were seen ilying low over the sea; they were probably Fhalacrocorax carbo — the Common Cormorant. March 17th. (Adriatic Sea). A calm day with but little land in sight. No birds seen except Larus cachinnans which followed in our wake, often uttering their harsh clucking call — somewhat reminiscent of an exaggerated hen. March 18th. Passed about breakfast time between the mainland of Greece and the islands of Cephalonia and Zan,the. Larus cachimians still continues to follow the ship in numbers. Some birds seen in the distance which appeared to be Shearwaters. Also one or two specimens noted of a bird that was probably Stercorarius crepidatus, Richardson's Skua; these were flying along close to the sea, going straight and not wheeling about like the Shearwaters. One turned suddenly and joined the Herring Gulls in the wake, disputing with them for fragments of food, which it took from the surface of the water in the same manner as the Gulls; but, it did not come close enough to the stern to admit of a satisfactory identification. March lUth. iS'o land in sight all day but Crete was passed in the early morning. A few Larus cachitmans still about but nothing like the number when we were in sight of land. A dark Shearwater with white underparts was noted iu small parties in the morning, but fewer were seen as the 174 Bird Notes from Trieste to Bombay. day wore on— these were most probably either Puffinus hiihli, the Mediterranean Sheai'water or Puffinis yeIkoiia>ius — the Lev- antine Shearwater. March 20th. This morning the Herring Gulls have been replaced by Larus fuscus — the Lesser Black -backed Gull, only two of the Herring Gulls being noted. Both species are very similar, the grey back and wings of the Herring Gull becoming dark sooty in the Black-back. About mid- day we reached Port Said; the harbour swarms with Larus ridibundus the Black-headed Gull, and with them are a few L. cachinyians and fuscus. We left Port Said about 6 p.m. so consequently the greater part of the canal — where one sees so many birds as a rule — was traversed by night. March 21st, Passed through the Bitter Lakes about 5—6 a.m., where Larus ridihwndus was very numerous. Very few specimens had fully assumed the breeding plumage. The majority being either immature birds or birds that had only partially donned their breeding attire. Entering the narrow canal again that leads from the Bitter Lakes to Suez we noted the following birds: two Ceryle rudis, Pied Kingfisher, many Swallows (apparently Hirundo rustica), several large Crows or Ravens, one Larus cachinnans, Larus ridibundus, and several Wagtails (all oi' the Motacilla alba type), and also no,ted a flight oi' six Cormorants, Phalacrocorax alba, some of which were in full breeding plumage. When we reached Suez I saw thi'ee Herons, Ardea cinerea, fishing in some shallows, and a Cormorant sitting on a beacon with his wings out- sitretched to catch the sun. For a time the ship lay at anchor in the roads off Port Tewfik, where great numbers of Gulls surrounded the ship, flying round close or settling in flocks on the water. The vari- ous buoys also formed favourite resting places. 'I he majority were Larus ridibundus but L. cachin?ians and L. fuscus were numerous also. While we were here I saw a very hawk-like bird flying swiftly across the water, occasionally having skir- mishes with the Gulls— this turned out to be Richardson's Skua, Stercorarius crepidatus. As we steamed out of the roads two big flights of Plover or Waders flew swiftly across the bay in front of us, l)ut the distance was too great to allow of the species being identified. Bird Xofr.'^ from Trieste to Bombay. 17') For tho rest of tlio day as wr wiMit aloiii,^ the Onlf of Suez, Lams rldibu/ithis coiit iiiiii> 1 abiiiulaiit, and Lams affmis MTls fairly common. Only a stray L. cachiyinans or two were noted. Port Tewfik was still in sitrht when I noted the first Sooty Gull, Lams IrD/jirlcJii, l>ut T did not see another until we reached Aden, rn'il daidv a pair of Richardson's Skuas followed in our Avakc \\ itli tli(^ (iulls. Tlu^v may bo described roughly as dark b'ackisli Itrowii \vifli a Avhito collar and underparts; some nnIiIIc also a( tlic base of tho wing quills; 'the white of tho breast broken l)y a partial dark gorget. The tail full and wodge -shaped with tho two central feathers fronted "and elongate. Thoy were not on good terms with tho Gulls, chasing thorn and being chased. March 22nd. (In the Red Sea). No land sighted all day. No Gulls scon excep't a few Lams affinis. A small bird that looked like a Pipit came on to the ship, but I only caught a glimpse of it as it was leaving: another small bird of a yellowish colour, probably a Bunting, also seen flying near the ship. A swallow turned up and remainecf for some time with tho ship, hawking i-ound and about. About sunset a small Kestrel arrived and settled on the mast where after doing its plumage it prepared to roost. Finally just as it was getting dusk I caught a glimpse of a small Swallow or Martin flying low over the wave^. After dinner an attempt to catch the Kestrel was made Init unsuooo^sfully, tho bird taking alarm and flying round about the ship for a long time in the moon- light, looking like an enormous bat. March 23rd. (Red Sea). No land in sight all day. I awoke to hear that the Kestrel had been caught and put into a Canary Cage, where 1 took a detailed description of it. Roughly speaking, the bird was a small pale washed-out looking ediftion of the Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculns in immature plumage with tlio upper tail coverts of a delicate French grey dully liarro;!. At present I cannot gain access to books and skins to d Mo: mine the species accurately from my description, but I tliink it was the Lesser Kestrel, Falco cenchris—a.n idenjtification sui)ported by the colour of its claws, which were flesh colour not black. This proved to be another migration day and the fol- lowing birds visited the ship, A pair of Thick-knee Plovers— 176 Bird Nafes from Trieste to Bombay. probably (Edimnnns scolopnx — circled once or twice as if desirous of settlirg on the ship, and then flew off astern. A Whratear came aboird and rested for a time. It was of the Saxicola mvan'he type. Then a small bird— not unlike a Reed- bunting— was seen flying- along. Next came two Harriers, followed by a third, passing from the African to the Arabian coast No Gulls were following the ship, but a few Les.=?er Black-backs were seen. In the evening the first Boobies Sula leucorjaster were seen, and two white Gannet — but the la'itter were too far off for identification. A stray Lams heim- prichl or two. March '24th. (The Eed Sea). No land in sight until about 10 a.m., but the Lesser Black -backed Gulls were a- gain following the ship, as well as Sooty Gulls and Boobies. The Boobies were very numerous, flying over the sea singly and in parties: in the distance they have a spidery appearance owing to everything being pointed — bill, wings, and tail. Many came clo^e up to the stern and there both took food from the surface of the water and plunged for it. They may be roughly described as chocolate -brown birds with the wing lining and lower parts 'from breast white. The bill and naked facial skin being either greenish white or very pale flesh colour. About 10 a.m. we passed a large rocky island, and then, for a time the number of Gulls and Gannets decreased until noon, when they returned in force again while the ship was passing "the twelve apostles." A white Gannet with black quills seen — Sula cyamops? About 6 p.m. we passed between a lighthouse rock and a large island, called, I believe, Sabel Zukker. March 25th. Reached Aden afjout 11 a.m. Before we bounded the corner we had only been followed by a few immaiture Larus cbffinis, but the harbour was full of Gulls. These were all either Larus affinis or Larus hemprichi. The Sooty Gull is very strictly protected in Aden harbour and is consequently very numerous and fearless. This Gull is dusky brown except for the breast, underparts, tail, and rump, which arc white; the wing is also edged with white owing to the quills being tipped with that colour. In breeding plumage r>ii;i. NoTKS. llfni|u-icirs (lull {/.urns /,r>n/>rn/, I Bird No.frs from Tn'rslr to Bnmhay. 177 — already assumod hy ininy of tlio hirds in Aden harbonr — the head becomes a da kcr fliocolato brown and there is a white collar. Tlioy flow so close to the ship's rail while we were at anchor flia! 1 tried to i hotoirraph them but the resiilts are not worth i-ciirnductioii. Many Kites, Milvus rrgifpficxis, come out from the shore and mingle with the gulls, and on a former voyage I rescued one that had fallen into the sea. Several Terns came to the ship attracted by the swarms of small fish that always collect round the hull— they were all of one species but not in full plumage and I failed to identify the species. It was probably the smaller Crested Tern Sterna media. Only a single Booby seen to-day and that in the harbour. Mareh 2()th. (Arabian Sea); no land in sight all day. I only saw one bird and that a great distance off — it was ap- parently a White Ganret. A "Seagull" was reported to me,* but I did not see it. Mareh 27th. (Arabian Sea). No land seen. About breakfast time several White Tropic -birds Phaethon flavirostris' appeared, flying rapidly beh-nd and beside the ship. They are curious Tern -like birds with the two middle feathers elongate and pointed : white all over except for a "black mark running from the eye round the nape, and some black on the wings: the bill is yellow and the feet black. I did not see them settle or catch anything. The flight resembled that of a Sandgrouse. However, they soon left and only an odd one or two were seen during the rest of the day. A White Gannet with black wing quills and tail came near enough for me to note that the facial skin was blackish,, ]thus identifying it as Sula cyanops the Masked Booby. "During the afternoon and evening many Shearwaters were fo be seen skimming low over the water in all directions. They "did not come near enough for me to attempt an identification, but the probability is that they were the Persian Shearwater, Puffin is persicus. Mareh 28th. No birds, no ships, no land! March 29th. Only three birds seen— all White Gannets, one in immature plumage, Sula cyanops. March 30th. No birds seen during the morning ex- cept a small Plover, which visited the ship once or twice. It 178 Visits to Mcmhcrs Avia?-ies. flew so swiftly that I could not get the glasses on to it to recognise even the genus. AYe arrived at Bombay in the afternoon, the Customs officers coming on board about 3 p.m bu'; the Gulls did not come out far to meet us, the first — an immature Lani^ affinis — being seen only at l-.^O p.m. They did not become numerous till we reached the Pilot brig outside the harbour. The gulls in the harbour were of two species, the commonest 'being Tarusbrunnri^epJialus, the Brown -headed Gull. The other species was the Dark -backed Herring Gull, Lams affinis. I must here note that Lams fuscus and Larus affinis are in reality two races of one species, only to be determined with certainty on a do se e?'amination. Hence my identification of the Lesser Black -backed Gulls seen on various occa- sions may not always have been correct, but for the purposes of this account I have let them stand. Visits To Members' Aviaries. By Wesley T. Page, F.Z.S., Etc In commencing another series of visits to members' aviaries and birdrooms, I am simply responding to a general c^ll, and I yenture to hope that other members, after a visit to a fellow-member's aviaries, will send an article for publication in the club journal. I have been privileged to make several visits already, but I am waiting for photos and plans to Illus- trate my descriptions; thus I am commencing with a short description of Major F. Johnson's Aviaries at Hove; here I am to have the pleasure of a second visit and then hope to amplify these present notes and make them worthy the unique series of British species I am seeking to describe. Major Johnson's Aviaries: My visit was unnanounced and I did not find Major Johnson at home, ' On a future occasion I hope to include many episodes of the birds I saw. I really am at a loss how to begin, for the rapid passing before one's vision of one dainty species after another was almost bewildering, and most certainly entrancing. And I really must leave any real attempt at describing the aviaries to a future occasion, merely in the present attempting to convey a general idea of them— the heated winter aviary I did not see. Visits to Momhcrs' Aviaries. 170 TnK AviAKiKs: The area covered is lai-ge, the main aviary some lOft. square by about 15 to IG feet high. The main iiortioii forms one huge aviary, with numerous internal standai'ds suppoi'ting the roof; these standards being covered with cork and bark, and having ivy and other creeperls. fe^ ife^ ■^ I' 6^ft . 3> <-/2/^- -42/t > Ghounb Tl/\n A. ^stable filled with trt-s, with windows iit H.TT. H. — Enclosure I'oi' s]>cciai liiiils, whit-h nmst he ke])t sei>!uate, with fountain atE. C— Main aviary, with f juntain and pond at F, turfed and ])lanted withevcr- j^reens and various creepers up internal standards. D. — Rustic Arbour in use as observation ])ost. K.K.— Doors foi- entrance and to shut off main a\ iary fioui service ])assayc J. Dotted areas represent gravel service passa,aths. 1. 2. 3. — Compartment enclosures for new arrivals. The East End is wood and glass. Except wliete otlieiwise designated the structure is of wire netting stretched on stout wood IVauung. Tlie ground area of this aviary consists of turf, gravel paths. 180 Visits to Members' Avian e.^. a small pond, and a number of evergreen "bushes. The whole effect is very pleasing, especially when viewed from the rustic arbour, which forms Major Johnson's observation post. The other portion is divided off into three smaller enclosures, either for pugnacious species, new arrivals, or for species' which are too timid for the general crowd; and here for the present I must leave my description of the aviaries, simply remarking that the well-kept turf and paths formed a fitting setting for a unique series of our British birds. (The Birds: Here again, my remarks 'can only be general and but little more than 'a list. Since my visit I have had a most interesting letter from Major Johnson, in which he says, as might be expected his breeding results are small, though many attempts are made. Speaking of Waders, he says. "I am fond of Waders, which do well and give little "or no trouble, and I have just obtained a nice pair of Oyster- " Catchers (Hemaiopus : ostralegui^) . Once I possessed the "Curlew Sandpiper {Tringa suharqua^a), and the Sanderling " {Calidris arenaria), but they were killed by an infernal " Egyptian Rail and I do not seem able to replace them. Con- " sidering the great admixture of birds, you would be surprised " how few tragedies there are— one day a cock Corn Bunting "ran amok and killed my pet Scarlet Grosbeak (PyrrJiuJa " erythrinai), also my Black-headed Bunting (Euspiza melano- " cephala); the Corn Bunting has no longer a place in the " aviary." ; "'Jim' the old Great-Spotted Woodpecker (Dcndroeopus " ma}nr) will not tolerate any other Woodpecker near him, and " my Common Wren (Troglodytes parvuhts) killed nine or " ten other Wrens during the last year, being evidently of the " opinion that there is only room for one Wren in that aviary. " Nightingales occasionally kill each other, but on the whole "get bn well together." I have taken the liberty of including the above as it conveys a general idea of the demeanour of the birds thus associated together — the actual losses from malicious fighting being very small, as I gathered from the laviary attendant, while it was of great interest to see the number of species that came down to the close -clipped grass and picked out the mealworms, amiably competing for same as ^hey were scattered by the Visits fa 'Mrmhrrs' Avmric,^. ]^] aMondaiit ; necdloss to say. that with suoh an array of soft- bills, incalworrns wciu^ (•arri(Nl in a pail! Bj^ the aid of nioah\(>i'ins tlie l)ulk of the birds were made to parade befor(> Dr. 'Piiwaites and myself as we sat in the observation siiniinci'-liouse — here I had better give a list of th(^ speri(>s T observed, and then make a few remarks afterwards. Fl.Vi'\lVin.-.i;. : S,>.,tt,"il ( .]fa^:,;tnt <,rl.^nf„) '.uul Pied f.IA. a/riraiulla). Tiii;rsiii:s, Etc. Redwinir (Tnnlns ///ar/z.s'V Fieldfare (7'. /;/7ar;.s-). Tilackl)ird (]rerHhi wrriilii) and Rinsf Onzel (^f. tnrquntiix'' . W AiM'.i.KUs, AccKXToits. Cirvis, Ere; Alpine Accentor f Acreiifnr coUdvix'), Hedije Spai-i'ow (.1. iih> hilnr/x). Niijlitinwale (Dauliaiflniicinia), Garden Warbler fS'v//-/(i //u/Vr/zs/vV Pireater Whitethroat S. chierrn) Lesser Whitetlu-oat (S. rnrnirn'^. Blackcap (S. africapilla), Stonechat (Prnf'ni- coJa ruhicola'), AVhinchat {P. rnhefra^. Wheatear (Sa.r/roln (P)iaiifhp), Redstait f/?M^V///a;j/'H>^«;V'z/)-w.s .T?lack Redstart (R. f/fi/s), Bluethroat (Ci/iI>sriini.i.e dealt with may be. The house itself is situated at the corner of two fine, wide roads, with, as I have said, scarcely any back premises at at all and herein lie the limitations, these have been, so far as possible, surmounted, and Dr. Thwaites now has an aviary which yields him much interest and pleasure in the intervals free from professional duties. To be continued From All Sources. THE ICELANDIC FALCON.— LONELY NEWCOMER TO THE ZOO. " In the long range of cages where the Eagles and Falcons live at the Zoological Society's Gardens there is a comparatively new denizen. He is the Icelandic Falcon, and if he could think clearly he would look down with scorn on the eagles and vultures, and especially on the peregrines who usurped his place long ago as sporting hawks. The Peregrine Falcon has a great reputation as a hunter and as a friend of man, but it is very doubt- ful whether he has deserved anything of the kind. He is not so swift or so clever as his brother from the north, and there are many reasons for be- lieving that he was not the true heroic falcon of the olden days. The fine specimen now at the Zoo is not the first that has ever been in the gardens, but he is very lonely, being one of the last of his tribe. As his name suggests, his home was in Iceland, and we have records of shiploads of the birds having been brought from the northern island to Holland, so that they might be transported to the middle of Europe. Its grey, swift wings and its quick intuition when hunting ran up its value so highly that a ship was specially despatched from Copenhagen in 1754 to bi'ing back as many as possible of the birds. It brought 14 of them, which were no doubt the proger.itors of the finest stocks of hunt- ing falcons in Central Europe. Not many of the true breed are left, and the Zoo has been without a representative for a number of years, So this new one is lonely, and it must be owned not very friendly, unless approached in the right spirit. That spirit seems to have been better known in bygone days. The keeper of the hawks certainly has lost it, and as to the casual visitor, he had better leave Hierofalco Idaiulu^ (that is his scientific name) alone, or Hierofalco will greet him with a flow of bad language which could not be matched, even in the cats' house, where they swear abominably."— From the StandunJ, per Rev. G. H. Raynor. ENGLISH WILD BIRDS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA. " Some 450 wild birds have been despatched from Euston, England, iov British Columbia. They consist of Skylarks, Robins, Goldfinches, Tits and Linnets, and they will, in the phrase on the notice attaclied to the special vans in which they were conveyed to Liverpool, "be set free to From all Sources. 185 furnish tlicir a(l()i)tc(I ((Hiiitry w ith enil Wijoks past the Kiids lii\c iciM kot ami Fkirmoiidscy. aiiil il \>n>\ t\V put tliein iu i'ai,'es 0:1 t)ie iii^lii ..■r.. press Coinpaiiv. wlm \\\\\v ana accomni()(latiii Ww slcainci- and as sooM as tin- Mrds have rcaclic 1 11 be released. It is intundfd to se id < English fanner wliu lias t-niii-iaU .1 w ing on his fiiu-i', and liear tlie a.ks home." — From the ('//rist/d/i Sc/t i/rr " Nemo." Hri k. tish stock a id nit lody." 1'' n en seven iio u's to caieli Ihem and IV • heir transit Tiie Dominion Ivk- 1 1 u' journey. liave pi'ovided special al> 0 in til.' ti-.- in across (^inada, and If (' nird. wiieii flushed, flies off horizon- tally, probably it has been merely disturbed at feeding or resting or gather- in" nest materials. But if it pops straight up out of the centre of the clump From all Sources. 187 the nest, ;if lor put icii( peerini;, will lie foniiil usually (kt;[) sut amongst tiic saw-toothed blades. I believe tliat in (lie Xo.lli island, it not in the South, tlio Feni bird is better known as tlie " riick." a name wliicii IMr. Smith uses in hi.s letter to me. it has carneil the name by a jui-uliarly melanelioly little note it utlens, reseml)lint^ " n tick, u tick " " When the shades of evening arc closing in," Sir Walter linllcr wrote in isss, ■ ihc call is emitted with greater frequency and eneigy, and in some dreary solitmles it is almost the only sound that breaks the oi)piissive stillness. In the INlanawatu district, where there are continuous iau[)o swamps, covering an area of 5l),()U0 acres or more, I have l)articidaily remarked this. I'L^eept for the peevish cry of the Pukeko, heard occasionally, and the boom of the lonely Bittern, the only animate sound that I could detect was the monotonous cry of this little bird calling to its fellows as it threaded its way among the tangled growth of reeds." I do not know if the Maoris still entertain a predjudice against this, the most harm- less and innocent bird in the world, but it certainly was treated harshly in former times. Amongst some tribes it was the custom when a party went out against a hostile tribe to avenge a murder, but returned the same day without having met anybody upon whom vengeance could be wrecked, to catch a few Fern-birds and tear them to pieces. Each member of the party tied a limb to two fernstalks, which he held in his hands. When the party came in sight of the village to which it was returning, the members sat in a line, and holding up the sticks, sang in chorus the following invocation to the gods : — I\laru ! Heal, oli, heal the wound Of him who was broken and bruised ! 1 invoke thy power to strike The back of the head of him Who caused life's stream to flow ; And thou, Tu, strike, oh, strike as he flies. From the Netc Zealand Hendd, per F. Howe. Editorial. Nesting Notes: These are always of intei^est, but the season is late in many aviaries, as the early spell caused an extra early start and most of these earlier nests failed and the long continued cold of May has all combined to make the season one of the latest for some years; but, there are many indications that it will be a good one. Some of the freely imported species are doing well: Zebra iFinches in many aviaries have their first bi'oods on the wing, and in Capt. Ileeve's aviary a second brood has left the shelter oi Zebra castle. In the same aviaries Cuba Finches are nesting. In Mr. Bainbridge's aviary at Tliorpe Jacariui Finches 188 Editorial. built a charming nest in a bush, about three feet from the ground. The clutch of four eggs duly hatched out and the young have left the nest. Masked Grassfinches, Cordon Bleus, Grey Singingfinches, Euficaudas and Bronze -wing Mannikins are building; Firefinches have eggs. A second pair of Jacarini Finches are nesting on the ground. In Dr. Scott's Aviaries at Wallington during a recent visit we noticed nests of Cuba, Euficauda and Gouldian Finches, Zebra Waxbills. and Grey- winged Ouzels. In Dr. Thwaites' aviaries at Brighton Goldfinches, Zebra Finches, Diamond Doves and Java Sparrows are incu- bating—one young Diamond Dove being already on the wing. In Dr. L. Lovell-Keays' newly erected aviaries, con- taining a good assortment of Grassfinches, Waxbills, Buntings, Parrakeets, etc., some are already nesting, some incubating, including Gouldian and Euficauda Finches. In the Parrakeet aviary, pairs, or supposed pairs, of Tovi and All Green Parra- keets have cross -mated. In Mr. Haggle's aviary, at Oxford, which we recently had an opportunity of visiting, young Zebra Finches are "on the wing, and Gouldian and Lavender Finches, and Cordon Bleus are incubating. In Mr. Suggitt's aviaries many of the "Freely Im- ported Species " are nesting, some young on the wing. Grey Finches XSpermophila grisea) are building; Eed Ground Doves have two young on the wing, and two more are being fed in the nest; Grey -winged Ouzels have two fine young birds on the wing, and are incubating again. A cock Indigo and a hen Nonpareil Bunting have cross-mated and are busy con- structing a iiest. In Eev. G. H. Eaynor's newly erected aviaries, young Budgerigars are on the wing, Mealy Eosellas are incubating. In the Finch aviary are building or nesting; Eibbon and Zebra Finches have young. In Mr. De Quincey's aviaries at Chiselhurst, we recently saw several nests, Euficauda and Long- tailed Grass- finches, Gouldian Finches are also incubating; the Yellow - headed Gouldian Finch (9) is still living, and is expected to mate with a Eed-headed cock provided for it. The most in- Editorial. 189 l.oresting happenings in tiiu.so aviiii'ie;s, are tae hatching out of a .brood of Silver -cared Mesias, wiiich unfortunately did not live to leave the nest, and the nesting of Blue -winged Sivas, which are now incubating a clutch of eggs, in an open cup-shaped nest built in a rhododendron bush. Last season hybrid Parson -j- Long-tailed Grasslinches were reared in these aviaries and this season one of the young hybrids (cT) has mated up with a Long -tailed (Jrassiinch, and a clutch of three eggs (dove- coloured) are being incubated, it will be interesting to know if the eggs are fertile. The Parson Finch is still faithful to his Long -tail wife and six eggs (white) are in process of incubation. i Many of our members have acquired rare Indian species, fi'om the two important consignments which have, recently been landed. Miss Clare and Mr. Bainbridge have Black-chinned Yuhinas, the latter gentleman also purchased Pigmy Woodpeckers, and Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches, but un- fortunately both the Woodpeckers, and chestnut-bellied JSTut- hatches only lived about three days. Yellow -backed Eed Sunbirds passed into the possession of Messrs. E.J. Brook, A- Ezra, P. Owen, and H. D. Astley, and other rarities went to other Imembers and well known aviculturists, but we must refer to these next month. On May 2Gth we had the pleasure of seeing' X>r. Amsler's new aviaries, at Eton, which are very practical. We noticed pairs of Blue -winged Sivas, Gold -fronted Fruitsuckers, American Robins, the latter incubating — also newly arrived pairs of Yellow -wing and Purple Sugarbirds, many varieties of Grasslinches, etc., either building or incubating, but we hope to describe the aviaries in a near issue; we also paid a flying! visit to Mr. Temple, at Datchet, whom we were fortunate enough to catch attending to the birds — he has many fine albino and pied specimens of British species, but the aviaries were only partially stocked for the season, and we shall refer to our Visit again. The Editor regrets that owing to pressure u[)on his time the usual notes and news cannot appear this month, and that several reviews must be held over. l90 British Bird Calendar. British Bird Calendar. Ills iinjtnUn irqm^^in] that Mnnhn:^ j)<,m all ronwl the nm.^f ,nU note the nuivcmenl^ of hlnh, u,;n' .^„r]nUti hi tlw Sontheni au,l lui.^trni Countiefi,un(l minhirh/ {2Sth >— OV this the ultimate success and permanent interest of the Calendar will depend.— Ed. April 28— Oil this day one pair of our ruguLir visitors (Martins) reappeared and on „ 29 - the second pair turned up, l)ut it was not till ]\Iay 9— that the third pair arrived. Now every morning I pass the three nests built by the above trio. Last year the first pair stayed with us till the end of October, the second and thnd pairs left for more hospitable climes about the middle of October. Martins seem far more plentiful than they were last year, at least two nests being occupied for the Hrst time for two or three years. 9_I saw my first Swifts to day. 24 — During a country walk saw and heard several Whitethroats, also young of Starlings, Hedge-Sparrows, and Yellow-Hammers. H. M., Luton, Beds. l_Pair of Greater Whitethroats, Hazeleigh. 7 Redstart i cT ) at Hazeleigh ; another seen at Danbury on May 23rd. This species is always scarce here „ 18— Lesser White throat (a pair,) Hazeleigh . 23 — Spotted Flycatcher at Hazeleigh, another single specimen seen on the 23rd. I suppose the cocks arrive before the hens, as in the case with Nightingales. It is so with many of our other migrants '? 0. H. R., Hazeleigh, Essex, May 27, 1913 — ■■ Reviews and Notices of New Books. Tfie Yeak Hook ok thk iMenackkik Ci.ii!, Edited t.y U. Tyrwhitt-Drake, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 200 pages and many excellent photographic repro- ductions. 2/6 net, from the Hon. Sec. Cobtree Manor, Maidstone. This Year Book is well got up and contains much interesting matter regarding the keeping of animals in captivity and is the second Y'ear Book of Club. It contains the following articles frjm members : Prejvalysky's Horse; Notes on Monkeys ; White-tailed (inu ; Spotted Hyena; Owls in Captivity ; Badgers ; Bears ; Trail of the Pigmy Hippo; Some Foreign Birds in Captivity ; Park Sheep ; American Bison Bull ; Fossa ; Caracal ; Siberian Fox; Fat-tailed Sheep of Afghanistan; INIongoose; andReptilesin Captivity. Each article illustrated by one or more photographic reproductions of the living creature described, and is comprehensive and informative as to description etc., and how to keep. Tt is ,t, book which we cordially commend to every animal lover, whether as pets in captivity or at home in their native wilds. Books Received : Rkpout of the Zooi-ogical Society oe London ; The CoNDOK ; Animals Undek British Rule. Bool- Kofi CCS and Reviews. 191 Oi!\irii(ti.(i(;i(\i, I?ki'(ii;t. I'.Hl': ITpju'ii!, Rev. AV. J. Constal.k'. ham Sri ool. X.S.S. P incijial This report makes most iiik'restini,' i'( cate this will be to i-e])i'ii'.t tlic secretary^ (( a fi'W of tlio ol)S('rvati<.!i notes.- ". A.lloi- t the hcst wa.\ 1, Ks.|.).ivpoi-t to iml , an.lals "In many wavs this has 1)ch'ii a remarkable season, the nnnsual "warmth of the weather dniin^f March ami Ajn-il induced the majority of "the birds round U])pini/ham to commeneti their nesting operations from "a fortnight to :'> weeks earlier than usual, owing to which the number of "expeditions of the Ornithological Section were largely curtailed. It " seems that this year a change has taken i)lace, as regards the species of "birds that usually take up their sum-ner residence in the neighbourhood "of Uppingham. Bii-ds which have in former years been comparatively "rare, have this year sup|)lanted those which have always been reported "as common. This is es])ecially noticeable with regard to White throats. •■ \\\ I91II only one nest of the Lesser Whitethioat containing 5 eggs was "i'oun.l. This year se\eral birds have b-eii noticed, and their nests and "eggs found, though the Greater Whitethroat is still comparatively scarce, " There has also been an extraordinary decrease in the Swallows, not only " in Uppingham, it seems, but in most places in Enghand. But, on the "other hand, many more Nightingales have been heard this year than be " fore.- and Fjittle Owls have become so common that 2 or 3 nests have "been found on nearly every expedition, and an edict has been issued for " their destruction, as it is asscjtcd that they do a great deal of harm by " taking young phea.sants and ]),-utiidges, and to them is attributed the "marked decrease of small l)ii(ls in the environs of Uppingham. " On the whole the results of the expediti(mshave been profitable, and "some good nests have been found " " Little Owi. {Atlicne uortna) : nest and young, Stockerston, June 4th, C.A. H. ; nest, Seaton, H.W.J. ; nest, 4 young, ]\Iay 2(5th, beyond Glaston rail- way, T.R. ; nest and 5 eggs. Glaston Hollows. May 12th, A.G.X. ,- nest and young. Stoke Wood, T W.I).; 3 young, Stockerstoji, P.G.C. ; nest 1 young 3 eggs, Wardley, H.N.T." "LONGTAILED TiT (Ar,Y.hf/^i nunhil,,] : seen, ]\[arch26th, Wardley, C.A.H.; nest, Maynth. (ilast< n, and dune 4th. Wakerley, TR.; nest, Glaston, May 25th, A.G.N.; nest an.l e-gs. March 17th, Wardley, H.N.I." "Me.vdow Pii'ii- (.l//////'.s- /n-ntn() : nest, 2 eggs. May 11th, Bisbrooke. 192 Correspondence. C.A.H.; nest and 5 eg:srs, May 25th, r.histon, T.R.; nest and 4 eggs, May 20th, Caldecott, A.G.N." "Willow Wren {Fhyllnncopits frnchlluH) : heard and seen, April 10th, C.A H.; nest and eggs, Brooklands, May 19th, T.R.; nest, 7 eggs, Glaston A.G.X.; nest, 4 eggs. Stoke Wood, T.AV.D ; nest and eggs, Gipsy Lane, H.N.I." The species are arranged alphaheticaly nnder headings : (a) Residents {h) Summer Visitors. ('•) Winter Visitors, and is entirely the work of boys^ the result eertaiiil.y speaks very eloquently of the careful training the pupils receive from the principal and his assistants. Correspondence. NESTING OF RUSTYCHEEKEDiBABBLER (Ponuitorhluiiser?/fh7-nffe)iyg), etc. Sir.- As promised. T am sending yon a photo of the Babblers' nest. It was built of sticks and stalks, and was almost as big as an English Wood Pigeon's. The eggs were white, two in number, and the size and shape of an English Starling's. The birds sat very steadily for eighteen days, when I decided to see if there were any results. To my disappointment the eggs contained dead chicks which should evidently have been hatched some days previously. The east winds at the time were probably the cause of the failure. The Babblers have again built, but, so far, no eggs have appeared. In the next aviary a large Black-faced Yellow Weaver (species unknown) has mated up with a Chrome Yellow Weaver hen {species also unknown"), and have hung a large nest from the aviary roof; the hen has lined this with feathers, and is now sitting on eggs. The Black-faced bird has since built another nest, but still drives all birds away from the nest in which the hen is sitting, even such large birds as Crested Doves ard Fieldfares. As the cock Weaver is larger than the Rufous-necked, and the hen is only the size of the Grenadier, the chance of the eggs being fertile is T am afraid small. The onl}' other happening in my aviaries of any interest is the nesting of the Flame-shouldered Troupial, whose eggs were infertile. Hoping other members are meeting with better luck. WM. SHORE-BATLY. Westburv, Wilts . lO/.^iflP.. SOME INTERESTING NESTS, ETC. Sir. — With reference to your enquiries re the photos sent, the only notes I can send at present are as follows : — Olive Finch {Phmiipnra lepifla). The nest was built in growing wheat suspended more or less from the wheat stalks. The wheat at time of writing is quite two feet higher than when photo was taken, and the nest is completely hidden. The parents are feeding the young on small flies and seed, and the joung will soon be leaving the nest. Cuba Finch (Phouipara canora). The nest is built in Spruce Fir and is constucted entirely of goat's hair, and is a very warm and waterproof structure. A clutch of eggs is being incubated. Troupial. The Flame-shouldered Troupials nest Avas a very neat one, qonstructcd ofgrass and fibre and quite unlined. Four eggs were laid but all jggs W.^\i Co)-rcspo)}(lnire. lOH were infertile. Tliey .\vv MLr.iin nest in;,', witli, I Ikiiic, hcttcr results. riulian Larks {AhuNia ,j„l,n,ln . an.l Kastmi Vai-ici,Mtr,-Jml„pt,'rn,„ nn-),;,ni nw ! ai'e also ncstiiiir. T will s(^ti.l results I:iter. WM. SHORE BATLY. BRIEF NOTES FROM HODDAM CASTLE AVIARIES Sir. T senil y^^w llic rolldwiiiL; news U^v what it is woi-tli. I have two yonnpr TraiU's foiii- or li\i' (lays <>hl, a cross oetweeii a Sarns cock and a Jai)anese Wliite-na]UMl Inn. \ pair of Occipital Bine l^ies are huildint,', and a i)air of Pni-ple Snnliiids are shajjini^ to i)nild. floddani Castle. 2i )/.">/ 1 :'>. Iv .T. BROOK. A BLOOD-STAINED FINCH X CANARY HYBRID. Sir. — So far as T know the above cross has not been recorded before in fact the male i)arent is of a species that seems to be little known. I boujrht the bird of an Ivlinbnr^h dealer as a " Red-headed " Finch. It is certainly not that, and 1 rely for- my ideiitifieaiion on Dr. Butler's book. I think there is no doubt about the bird's species, as the markings and colour ai-rangement agree in every respect. The single offspring closely resembles the male parent in its shape and nls {l'//r„n/i,>fi,ln), Pckin and Bhu; Robins, Dayal Birds, and Shamas. 20 All species Crows, Mynahs, Starlings. Hangnosts, Tronjjials, Cow Birds, Cassiques, and Marsh Birds. 27 Pied, Albino, Lutino, Melanistic, or other abnormally coloured birds, Blue Budgerigars and Foreign Bird Hybrids. 28 All other species not previously mentioned, including Birds of Para- dise, Manucodes, Touracos, Toucans, Trogons, Tyrants. Shirkes, Flycatchers Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Barbets, Pittas and Thrush-like Birds, etc. It will be seen that there is every opportunity for keepers of common as well as rare birds to compete upon fair grounds. Only 402 entries are re- (juired to make a complete success of the experiment and I therefore take the liliertv of asking members of the Foreign Bird Club to endeavour to make it, ])(issibli; to hold a really good show of foreign birds by sending as many entries as they possildy can. ALLEN SILVER. " BIRD NOTES. H.GoodcKad del. HaLi Litlf londoa. ME LB A FINCH (Pytelia. melt a,) RED FACED FINCH (P^rteKa. a.-fra,) All 7ii(/hfs RrsrrvcJ. July, 1913. BIRD NOTES: THE JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB Three Pyteliae By Wesi.ky T. Paoe. F.Z.S., Etc. So far as I know, noii(> of this l)('autiful j^'omis have been bred in Great Rritaiii. It is an African g-oDus. Init the only species I propose rofcM'riny to in those notes are: The Melba Finch (Pyfrlia melha). The Eed -faced Finch (P. afra). The Crimson -winged Finch (P. phonenicopfera). With Mr. Goodcliild's beautiful drawing as our frontis- piece, but little in the way of eulogy will be needed, and most bird -lovers, evon if they have not kept them, have made their acquaintance on the show bench. Melba Finch (Pi/trlia fZonogastrisJ melha). Well as ■this beautiful species is known not a great deal has been written about it, and unfortunately the claims upon my time at this juncture, do not permit of any systematic research or compilation. Captain Shelley states that it fi-ef|uents low Mimosa bushes, mostly in pairs. Mr, Anderson ("Birds of Damara Land") writes: "This "Finch is found sj^aringly in Damara and Great Namaqua "Land, and usually occurs in pairs; its favourite resort is " low bush and abandonerl village fences, whence the Damaras "call it the 'Kraal Bird,' Its food consists of seeds and " insects." Mr. Anderson calls it the Southern Red-faced Finch. M. Heuglin writes: .... "its summer and winter "dress hardly differ. Tt is always found singly or among "clumps of trees, in thick scrub and bushes, dry sandy districts "suit it better than other localities, and it leads a quiet and "retired life. We have not observed it at great elevations, "and just as little on the grassy levels; though it only flies "a few feet at most alwve the ground, it only descends to 196 Three Tyfeliae. " the earth for a second, does not run much here and there "upor. it. It has an extremely ijentle disposition, is in no "respect timid, moreover its monotonous song is only occasion - "aily heard, at the commencement of the rainy f^eason, sound- " ing from the bare parts of the thorn bushes. T have been "able to learn nothing respecting its nesting habits." In response to my enquiry as to the pair of this species under his care while aviary attendant to Mr. Willford, Mr. J. Yealland sends me the following notes: — "The pair of Melba Finches Mr. Willford had, arrived "in the spring and were acclimatised Itirds. They wore turned " into a small aviary and they soon settled down to nest, "nesting in a rush nest, four white eggs were laid, but all "were 'infei'tile, we threw them out and another four were laid "that season, these also were infertile. No more were laid "that season and the birds were sold to Mr. Howe, of Wel- " linglwrough, but he lost the hen." " As regards their behaviour, they were the only pair " in the aviary, so I cannot say how they would treat other "birds. In my outdoor aviary here at Binstead, they are " inclined to be a bit quarrelsome. There are about 70 birds "in the aviary including, Tanagers, Serins, Grassfinches and "'Mannikins. The Melbas boss the lot at the seed tray; but " I have not seen them actually chase the other birds about "the aviary. They sit on the branches and sing a sort of "warble. During 'the past twelve months I have had 28 " Melba Finches, but unfortunately very few hens come over. " I find them easy to establish, eating a lot of Indian millet "at first, and I have found it necessary to keep a large pot "of this in their cage, tliey also eat canary and white millet, "and are fond of chewing a mealworm. Are there two species "of these? I have one quite different from the others, much "darker in colour, and spangled differently: it is the only one ' I have had like it." [Apparently a Red-faced Finoh (P. wfra) — Ed]. I have observed this species many times in the aviary and have found them somewhat lethargic, not anything like so vivacious as the Aurora Finch for instance; still, they arenot really dull birds and their great beauty, coupled with the difficulty of getting them, cause them to be much sought after, Three ri/feJiae. 197 T must qualify tli«^ alvovo 1>\- sl.itin^- fliaf fliiTf Iiavo boon a fair supply on tlio inarkct (Imiii','- flic past fwchc inonflis, but juices have ruled lnc:h. A description is not r-allod foi- with sufli a frontispiece to i-efer'to, save to sfafc that tlio romalc is diillor, A\-ith tlio scarlet of the head ie|ila<(vl wilh asliy iri-cy; tliroat pale asliy indistinetly harrcd ■\\i1li wliito: no yellow on tlie foi'e-neck and lu-east. and the scalinys or liaii'iny's of the undersurfacc less distinct. The studies for our plate were made from Mr. Howe's specini'^n when (>.\hihito(l at the L.C.B.A. Horticul- tural Hall Show. Rkd-fac'ed FiNcn (Pi/feh'a afra). The distinctions be- tween the two species are clearly shown on the plate, and aq-ain description is uncalled for. it Avill suffice to say that the female difTei\s from the male in beinff duller coloured and havini,' no red on the forehead, face, and throat. Even less appears to be recorded about this species than the preceding- one. The late Herr Wiener possessed four of this species, but although they made themselves at home in his aviaries, constructing a slovenly kind of nest ' in a box, in which they sat for hours during the day, there was no result. They were fed on millet and canary seed and millet in the ear. They were amiable and lived for years quietly with 'Bicheno's Finches. There is little doubt Imt that the nesting economy and general characteristics of this species w^ould be similar to r. meJha\ as also should be theii' treatment in cage or aviary. Our illustration is from a skin in the Natural History Museum. HaHfal: " Loango Coast into Benguela, E. Africa from " Nyassaland to Southern Abyssinia," "Shelley's Birds of Africa." I have left questions of nomenclature and synonyms severely alone as the time at my disposal did not permit) my going into the matter, thoi-oughly, but I may return to the subject in a future issue. TuK ritTMSox-wixoKD Fix l>een sent to me for identification at various times, have l)een scaled almost as regularly and distinctly as a Spice Finch, while in others the barrings are only to be discerned when the bird is still and fairly close to the observer, and the white of tlie abdomen and under tail coverts is replaced by a bufiish-grey, scarcely lighter than the other portion of the lower surface; these variations have also been present in specimens that have in- habited my aviaries at various times. Beak, black; legs and feet, light brown; iris, red. Total length, 4^7 to 4i; inches. Adult female: Slightly smaller in size, more ashen in colour, the red portions of the plumage are duller, and the barrings less distinctly defined; also her beak is narrower at the base than that of the male, but unless the birds are tame enough to permit of comparison in the hand, this is very diffi- cult to determine; at the same time the difference is readily noted when comparing sexed skins. P. phmiicoptera is the type of the genus, which the late Dr. A. C. Stark gives as follows; "Bill slender, cone shaped and lengthened; culmen "swollen and slightly arched. Nostrils hidden by nasal plumes. "Wings rounded, the distance between the tips of the primaries " and the tips of the secondaries less than the le.igth of t" e tarsus; "the first quill very small. Tail short, graduated. Tarsi *Most of the feathers of the upper s^urfage hiiVQ their tips edged with either dull red, or ruddy brown, " scutollated a litei •ioiiy. F ec 1 V(> ry " includes t.\v,> Ive specj' )!■ We a\- " bushes aii.l rai ■rl\ V' •ivl 1 1IIU( ■li " sonicwli; it nil DUO lolKlUS SOI i,i^'. am (1 , "their h; ibits. .t Thosr ■^1 )('( ■ie-; ^^ " been ob s('r\ I vl build ( loUl 10(1 1 IK ■s(: "aiitl lav thr( ■;• ( >v loiii' w hil Ic e .^.-1 Tlircc Pi/teliae. 199 niiill. The genus Pytcliu, • liiii'lies. They frequent )ii the ground,* have a ■(■ yentle and conliding in whose nesting habits have )!' dry grass in bushes, I procured a pair of these birds in the early suniiuer of IDOCi (having only previ- ously possess/d two odd mules), and this article except the last paragraph, i-el'crs mostly to this pair; on arrival I found them in ralh.'r poor paimagr, Iml, api)arently healthy. They were put into owe of my outdoor llights, and in about a month were in line condttioii. They at once settled down to nesting and built in a ilartz-cage at the top of the flight, which was wi'U screened with twigy branches, and were sitting hard, wheu by an uiifortunate oversight on my part they escaped owing to being cabed away suddenly 1 leit a small flap open, and these birds and their companions (six pairs of uncommon birds), at once found their liberty in the garden; one pair and tAvo odd birds were recaptured, but unfortunately the Auroras were not. To my mind l/i. lUiss did not exaggerate when he described the Aurora- A slrild as one of the most exquisite of the Oi'iiamciital Finches. To ,-ee it in the aviary, flitting about in the sunlight, and making play to its mate, is certainly a sight to be remembered, and 1 do not wonder at his speak- ing of it as ravishing; it certainly cannot be fitly described in a few tame words. As the male bird makes his play, the glancing light bedecks his chaste and lovely garment as with jewels. Tlu; love dance itself is both entertaining and interesting, as with excited curtseys he hops round the female with his tail spread, and erected almost perpendicularly. This co/ntmues for some little time, when the female begins to mince on her toes, the male's movements become similar, and they thus gradually come together a's though drawn magnetically. While the lov^e sport goes on, both birds utter a monoton- ous but not unpleasant " tsit, tsit." The male's short song is *They are strictly arboreal as iiihabit.aiits of the aviary, only stopping on the giomid for feeding piu'poses. jThis is also their demeanour in the aviary. 200 Three Pyteliae. merely one or two single, and rather mellow flute like sounds. Dr. Euss succeeded in breeding these charming birds; four eggs were laid and incubation lasted twelve days. Nest- ling plumage dull blackish blue -grey, barred on the under surface; shoulders, margins of wings, and tail, dull red; beak, horn grey; legs blackish. The change to adult plumage is a slow and gradual one. While Dr. C. S. Simpson considers this bird harmless but uninteresting, the late Erskine AUon {Avic. Mag., Ser. 1, Vol. III., page 125), eulogises it as follows: "This is my favourite bird and I always keep four "or live pairs at least. Confidirig, good-natured, and never " ill when once acclimatised, I know no species that nests so "readily, so successfully, arid with such regularity. The( "pairs generally use coco-riut shells for nesting-boxes, placed "side by side, and they are absolutely fearless. I have known "a hen continue sitting wiiile the top of the nesting box was "being scraped.'' I cannot trace that Mr. AUon ever pub- lished any account of young birds actually reared, though the above implies this; most aviculturists get no farther than eggs. While perhaps not going quite so far as Mr. Allon they are certainly most handsome and entertaining birds, and 'should be in every collection of Waxbills and Finches. As regards diet, my bii'ds bad access to ripe fruit, my usual soft food mix;ture, sponge cake, canary, white and spray millet, and they took a little of each; were very eager for an occasional meal- worm, and nearly went wild with delight over a blighty spray of rose foliage. They took a very thorough daily bath. They settle down fairly quickly, and soon recognise the one who supplies their needs, and if they do not often actually come and take an insect from the band, they will soon take a meal- worm six inches from your feet when cast on the ground. I may be a faddist, but finding they seldom or never picked at the cuttlefish, I always kept a supply of the same coarsely crushed; this sprinkled on the sand appeared to help them considerably in getting through the moult. They were about half way through this when they came into my possession. They are sun -loving creatures, and only seek shelter for a brief space about midday. I may say in conclusion that they were kept in my greenhouse bird room, in an enclosure 5 feet by 2\ feet by Mil hnfian Consifjnmcnt. 201 7MiH'i lii,-ii. I iiiid llieso ciic-losurcs answer well, Imt I should say tlu\v li;i\-.' \vi);' It'll ccilinij^s six inches I)eluw tiie ylass. Dui'iiig 1 !M 2 a |aii-, kindly presented to me by Dr. llopkinsoii, nested in my ont-door aviary at Mitcham. The nest was a Imlky, niitiily, yet substantial dome-sliapcd struc- tui'e, with a smalli>li hole at the side, fixed in the foi'l<,' of a lar-' elder liiisli al a heiylit of 11 feet alxjve tlie gj'ouiid. Three yonny l)irds were duly hatched ont and (lew, but 1 ^\•as away from home at the time and cannot say if they lived long enouyli to fend for themselves, as they disappeared and the parents also died during October. The plumay.' of the above nestlings was dark bluish- grey with somewhat indistinct barrings on the under surface of body. My Indian Consignment, By JMajok G. A. Pebreau, ^\Z.S. {Continued from page 168). I find on looking through my list that with the excep- tion of fairly commonly imported birds and those that have been or will ])e mentioned, in " J3irds about the Station " there is little left to say about the birds themselves. 1 am told an account of the actual collecting will be acceptable to our members. Whatever the account may be, I am sure that the actual experience would prove so entrancing that he would not be satisfied with a single experience, always pro- vided he did not mind really hard work, and that he did not expect to make the expedition pay. Also, he must be pre- pared for numberless worries and disappointments. I should have a great admiration for the man who foresaw and took precautions against half the worries he would get but I should still more envy his luck if half his precautions proved effect- ive. Perhaps my " halves " are rather exaggerations as naturally unforeseen accidents and disobeyed orders, which may mean so very much, are apt to assume undue proportions and the hundred and one things which have gone all right are taken as a matter of course. There really ought to be two to make a good collec- tion, as one should remain at headquarters to look after birds 202 My Indian Consignment. already captured. There may be little or no trapping to be done, close to headquarters and then one has to trust to luck as to what may be brought in and thus loses the most interest- ing part of collecting, viz.: the actual trapping. This is the reason that as a rule hens are far harder to get at home than cocks, even with birds that are fairly well known. In many cases the trappers do not know the hens, though frequently they will not acknowledge this, and one gets the most ill as- sorted birds brought in as a pair, — for some strange reason the Sahib wants pairs, and who are we to disappoint him? One day a Crow -Tit was brought in as the hen of a "White-headed Shrike -Babbler, in spite of the difference in beaks, and the former had made its beak noticed. The next day a Eusty- cheeked and Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler were said to be a pair. Some m^n are not quite so bad; and at any rate I have found the natives better at trapping than at looking after their captures, and so I had to forego trapping to a large ex^'^nt, and had usually reason to regret it when I did indulge myself. This applies chiefly to my Darjeeling trip. My bungalow at Bakloh makes an ideal headquarters as trapping is good quite close. I seem to be getting on a bit too fast. What I wanted to lay stress on was the advisability of collect- ing with a companion if possible, though for an attempt like this I must confess that it would not be easy for anyone to find a really suitable companion, hastily adding that of course married couples count as one and cannot be separated at any rate in wild and solitary places. AVhen found th.e fortunate two would have a most decided advantage over the sinigle collector, expenses would not be anything like doubled, results would be much more than doubled, and the worries (bar rows) would be more than halved. In fact even if the componpnt parts were not ideally suitable a combination is strongly to be recommended. Even in a small amateur venture like mine, where the object was to get a varied collection of rarities home, with the smallest percentage of deaths possible, it is astonishing how much there is of organization and arrangement herefnafter to be called "bundobust" (both "us" as in gun more cor- rectly spelt with "as" instead of "us"). First there is the caging and all that apertains thereto, Mjl ]ii(fi(in ('()ii!ii()>nitcnt . 203 a most, iiiipoi'laiit liraiicli. iiicalinijr olV, what I iiii|,'-|il call stock. and travelling cages aii rc(|niio a gix'at iical 'oT tliiiikiiit;- imi, especially if one has to pay a good deal of altciifion to culling down expenses, luiviiig due regard to eilicieiicy. 'J'lu; birds must have sunieicnt i-ooni, yet freightage has to be considered, very much so. Tinie spent in one's leisure moments (not many nowadays) (.n devising and carrying out little labour- saving jims brings its rewai'd later, especially on board shij), where one has !(■ do eA'crything oneself. Even one's hirctl men appreciate such tilings, when they once have got the hang of them. In my travelling cages fo)- small insectivorous birds, which have to be carried in separate compartments, ihere ai'e six compartments in a row ; to save labour one tin is made to serve two compartments. On a journey one cannot be always opening doors to put in food and water. A two -inch bar of wood runs all along the bottom part of the front of the cage, leaving a half -inch gap for trays. In these Cood- bars as I call them, arc cut five holes to take the tins, four by one and a quarter inches, placed so that each of the six compai'tments has half a tin. Each tin has a strip of tin sol- dered across the middle, this reaches neither to the top nor to the bottom, and does not interfere with cleaning, but does stop birds going into another compartment. The outer com- partments have smaller holes; two by one and a quarter. towards the outer ends. The compartment divisions are of wood for two and a half inches from the bottom, leaving a half -inch gap necessary for the trays, which for this cage run three to a row and are all interchangaable. In these division -bars at the front end are cut holes to take the tins, which are a trifle und(,'r two and a half inches wide. Along these bars through staples or better still between right angle screws (men^tioned later) runs a bit of punched Ijar " front " one inch wide. The bottom wire is prolonged to go through a groove in the food bar and turned up into a convenient sort of little handle just in front of the bottom of the food itin. When the tin is pulled out, this prevents birds going mto other compartments; short strips of punch bar soldered at right angles to the slide so as to rest just behind the tin prevent the birds getting out. I fear this is not very clear and may seem difficult to make, but in these days of punched 204 My Indio/n Consignment. bars and easy soldering it really is better to make, at any rate the patterns, one.self, and these slides are very easy if a fair number are made at the same time. I hardly fancy it would be of general interest, as it is I think I have gone into detail too much, or I should be only too glad to go into full detail with rough sketches and method of procedure. But to get on, the tins are held in place with right angle screws or simple turn-down wire. By this method I make seven tins do the work of twelve, no mean saving of labour, and my sliding jim saves me from anxiety as regards escapes. The small holes are covered by a bit of tin soldered to the angle screw. These tins provide food and water; for live food a small tin is hung inside between the other tins; into this, mealworms, etc., are shoved through the wire by means of small surgical forceps. The latter are invaluable, especially for those with female belongings, who are kind enough to take a hand, but who have no special love for mealworms and still less for the etceteras. The remainder of my fronts and partitions are of punched bar front. Each compartment has a small door and I am liberal with the punched bar, as coolies are very fond of trying (succeeding only in one's absence) to lift cages with their Angers through the wire near the side. I lost my dear old pair of Hanging Parrakeets in this way on the way down out of a cage made in England. This and another which were supposed to be made somewhat after an ancient pattern of mine were the chief worry on the way home. Weak wiring and huge doors opening all the way up accounted for several escapes. The catch would have allowed for several more had I not wired up the doors only opening them to give baths. The perches (made from an ancient jim of mine but spoilt out of recognition) came out only too easily but were the very mischief to put back till I i fixed them up. The trays (beautifully enamelled) stuck and the tins stuck, and nothing was interchangeable. The various catches only caught when they were not wanted to. Finally the perches were splintery and every bird in those cages became afllicted more or less with sore feet, the only cases I had. By closing up I managed to do without these cages, 'and I gave them"; to a steward, I ought really to have thrown them over- il/// hidiax ('oiiKi(jn)iient. 205 boara. Nearly all (ii' we exclude those due to tin; misliap at Calais) of the casuulties l>olh (hiriii,i,'' the vuyayc and shortly after arrival oceuri'cd ainonyst liiids which had liccii in those cag-es, which is cuidoiis as tlicse birds were liy no means the must delieate. My own perches, two in number, run the wliole length of a row. I'he tronl one is al>oul le\el with the tins and about half an inch Irojn them. It is round y inch and passes. through \ inch holes in the right side and partitions; the left end whicii is tapered near the tip is jammed into and slightly through a 'juartei' inch hole at the left side of the cage. The back perch is a bit lai'ger, rectangular, witli tlie edges just rountletl uQ' and is jammed in the same way. Terches were frecjuently cleaned; to this and to frequent i)atiis f at- tribute my freedom from sore feet. I3ath cages to hang on the front were made to "nest" as were the baths themselves. 1 only had eight but would have been glad of a few more, another half dozen would have taken up little more room. The wood frame of the cage is made of ■■ inch pine, except the side pieces which are | inch. This sounds heavy but ordinary cage wood will not stand the knocking about getting to the railway, even if it would stand the journey aftei'wards. Freight in India is charged by bulk, as indeed it is on the ship. Mail trains may refuse to take packages measuring over eight cubic feet. Rope handles are fitted near the top of each side piece, and they are highly appreciated by the coolie when he has been shown what they are there for, and after he has been shown firmly and perhaps even forcibly that it is not the right thing to carry cages on his head. I had light curtains in fi'ont but found that I preferred bird with nerves slightly on edge (and they soon get used to being stared at from a few inches olf) to cages being neatly piled up on their backs or fronts and tore olf these dangerous attachments. Since leaving them off, I have had no cages damaged by brute force. All my cages are made in pairs so that by putting them face to face, practically touching at night I can retire with an easy mind as regards cats and rats. I spent a good part of my second night on board first of all watching the efforts of a rat, and later those of one of the ship's cats, and came to the conclusion that there was nothing to fear from either of these pests. 206 ^^y liiiJ^n Consignment. My cages take to pieces, being screwed together. When screwed, the fronts are lixed; I do not believe in talcing risks, and at any rate for a rail journey I fasten the doors with tine wire twisted tight with the jjliers, and the twisted part cut off fairly close. The wire partitions have a wire near each end slightly prolonged at the top to fit into two holes at the top of the cage, one wire near the middle is pro- longed and is bent a little outwards and then down into a longish narrow loop to go over a screw eye in the wood part of the partition on the side away from the slide. The wire part can be quickly put on or off wlien the perches and the tray have been removed. In my latest pattern the partition, when not in use, is kept at the back or side by means of similar holes and a screw eye. When I have mentioned that my tins have flanges at the side and that all parts are inter- changeable, J think there is little more to be said about the general idea of my travelling cage. P'or certain birds I may put a bit of punched bar front over the tray, but otherwise for insectivorous birds requiring separate compartments T am very well satisfied with it. I mentioned right-angled screws, and as I rliink it ({uite likely that the Editor will politely l)ut firmly intimate that cages are taboo for a bit, I had l)etter explain myself in this instalment and for this I make no apology, as many will find it useful, and though it may be stale, I lay claim to independent discovery. First catch your Nettlefold's patent pointed tinned iron sci'ew eye, an inch one can be manipulated, but a half-inch or even smaller is the easier and is as likely to prove useful. C.'rip the screw part firmly with a large pair of pliers in the left hand, then with a smaller pair gripping the metal inside n.early at right angles with the screw. The open end of the ring with a bold bend back till the near part of the ring is nearly at right angles with the screw. The open end of the ring can be seen fairly easily. With the large pliers bend out any kinks by putting the kink between the pliers and squeezing out the kink. Take care not to bend back too far as it takes a very slight bend back towards the original posi- tion to break the eye. The curled tip may be used as a sort of luuulle or it may be straightened out or cut off to taste. I like doors to my nest boxes, you probably do not but if you SI rows I mil - cfTusioii a]K)u( a. sii •^h^ . ■.•|i;'( , 1 f« Ml/ I>i(h'a» Co)>si(j)i))friif . 207 Oiiii,-- T III ink you will find poll, -is.' lor Miis h'ngtliy niily ;i lew will he inter- ested lu it and tlioso I'ow w il I |.ri)li,ilily be til ink iii.i;- of an old pro- verb concerning egg^' and a ,i;ianny. T soniowhaf lonipor my apologj' by mentionin,^'- that 1 shall probaMy lot myself go on cages again if I gv't lln' change, cxcu-ing niys(df on the grounds that I hav(^ had it fhci-oii^iily 1 (irnc in on mo how very important good caging is in its i'D'rri on niorlality of foreign liii-ds. It i-i not the d.>aloi' or cxi)erionccd colloiMor that 1 lla^•o in my mind"s ryo, but rather the man with a friend in foreign ])aiis, whc' trii'-; t'l get home small con- signments by a ship's butclior. The .fi'iend probably does not know too mucfi about birds and the wretched butcher gets only an hour or two of pcidiaps not vory clear coaching, and he may consider himself lucky to get that, and what hap- pens as a rule is, a cat or a rat takes half the first night out or a lot get out through a door being h^ft open. The casual- ties are directly preventible by good caging. Other and even more deadly causes of casualties are soi-e feet and Various dis- eases brought on by dirt, and good caging has decidedly an indirecf effect of giving time to cloan up. vSuch consignments ^vould be a lioon, but they can hardly lie looked on as suc- cesses as a rule at pi-esont. I am not trying to "get at" anyone. Many years ago 1 got out a consignment of hardy seed-eaters from home. I happened to look at the cage they came in just before my dej^arture from India, and I shuddered, and yet that dealer had done his best I know. Thaid<:s to the chief officer of the ship I really got a 'fair number. My first venture home with Indian birds was miserably 'caged, and I had kept birds all my life. P.y dint of real hard work I should not have done so badly but for want of live food. I was offering a penny apiece for cockroaches without suc- cess, but had I had more time I might have got just a few daily myself and saved a lew more birds, as I hadonly a small consignment. Not that I did so very badly then, but no one with other work to do could have landed any except perhaps some of the seed -eaters. I really must stop now% but caging is a subject I feel very strongly about, not altogether from the sentimental point 208 Some InieresUng Birds. of view, because I know what a minute portion of the wastage in bird life is due to catching. I must take a grip of myself or I shall be off on another of my hobbies. I believe our harassed Editor will take most of this, unless it is too late, as he tells me he is rather short of copy this month or there are others who are also late. "We really treat our energ-etic Editor rather badly, and like a good many people who seem to like work he gets put upon. To he continued. Some Interesting Birds. By Wesley T. PaCxE, F.Z.8. Illustrated from Life, by H. WlLLFORD, Continued from page 165. SiLVEEY-CRowNED Fetar Btrds (PhUcmon (jrgenfieeps) : In April, 1908, Messrs. Payne and Wallace imported of the Australian Honey-eaters four of this species and one Dusky Mynah or Obscure Honey-eater. All of these came into my possession. These specimens I believe to be not merely the first imported, but the only specimens ever brought to Europe alive. The Friar Birds were first sent to the Zoo- one pair presented, and one pair on deposit— where they did well and two are still living; they soon improved in appear- ance, and throve on their diet of milk sop, banana, soft food and mealworms. This species is one of the least beautiful of the five species enumerated by Gould in his " Birds of Aus- tralia," viz.. The Common, Helmeted, Silvery-crowned, Yellow- throated, and Sordid; all of which he places in the genus Tropidorhynchus . "For the first knowledge of this species of Tnipidorhipichiix, science " is indebted to the late Mr. Bynoe, Surgeon of H.M. Surveying ship, " " Beagle," who, on my visiting Sydney, placed his specimens at my dis- " posal ; after my retnrn other examples were sent to me by Sir George "Grey. Bynoe's specimens were all obtained during the Survey of the " north-west coast, a portion of Australia, the natural productions of which " are but little known ; and Sir George Gre^y's during his expedition into " the interior, from the same coast Of its habits and economy " nothing is known ; but as it is very nearly allied to the Common Friar Bird " (T. coruiviilatuii), we may reasonably conclude that they are very similar. " Description : Crown of the head silver;y-grey ; the remainder of the head Bird Notes. ritntu from life b,/ 11. WiUurd. Silvery-crowned Friar- Bird, f^owr hitrrcf^f'mq Birds. 200 " iiiiked, iuid of ;i l)l;i<-kisli liin"ri : lliroiit ami all tlio under surface white; "l)ack. win?, and tail hrowii ; liill and foet blackish hrown. Total length •■ W, inches : hill 1;! : wint,' ">,', ; tail \\: tarsi 1", (C uih/'x IVnuh of Aus^tralin ••Vol. 1.)." A f;iirly oxtondod ;i('(!u;i iiif;mro with fhi'^ spooios, en- ;il>h^s i)i(>, aftiM' i'(\uli)iir (louM's acooimt of th(^ Common Friar P.ifd, fl);ni which ho states fhci'o aia^ f(n\' hii'ds morn familiarly known i)i N-S. A^^■^los, U^ draw the conoliisioti that tho Iiabits and oro!iomy of lh(^ Silv(M-y rrownod and Common Friar Birds must lie vory similar. Oould duhs thom a remarkable g-enus, nnd T am assui'od that all who ci-ct an opportunity of viowin.g' those birds in tlio Wes;torn Aviary at the Zoo. will ag'ree with him: as T do affi>r havin.c: thom under observation in one of my bird-i-oom enclosures, and also in tho aviary. Vernacular names: The bare skin areas of the head and n'^ck have secured for the ^enus the names of " Friar Bird," "Monk," "Leather Head," Avhile yet another very appropriate one suggests itself to me, viz., Vulture -headed Honey-eater. As regards description, that given by Gould is quite accurate, save that I should describe the throat and under surface as hoary and not white. In a state of nature they frequent the tops of very lofty trees, their flight i-^ undu'ating and powerful; they are very agile among the branches and can assume almost any position with ease. " Its food consists of the pollen of the KHCiihn>li, insects, and wild fips " and herri(>s. {aovhV!^ Binh of A iiHfraVm, Vol. 1 .)." In the aviary its undulating and powerful flight, and clinging attitudes are both Tit- and Parrot-like, this strikes oiK^ at once: no position seems to come amiss to it, whether on tho upi^oi'oi' underside of perch or branch or clinging with ooo or both feet. The Friar-Bird shows to great advantage when catching moalwoimis on tho wing, the wonderful swallow-like flight is then soon to gi-oat advantage, as they rise and fall or wheel to and fro to catcli what has been tlirown up, and so adept are they, that it is quite an exception for them to miss their prey. The nest of the Si' verv -crowned does not yet appear to have been described or T have overlooked it, but that of the Oommcn Friar Gould describes as rudely constructed, cup- shaped and of large size; composed outwardly of string bark 210 Some Iniercsting Birds. and wool, to which succeorls a layer of fme twig-s lined with grasses and fibrous roots, the whole l)eing- suspended to the horizontal 'branch of an apple- (AngopJiora) or gum-tree with- out the least regard to secrecy, frequently within a few feet of the ground. Eggs, usually thre(^ in number and of a pale salmon -colour, with zninute darker spots. Here, again, one appears to be fairly safe in assuming that the nest and eggs, etc., of the Silvery-crowned would be similar. In a state of nature Gould states they are almost gre- garious, the nests are so numerous and in such close proximity; though in the breeding season they become very animated and fierce, readily attacking Crows, Hawks, and Magpies that may venture near the nest ■. In the aviary the Silvery -crowned soon gave indications that the two pairs would soon have to be separated, and I have no he station in saying that it would not be possible to keep two adult pairs in the same enclosure in captivity. I am pleased to say that three of the quartet referred to are still alive, two of them (l)oth males) at the London Zoo can be regularly seen disporting themselves in the Western Aviary, where they delight visitors with their dexterity in catching insects on the wing, their beautiful flight and hand- some, if s:omewhat sombre, plumage. While a pair of them remained in my possession they proved most interesting and but for the breaking up of my aviaries in 1910, and the death of the hen, while fresh aviaries were going up, I think they would have bred, as they gave every indication of doing so. On one occasion the cock bird escaped while they were being trans- ferred from the birdroom to the outdoor aviary. It at once flew away to some distance and I gave it up for lost. It was out of sight for longish periods, though its weird and strange cries, sounding most un-English, were frequently re- peated with about ten to fifteen minutes silent intervals. I presume it must have attracted much attention and wonder. Fortunately for me, after six hours of liberty, it returned, and went into the greenhouse -birdroom, flew into its enclosure, the door of M'hich I had left open and quickly settled down on a perch, to my very great relief. Though the period of its liberty was a most anxious one for me — a commingling of much interest and anxietv— was softened in a measure by the Bird Xotp:s. Phnt<,frn,n life hij II. II V/Z/i/rJ. j The Superb Tanager. So'}ne tnlercstbif) Birds. 211 periods (about luilf-hour) of observation I g^ot of it, dis- l)ortiiig itself amony the trees of my neiglibours' gardens. 'I'll is species, though plainly clad, is very handsome and striking even in a siinall flight; but jsoeing it thus disporting itself at large among tiie tops of my neighbours' fruit trees, was the sight of a life-time — It was a bit of Australian wild lil'i' enacted in a London suburb — and will ever be green in my memory; it certainly was some compensation for the anxiety I endured while it was at large. Plain! its beauty was simply marvellous, and though it is a large bird its deportment was Tit -like, with a beautii'ul Swallow-like Uight. Its attitude was also very striking, as it stood on the topmost twigs of some high tree, with its head thrown well back, utter- ing its loud weird cries, which were answered by the female (her's being quite different) and to this fact I attribute its return. The cries were also uttered while it indulged in a sort of wheeling-flight around the tree tops. After losing the hen, I let Mr, Willford have the cock by way of exchange — after he had observed it and secured several photographs of it, he also parted with it, but I Delieve it is still fit and well, and a soui-ce of much injterestj in a Chiswick aviary at the present time. In one of Mr. Willford's rocmy flights its general demeanour, deportment, etc., was most interesting, while its flight was admired by all, though the quiet beauty of its plumage did not appeal to all. The Australian Honey -eaters are a large and variable group of birds, many of them with really brilliant plumage, varying in size from a Sparrow to that of a large Thl'ush. The Friar -Birds {Philemon) are but a small genus of a most interesting group of birds; they improve upon acquaintance, and given suitable accommodation, are a source of continuous interest. From my experience of the Australian Honey -eaters I am convinced that nearly all the species would thrive on milk sop, soft food, soft ripe fruit and live insects, such as meal- worms, beetles, cockroaches, grasshoppers, etc. Their cage or enclosure should be a roomy one. The Supkrb Tanagkr {Calliste fastuosa). Tanagers are a group of birds, clad almost without exception in irides- 212 Some Interesting Birds. cent, hues of gorgeous tropical colours, and their ijluraaar etc.), ,nid inseetil(> mixture — most Tanagers are i'oiid of milk-so]* and I lu'lieve it to Ijo good| for Miem, but they do well without it. The cage should be a. roomy one, as th(\v aic large eaters and get over fat, if the conditions, of their domieih' is not favoura)>Ic to exercise. The charm of the vSup(Mb is not contined to being kept in a cage, foi- if he be ideal there, he is glorious in a roomy out-door aviary, as lie (lies to and from the sun lighting up his glittering garment witii indescribable gorgeous beauty. Pro- viding the aviary has a suitable shelter they can be left out of door.s all the year round, and are so kept in many aviaries in the neighbourhood of London. In a state of nature Tanagers frequent the tops of tall trees, but descend to feed upon ripe fruit and also to nest. The nests of CaJUsle are open cup -shaped structures, but very few of them ai^pear to have been described. According^ to W. A. Forbes, this species is peculiar to Pernambuco and he writes concerning it: " It is a species often seen, too, alive in the Zoological (lardens of " Europe, though no naturalist seems to have yet met with it in a wild " state. It does not appear to be common in Pernambuco, at least I only " met with it twice : once near Macua, were I shot a female out of some " bush capocira, and again at Quipapa, where I saw what I believed was " this species in the virgin forest. The bird, however, was perched at a " great height from the ground on the topmost branch of a large tree, and "only the brilliant orange of the rump was visible. Whilst staying at " Cabo a freshly-shot adult of this bird was brought to me to skin." Before closing this somewhat verbose account I had better remark that I do not consider too many species o,f! Tanagers should be kept together in one aviary, but, in any aviary which provides a roomy flight and an almost equally roomy shelter, several (three or four) pairs of different species could be kept along with seed -eaters, and other insectivoi'ous or frugivorous species. Under such conditions they form a spectacle of which the eye never wearies. {To he Continueit). 214 Giwnf Nigerian x Yclhw Transi'nnl Weavprs. The Breeding of the Giant Nigerian Yellow and Transvaal Weavers. By W. Siioee-Baily. The most intei'esting event in my aviaries, so far this seatcn, is the successful rearing of two young hybrid Weavers. The icock came from Nigeria and is aboui; the size of an English Thrush. The general body colour is deep yellow; the back and wings greenish yellow; barred with a slightly .-deeper colour; front of the face dusky; iris of eye white. The hen came from the Transvaal, and is the size of a Saffron Finch, and very much resembles the cock Saffron Finch in colour. Neither bird has had any seasonal change of colour since I have had them. The nest, of considerable size, was hung from the roof of the aviary, and was Tiuilt by the cock, pampas grass being the material used, into which he wove small sprigs l)lucked from the various conifers growing in the aviary. The hen lined the nest with feathers, and on examining it when the young had flown, I found it perfectly clean and un- soiled. Two eggs were laid, white, spotted and blotched with purple; the markings being principally at the larger end. In- cubation lasted ten days, and the young were in the nest twenty -one days. For the first ten days the hen Baih/. _'vs were ph„t., hii ir. .s7, Nest in which H.vlirid We;i' reared. alone fed the young, principally upon what flies she could catch supplemented with the mealworms I supplied, which she would break up. During this period the cock kept vigilant watch over the nest, driving away such large birds as Crested Doves and Fieldfares. During his spare moments he suspended three Early Eviso^rs 0/ 1913. 215 more nosts from tho aviary roof. Aftei- ten days, tlio cock lH>gan to feed his progeny with mealworms, the 'heads of which he first bit off. As there were a groat many other liirds in the aviary who also appreciated mealworms, it was impossible to leave a sufficient supply for the Weavers, so I had to arrange to feed them every two or three hours, which T did by throwing the mr'alworms to them' one at a time. It was astonishing how quickly they learnt to snap them up, liofore the other l)ii'(l ; rould got tliom; the cock, especially, often catching th(>m in the air. This system of feeding also had the effect of making the parents exceedingly tame and I think that this always tends to success in rearing. The young birds are considerably larger than their mother, and are about the colour of a grey Singing Finch. If they do well and survive the winter, I hope to be able to report the colour change in due season. The hen is again sitting on two eggs which are due to hatch on July 8th. Early Episodes of 1913. By Hkrrert Butght. At the Editor's reiiuost I am penning tliese notes and trust l^hey may be of some little intere4, to "B.N." readers. r am only a comparatively recent adherent to the fascinating hobby of Foreign Bird Keeping, and at present the Australian Finches are of intense interest to me. I have two out-door aviaries, one 33 feet liy 16, the other 35 feet x 18, both are from 8 to 0 feet high (photo reproductions appeared in last Vol. of "B.N."). Tlie smaller aviary has an extra shelter shed, 20 feet x 8, to which the birds have continuous access, this shelter is well lighted, but entirely covered in, except tlie top jiart of one end, which communi- cates with the fliglit. Wo\\\ Tights have plenty of cover, lieing planted with trees and siirubs; the flights are fitted with movable glazed windows for protection during inclement weather, as we get some vei-y severe periods in tliis district (Cressington Park, Livei-pool). The aviaries are largely stocked with Australian Finches, but other groups are repre- sented to some extent. Yellow-rumped Finches {Munia flavipri/nma). These 216 Early Episodes of 1913. fij'stbuiltanest ina Hartz-cage, but, evidently were not pleased with the same, for they deserted it in favour of a rush nesL, which they neatly lined with hay etc., leaving only a very small entrance hole. This hole has now got considerably larger irom "wear and tear," principally during the operation of feeding the young, of which there are several, they have not yet left the nest, but may be both seen and heard. At first they fed the young entirely on grass seeds (llowering grass), and soaked seeds thrown upon the ground, but, recently, since the young have become larger a good deal of hard -seed has been taken. , ' Pkctoual Finches {Munia pcctoraiis). The same re- marks apply to this species as to the preceding, save that they are very shy, retiring, and dillicult to observe, but one pair are feeding young. Tlie pair in the other aviary have made no attempt to nest at present. Ohestnut-bbbasted Finches {Munia casianeithorax). I have two pairs of this species, quite young birds when I received them, they are just through the moult, and both pairs are a,ttempting to nest — one pair have taken possession of an old nest, altering and adding to it, the other pair are Hying about with nesting material, and are evidently busily constructing a nest. Long -TAILED Guassfinches {Focphila acuticauda). I have several pairs of this interesLhig species and all give promise of doing well. Tvvu pairs ai-e busily feeding broods, the young are making a great noise, but have not yet ilown — other pairs are either incubatmg or feeding young. Cheury Finches {Aideniosyiie viodesta). This well known species is very uncommon on the English market at the present time. My pair have built a nest, but I do not think they have eggs at time of writing (June 26). Diamond Finches (Steganopleura guttata). These have fought amongst each other a good deal and results have not been good. I found three partly hatched young in one nest; this pair have nested again, and may be feeding young this time, as they keep closely to the ne^t. Another pair laid again but the eggs failed to hatch. KuFiCAUDA Finches {Bathilda ruficauda). There are two pairs of this species and both are nesting, but I do not Early Episodes of 1913. 217 loiow anything deOnite at present. One pair liave a nest in a bank and tlie other at tiie root of a hazel tree; 1 think tiie latter pair may have young, that is, judguig from the nsuai signs— driving away all birds, eagerly eating of grass seeds and promptly returning to the nest. Zeuka FiNCUES {Taeniopygia castanotis). All 1 need remark of this well known but interesting species is, that a number of young are on the wing. Bkueno's Finches (Sticloptera bichenovi). These eluu-niing birds nested and laid while in the bird-room, but the eggs proved infertile. 1 then put them in the out-door aviary, since which they have agahi constructed a nest, but there are no eggs at present. GouLDiAN Finches (Pocphila gouldm). These ai'ejust coming through the moult, and one pair have taken possession of a box, but they mostly still show traces of the moult on their heads. JMy Yellow-headed Gouldian mated with a Red-headed hen, and started to nest, but has felt the cold and given up,— - he is not looking very tight in feather. Mannikins: There are two strong yomig Magpies on the wing, and White-heads, Black-heads, Bronze-wings, and Bib Finches are all nesting, but I can't say whether any have got as far as eggs. Melba Finches (Pytelia melha). These went to ncbt while still in the birdroom, constructing a nest of hay, lined with feathers, in a lir-trce; two eggs were laid, but deserted after incubating for two or three days. I then put them outside, and they went to nest again at once, building a rather larger nest of hay, which they again lined with feathers, in the shelter shed. The incubation period is about up I should say, and as I saw both birds off the nest eating gentles and live ants" eggs, there may be young in the nest, for the birds return to the nest immediately after feeding on the live food. The cock bird has been on the nest a good deal during the day-time. BruE-BitKASTED Waxbills {Estrilda angoloisis) . These have nested, but there are no eggs up to the present. The same applies to a Cordon Bleu mated to a Blue -breasted hen. Geey Waxbills (Estrilda cinerea). These have built 218 Early Episocfcs of 1913. a nest in long grass at the bottom of a bank, and I saw one of them carrying in a feather last night. While writing of Wax- bills I may say that there is a nest in the grass containingisix small white eggs, but I have never seen a bii'd entering or leaving it, but as they built there last year I think it must he the work of the Orange -cheeks. NoNTAREiL Buntings (Cyanospiza ciris). Not yet at- tempted anything— seem to be moulting. Rainbow Buntings (Cyanospiza leclaneheri). Only young birds, not moulted out properly yet. PiLEATED Finches (Coryphospmgus pUratiis). Have not attempted anything so far. Eulee's Finch (Spermophila suprrcilians). These built a small cup -shaped nest, unlined and evidently not complete, close against the stem of a small holly tree, then they built another close under the shelter board round the top of fliglit; now they are back again at the first one, evidently of Ihe mind to complete it — so far it is constructed mostly of the outside strips of bark pulled from a creeper. This is all at present, but the weather here has been cold and wet and tlie season later here than in more southern aviaries. Yellow-theoatei) Sparrows (Petronia flavicollifri. This pair of birds I acquired from Major Perreau. Since they have been turned out they have been moulting, but have now begun to chase each other like a pair of Swifts all round the place and it is quite apparent the cock desires to nest. Up till now they have lived at different ends of the aviary, taking no notice of each other, the cock now comes over to the hen and worries her till they both dash off round and round the place. Red-headed Buntings {Emherlza luteola). These either have a nest or are building one of dried grass roots in a bank!, hut, I have not looked, not wishing to disturb them, I think it is on the top of the bank amid some long grass. Hooded Siskins (Chrysomitris cucnUata)'. These char- ming birds have been carrying nesting material about for some time, but seem to get no "forrarder." ;Green (Sticlospiza formosa) and Red .Vvadavats (Sporoeginthus amandava). I have several pairs of each species, all have nested, but I can't see any results so far. Early Episodes of 1913. 219 Himalayan CIkkkximnciiks {IIj/pacanthKs spinoides). Tlu-sc wuic procuicd Irom the coiisigriinent of Tndiaii liirds re- cently brought over by Major Perreau are looking lovely, but except that they go about together are showing but little in- clination to go to newt. Maskki) GuAs.sFiN(nES {I'ocpliila personata). I have several pairs and one pair is certainly incubating, but the other pairs have got no further than nest construction at [)re6ent. Beakdkd Tits (Paiiuru-s hiarmicus) are pairing, Ijut no signs of nests, owing, 1 think, to the lack of reeds and a proper place to build in. 8ibeiuan Bullfinches have just ht'en put out, and they have promptly cleared oil" the buds fi'om brambles, currants, privet, roses, etc., -however there is plenty for them in the way of buds, and I hope they, may breed. PixK-BiiuWED RosEFiNCH (Pfopasscr ihodochroHs). These all arrived out of colour, therefore the males at any rate were immature, and no plumatic change has, as yet taken place, consequently nesting has not been expected. However, for some time they were quite energetic, carrying building material into a rush nest, but have now given it up for the time being. Hybkidisixg. An odd Parrot Finch (cf) and a Cuban Finch have mated and built a nest, but there are no eggs at time of writing. My odd Red-headed Finch (Amadina erythro- cephala) has mated up with a Cutthroat {A. fasciata) hen, but I had to remove them from the general aviary as they go and lie in other birds' nests. I put them in an extra aviary I liave, where they at once went to nest and hatched out three young birds, which died for want of proper food~-we were not aware they had young and no live food or ants' eggs was supplied. They are again incubating another clutch of eggs. All the birds eat huge quantities of seeding grass -, we put in large bundles three times a day, and it is soon stripped though there is plenty in the aviary growing naturally— tJicy all cat it. DOVES AND PIGEONS. .Plumed Ghound Doves {Lophophaps Icucogaster). These handsome Doves have laid three clutches of eggs, but, 220 Early Episoctcs of 1913. havo only incubated one, and then only for about four days. Only one proper nest was con^truoted, hay. and fwigs were gathered together in a hollow, the novt was quite nicely formed and a good quantity of material used. Both sexes shared the duties of incubation. Violet Dovfs (Lrpfopffa jama'>'c^nfis) . These duly nested and young squabs were hatched out, but both parents would brood the young together and the young birds eventually crawled over the sides of the nest and were picked up dead. They then started nesting again and one day the hen landed right on the top of a Zebra Finch's nest— the hen Zebra Finch and her eggs came out through the bot*^om of the nest and the Violet Dove remained on the top, apparently well satisfied, for, after adding to and re -arranging the nest, a clutch of eggs was duly deposited and incubation duties are now steadily going forward. Diamond Doves [Geopelia cinra^a). This charming and minute species has done fairly well, two nice young birds are on the wing, and the parent birds are incubating another clutch of eggs. Australian Crested Ptoeoxs (Ocyphaps Iophof.es). Another beautiful species, which have just laid with me for the first time, and I hope young birds will follow in due course. Bar-sholtldered Doves (Geopelia hnmeraJis). These have constructed a nest, but at present have not laid. Masked or Cape Doves (^Eva capensis) . These are now in beautiful condition, and look like nesting. They had two clutches of eggs in 1912, but. nothing was hatched out. Scaly Dove {ScarrJafeUa squamosa). These, though in good condition, have made no attempt to nest so far. T can only hope that the above notes may prove as interesting in the reading as the happenings have proved to me in the course of observing them. My Aviaries and Birds. By W. a. Bainbridge. Our Editor has asked me to write an account of my aviaries and birds, and although I am only a beginner T have promised to do so. My Aviaries and Birds. 221 Last AuffU'^t T ooinmonrod to huild my first aviary, 20 feet hy 10 foot, and of coiiiso it liad all tho faults it rould have, not sufTioiont shelter from the Avind, and a most inade- quate shed, and, in consequence E lost a fair number of birds. Profiting by experience, I doubled the size of it, boarded up one side and added a new shed, putting in hot water pipes, since when all has gone well and T have lost very few birds. Not yet satisfied T built another, about 70 feet long by 1 1 wide, except for a space of 1 5 feet. Avliere it is 20 feet wide, and about 15 feet high at top of gable; the sbed being finished fiilst T used it as a heated bird-room during the winter. As to breeding results, so far they have not been very great but look like improving now. Last year I had only a short time, but bred one Zebra Finch, which was a very welcome addition. January 1st saw four nests in the heated bird -room— Bicheno's (Stictopfera hiehenovi) , and Cuban Finch (Phonipara canora), Firefinch (Lagonosticta seneqaJa), and Gold-breasted Waxbill (Sporargi)ifhi(s siihflarus), all had eggs, but that is as far as they went. On January 22nd a young Diamond Sparrow (Sfrpano- plrura gnffafa) appeared, very much to my surprise, in the out -door aviary, but it died a week later. March 2nd saw the parents again with young and three young birds flew on the 24th, fine healthy birds which lived all rigbt. The parents and also another pair in the same aviary now began to build again, one egg was laid and deserted, and this I put under a Bengalese, who hatched and half-reared it, when she died and so T lost the young bird. The Diamonds then gave up until June 24th or 25th, when both pairs began to build feverishly, using seeding grasses which I (had supplied that day for the first time, to try and save the grass in the aviary, and now botb pairs are, I believe, incubating. My next young to leave the nest were Silverbills (Aid- emosyne malahorica). four young of which flew; the same day the heating apparatus caught fire and in consequence had to be 'repaired. Although this only took twenty-four hours, all the young died. Four eggs were again laid but proved 222' ^iy Aviaries ami Birds. infei-tile; then two more, which duly hatched, and the young hav(f MOW ])cen independent of their parents for some time. There are again young almost due to leave the nest. Jacarini Finches {Volatin'a jacarinl). I have two paii':; of this specie;, one in each aviary, and they are easily my favourite 1>irdo, the hen of one pair coming to 'my feet for spiders and other food. One pair hatched two young on May 11th, which left the nest on the 21st, but, only lived for six days. June Sth saw two more young hatched, which left the nest on the 20Lh, and are still living, being fed by the cock; the hen began to incubate another clutch of three eggs on the IGth. The other pair have had two nests, each containing two eggs, both infertile. This pair have built on the ground on both occasions, whilst the other pair have built in a prive& bush, three feet from the ground. Bicheno's Finches {Stictoplera hichcnovi) have nested four times this year, and at the second attempt hatched out one young clii.'k, which d:ei th.e3 days la e ■, but. the fourth attsjupt resulted in two young leaving the nest on June 2Gth; they were and are very strong on the wing. June 27th, saw a young Cuban Finch (PJio/npara caiiora) tlying, this being the first young one to be reared, although they have previously hatched out young and on two other occasions have had eggs. June 2 7tli, also saw a young Zebra Finch {Taeniopygia castanotls) leave the nest, and the parents ai'c again incubating. Anothe]- pair have eggs. Ruflcauda Finches {Bathilda rnfi- cauda) hatched out about June Itith (one young bird has since floMai, two eggs were infertile), and another i)air haNe eggs. Gouldian Finches {Poephila guuldice). Of these I have four pairs, two pairs of Eed-headed in one aviary; and two Red-headed cocks and two Black -headed hens in tiie other aviary. The Red-heads are incubating clutclies ot e^;^-.^, one of which is almost due to hatch. Ihadapairof Haye's Partridges (Ammopcrdix hei/ii), but lost the cock, and being unable to obtain another, gave the hen a Californian Quail as a mate. They soon started to make a nest, and the Partridge laid several eggs, but broke all My Aviaries and Birds. 223 except three, whidi I imt under a bantam, and she promptly smashed them; she is now inciiliaiini;- six eg-g-s, and J -am hoping- will treat these properly. Green Avadavats {Slir/(>sji/.:(t /oni/osit). I have Iwu [>airs and liotli arc ncsl iiii;-, hiil, 1 Irar one i»air liaA'c dcsei'tcd; the other pair 1 Jiupe may liati'h out and rear. Avadavats {Spuracyinthus aniaudava). These have nested and have eggs. Grey Singing-finches {Scri/ius Icucopygius). I have a pair of these in each aviary, one hatched out two young chicks, hut the nest collapsed, and the young- fell out and were killed. They nested again and are incubating another clutch of eggs. The oihei' pair hatched out four chicks, which lived to Ije half Hedged, when Ihey too, died. Firefinches {Layoiioslicla scneyala). This species have got as far as eggs "five or six times, but, that is all. They are again sitting and 1 hope for the best! Grey ^\'a\bills {Eslrilda cinerea). These have had nest after nest with no result 1 Cordon Bleus (EstriUla plioenicoiis) . This species have, I think, young in the nest. ] have very few Softbills, but those I have -ire looking very fit and include: one pair Yellow-winged Sugar-birds {Cocreba cyanea), two pairs Indian A\'hite-eyes {Zosterops palpehrosa), and a pair and one odd bird of Black- chinned Yuhinas {Yuhina iiiyrimentujn), the last named are delightful birds, always on the move and are perpetually raising their pseudo crests in the most fascinating manner, and although tliey do not spend their lives upside-down looking for insects under leaves, like the White Eyes, they are perpetually on the look out for some hapless midge or spider. These notes, although very rough, and record more of failure than success, may at the same time, serve to show some other beginner, that he must not look for success every lime he gees a nest, and, may encourage him by Icnowing that others are undergoing similar, or worse experiences, than his own, and if such is the case, my object will be achieved. 224 From all Sources. From All Sources. WORK OF THE BIRDS.-ENOLAND SAVED FROM FORESTS OF OAKS. " The disastrous effect on farmers that results from the reckless des- truction of Inrds for so unworthy a pTirpose as millinery was dealt uith by Mr James Buckland in an interesting paper which he read at the Roj'al Colonial Institute yesterday. Birds, insects, animals, and plants are, of course, constantly striving to increase their numbers, but the creatures that feed on them operate continually to check their increase. Were not bii-ds, for instance, to eat acorns Great Britain would eventmlly be full of oaks, for all other trees would be ci-owded out. If ever}' Robin died a natural death in its old age and if its eggs were hatched out, in time every square foot of the United Kingdom would be packed with Robins. Bird life by reason of its predominating insect diet, is the most indis- pensable balancino force in Nature. No one can tell what far-reaching results might follow the extermination of a single species of bird, for it is probable that the food preference of each species is so distinctive that no other could exactly fill its place. But for the trees the insects would perish ; but for insects the birds would perish, and but for the birds the trees would perish. A great increase of insects and enormous damage by them invariably follows wholesale destruction of wild bird life In New Zealand, owing to the slaughter of birds, Mr. Buckland has seen countless billions of caterpillars move in a solid mass across cultivated land, devouring every green thing in their march. Even railway trains were stopped by the immensity of the number of these crawling atoms. At the last six feather sales in London there have been sold the skins of 166,000 Kingfishers. Supposing that each one of these ate— at a very conservative estimate —150 noxious insects daily, over 7,600,000,000 insect pasts that ought to have been destroyed by birds were saved in one year. This estimate does not take into account the unrestricted increase of these 7,600,000.000 pests. Every one of these Kingfishers was worth its weight in gold to the human race. Its skin sold for Sid. ! It has been calculated in the United States that the annual loss caused there by ravages of insect and rodent pests which the birds would exterminate were their working power not reduced, totals a thousand million dollars. As long as there is a demand for contraband plumage there will be someone ready to supply it. The only remedy is to stop the demand. This the Plumage Bill seeks to do. The Bill proposes to prohibit the sale, hire, or exchange of plumage or skin of any species of wild bird individuals which have had their habitat during the whole or part of the year within any part of his Majesty's Dominicuis outside the United Kingdom or in any British Protectorate or in the island of Cyprus."— From the Stamlard 14/6/, 13, per Rev. G. H. Ray nor. ■■ ' Editorial. 225 Editorial. Tlioso notos must 1>(» \(M'y l»ricf owinp: een numerous attempts, but that so far, the only definite results are Zebra and Jacarini Finches, Blue -breasted Waxbills, and Great Tits on the wing. Mr. W. R. Temple informs us that the pair of Indian Grey Tits, which he obtained from Major Horsbrugh's recent consignment have nested in his aviary, eight eggs were laid, but that only one chick was hatched, which at the time of writing (July 7) was nine days old and thriving. This species has not been previously bred in Great Britain, and we con- gratulate Mr. Temple on the measure of success already at- tained, and trust that the young bird may be reared to maturity. Great Tits {rams major). Dr. M. Amsler has suc- cessfully reared a brood of this species in his Eton aviaries and a detailed description of his success will shortly appear in our pages. We do not know of any previous record of this species having been bred in Great Britain — if any member knows of a previous record will he please notify either the Editor or Business Secretary at once — It would appear that Dr. Amsler is entitled to a medal for successfully breeding this species. ' The Magazine: The Editor asks the indulgence of members concerning this issue, it has been issued under excep- tional difficulty; he has been away from home anrf his books of reference— this also explains its late anpearance. Members are urged to send in copy, not only that our contento niay be varied, but that the Hon. Editor's task may 226 Correspondence. be made as light as possible, and all the work not crowded into the last week, as under such conditions, the quality of the contents of the magazine must suffer. Donations are also needed to the Illustration Fund if Uienumberandqualityof the illustrations are to be maintained. Correspondence INTEREST AND DISAPPOINTMENT. Sir.— My Silver-earcKMesias (JA-.s-;,; r.iijfitUuirix) built :i nest in late May, laid and steadily incul)ated a clutch of three eggs ; both sexes shared the duties of incubation and relieved eacli other at regular intervals, and pretty equally bore the Inirden of the work. The nest is rather massive, constructed of hay, shavings, and a few dead leaves, very neatly fashioned and fastened to the pine branches hammock-wise. It is a deep nest, and the birds almost disappear within it when sitting. On June 20th they hatched out three chicks, which they fed from the crop on mealworms, I was in great hopes of their being reared for all went well for two days, but alas ! on the 23rd they were all dead— they were just getting their eyes open and the feather tracts were developing. I saw their parents feeding them just before going to roost on the 22nd. The cock wants to so to nest again, but I rather hope the hen will refuse, she is not very keen on it. As far as I coukl see they fed the young entirely on mealworms (just as the Pekin Robins did with their brood for the first week) nipping and mashing them in their beaks tirst. They would not touch green fly or ants' eggs or soft food. It is very curious how hard they are to rear ; so many aviculturists h ive had l)roods, and the old birds are so easily kept in health and beauty. The Mesias < ggs are like those of the Greenfinch and tl.e Pekin Robin— blue blotched with red. Next door to the ]\Iesias, the Blue Sugai'birds [Duciiis caijana) are (June 8th) building a very dainty little nest of tow and cotton wool. The hen does the work, but the cock follows her everywhere and encourages her with ereat fervour. They are building in a thick Cypress bough in the flight part of their aviary. These birds are finger tame. Two eggs were laid, enor- mously large for the size of the bird: long, white, heavily spotted and blotched with red. On the morning of the 19th, I found her dead oji the floor of the flight -I suspect apoplexy. Had any young been hatched I meant to try green fly, for the adults are very fond of it, audit appeared a likely food for the young I shall replace her as soon as opportunity offers, but all hopts of breeding the species have gone for this year, and I have lost a charming pet. [Mr. Ai-mstein has had youi^g hatched out on several occasions in his aviaries, biit up to the present none have lived to leave tlie nest, tliough several have been partially fledged.-=-Ed}. I have just i)rocined from I\Iajor Horsbrugh's Indian consignment a pair of little Black-chinned Yuhinas, and very jolly little folk they arc too, though in i)oor feather, having been much i)lucked by Zosterops, which were Correspondence. 3'27 in tlie same ciiijfo. Also a 'PickcH's Flowci- jirckcr, tlic most miimtc and greediest littlr 1. in] I have ever seen ; the V\\v]Av Snnhiiil lo,,ks .|iiif(. Iar<;e by tlie side of him. 1 liavc also recently acqniicil a nice pair of Ifaii.l.nw Hnntint,'s {('//n/i- o.^p/'jit lt'f/(i)icheri), which seem hc.ilili\- so iai-. 'riuy i)artake freely of mealworms, live ants' et;i,'s. s])ray niillcl, canary seed, and tureen food. Tliey are indeed lovely creatures. Last week I sawsonicthino I coidd scarcely have .■redited liad I not seen it. Wi'havc seveial iiaihaiy ])ovcs Hying loose, which conic to lie fed evrry ni-,dit anate ngain. ,, 20— Bengalese have three eggs „ 21— Bengalese commenced to incubate. ,. 22— Spice Birds nesting in rush nest. 24 — Addidto aviary one pair each Orange-cheeked Wa.xbills, Common and Green Avadavats, Common African Wa.xbills, and Red- billed Weavers. „ 28— Ribbon Finches hatched out five young. Spice Birds have two eggs. It was the reading of "Aviaries and Aviary Life" which finally decided me to start an outside aviary and my anticipations have been more than realised. My experience of keeping birds in the house has not been a happy one— I bought sixteen birds of various kinds and within two months eleven of them were dead ; of the two surviving pairs, the hen of one pair laid seven eggs and ate them all, and the hen of the other pair laid twelve shell-less eggs, each time all but succumbing to egg-binding. Since putting them out both the above pairs have hatched out two broods of young. Fur- ther as will be seen from above I have boughtsome of the fragile Waxbills and put them straight out of doors (Yorkshire) with no ill effects, in fact I have not lost a bird of any kind, though the weather here has been very unfavour- able. I may say that I fear I have an egg-eater in the aviary as I have lost three clutches of eggs and I suspect a Combasou as it is always peeping into nests. Incidentally, neither of my Weavers show any signs of coming into colour, isn't it time ? About two weeics ago my Grey Singing Finch, which up to then had not sung a note, started to sing magnificently and now sings all day on and off. It puts a Canary absolutely in the shade. AV. 0. MONTGOMERY Hornsea, Yoi-ks., June 2S/,1P.. MY BIRDS. Sir, — In answer to your enquiry re my birds, I hope the following will be of some general interest. I am faced with a difficulty— How shall I start V When I say that I have handled from a Black Cockatoo down to wee Sunbird, it gives one some experience of birds and bird life. Pakhakeets : When it comes to handling Parrakeets and Lovebirds it means many bites and nasty words. "Friars Balsam" is very good for bites, but it is better to avoid them, either by a thick cloth or gloves, the for- mer is the best. I will commence with the Queen Alexandras (Hpathopteriis ulesandrK) : to my mind there is no Parrakeet to compare with this lovely species ; by the fuss they are making I have great hopes of the advent of young birds a little later. RED-Rl'Mi'r^ {Psephdtus haeiiaihirlKius) have nested and incubated a clutch of eggs, but the eggs proved infertile ; they are now nesting again Peach-faced Lovebirds {Agaporvis roseicoUis), and Black-faced Lovebirds (.1. nhjrigenis) are doing their best, but no tangible results so far. I have one pair of Blue Budgerigars, also a hen Blue paired with a Rfrmhrrs' T\fcrfhiqs nf the. Zoo. 231 cock Green, the latter l)f(M| fioin Uliic mid (firiui iiarcuts ; tliest; at )(rcseiit are very interestcil in cadi other anl llie ii-st Inisks, hut tlu^n; are no e.r.^s yet. I also Imve I'asseriiie {/'.-<,;//, ir>,/,, ;,„.« -/v//,*). SiaiUey { P/a/f/rrrrHn irlrro/;s),:ini] iMaiiy coloureil f l'^nph„ht>i nntll'imlunr), also ( i re v hea.i/i/i-/iiiP)ifinii), for theyaremnstinterestin.srmit.es and very like minature cockatoos, when startled or excited they raise their crest, they are very (juaint and one wishes they might nest. Of course losses, annoyint,' and disiiiiitim,' losses, occur, but these one must look upon ])hilosophicalIy and treat as the sportive side of the Fancy. Gouldian. Culia, Zebra, Olive, Lavender and Fire Finches are all nest- ting and I hoi)e there will be good results from their efforts. One naturally hopes and longs for good nesting results, often one does not get much farther, so I suppose T must do as the boy did who kept bantams -Not being satisfied with the size of the eggs he hung up an Ostrich's egg in the ])en with the foUowing notice "Keep your eye on this and do your best." (MISS) LYDTA CLARE. Wimbledon. S.W.. Julv 4. WU?,. Members' Meetings at the Zoo. A very jilcasaiit niccl intc of nieiubors Avas hold at tlie Zoo oil Saturday, June 21.st. The weather was very line which helped to make tlie occasion a mo ;t enjoyable one. The various aviaries were vi-ited and a plentiful ^supply of meal- worm.T made it possil>le for us to make a close acijuaintance with many very interesting birds. The Laughing Jackasses joined in chorus at our approach to their aviary, the result being rather weird to say the least. The Kagu was per- suaded to give its quaint displa5^ The birds in the Western Aviary were of great interest and all appeared to be doing exceedingly well. Those in the Small Birds' House, hov/ever, appeared to be mostly soft in condition and dull in manner, and it was generally remarked that the close stuffy atmosphere of the house was apparently the cause of this. We felt it a relief when we passed out into the open air, the contrast being most marked. 232 Meinhers' Mecthigs at the Zoo. The following' were present during the course of the day: — Lady Webster. Major G. A. Perreau. Mrs. E. A. Hartley. Captain J. Sherard Reeve. Mrs. E. D. Lee. L. G. Chiozza Money, Esq., IVLP. Mrs. Chiozza Money. A, Ezra. Esq. Miss Money. Wesley T. Page, Esq. Mrs. & Miss Stoney. W. T. Rogers, Esq. Miss A. Eccles. S. Williams, Esq. Miss M. Knobel. Tea was served in the Fellows' Enclosure, and was made an occasion for a free interchange of ideas on matters- avicultural and ornithological. The meeting was greatly on- joyed by all. ■ W. T. ROGERS. The previous meeting in May was favoured with beauti- ful weather, and all present expressed the interest that the avicultnnil talk and the " doing" of the biids in company had been to them. Among those present were the following : — Mrs. E. A. Hartley, Mrs. and Miss Stoney, Miss Knobel, Rev. J. Paterson, and Messrs. J. L. Grossmith, N. S. O'Reilly, W. T. Page, S. Williams, H. Goodchild, etc.— Ed. Fur'ther meetings will be held on : Thursday, July 24th, rendezvous Small Birds' House, at 11-15 a.m. and 2-30 p.m. Saturday, August Kith, rendezvous Small Birds' House, at 2-30 p.m. If any intimate a desire to be present during: iha. morning of August l(5th, they will be met at the Small Birds' House if they notify Mr. W. T. Rogers by August 14th. PH - British Bird Calendar. // is iirgeidhj rciiaextpd that Meiiihers from all niniid the const irill n')le Ihf iiiorpiiifuts ol birds, inorf fsp/'i-ia//// in Ihr Smtlheni and Eostera (j.Hintit's.ond rCindiirJn (2stli I'f fOcI, iiionlli) send in tlwir notes- Or\ thiS the ultimate success and permanent interest of the Calendar will depend. - El). Tnio Ci'CKOO : Has the Cuckoo deserted everybody as early this year as he has me. The Cuckoo is a particular friend of mine, each year I look forward to his coming and lament his going. This year for the first time in my life I never heard him in June at all. I Bri/ish Bird Calendar. 23)) went to town on May 2.Slh, and returned on June Hrd, and I have never heard him since. I have noticed the hist few years he has coninienced later and later, and left off earlier and earlier and I wonder if any one else has observed this. Twice iti my life I have heard him on April Gth, and that is the earliest, this year 1 did not hear him till April 20th. In an old pocket hook I came across the other day was the entry.- "July 3rd, Cuckoo came to bid me goodbye." I do not think I ever heard him la^er than that, but for years past now, not at all during the last fort- night in June even. Report for the three months ending June .'JUtli. from the North IJnst. Lighthouse : April 1—1 Robin and Hock of Starlings „ 2 — 1 Redwing and 1 Chaffinch. „ 4- First Great Skua for season. ., 18— Razorbills and Guillemot's on Cliffs, also 4 Sparrows. „ 19— Puffins landed on Rock. „ 10 — 1 Blackbird (female) a rare risl/ar here. „ 19—1 Richardson's Skua. „ 24—1 Wheatear. 24—2 Lesser-backed Gulls. „ 20—1 Glaucous Gull. May 4—1 Swallow and 2 Wheatears. „ 4-2 Common Gulls. 9-1 Redstart (male) seen till 12tli „ 11—1 Robin and 2 Whimbrel. „ 13—1 Coijimon Sandpiper. „ 16— Fulmer commenced incubation. „ 17—1 Swallow. „ 18 — 6 Turnstones. „ 18-Pipers, „ 18 — Kittiwakes commenced building. „ 18— Great Black-back Gulls nest with three eggs (first for season). „ 20-1 Whimbrel and 1 Wheatear. 22 -1 Swallow. 25 - Oystorcatchers nest with 1 egg. June 14— Chaffinches. PerD.E.P., JulvGth, 1913. Erratum: In May issue of " B.N.," a similar report was given, into wliich crept an uniortunate error: "North Hist Lighthouse," should read North Unst Lighthouse. ■■- 234 ^05^ Mortem Reports. Post Mortem Reports. V;/ (Joccr.J GoL'i.Di.vN FiNfii. (Mrs. Hartley, Hastings). Cause of de.itli, liajiiiorr- hage on the brain. Goui.DiAN Finch ( i ), (P. H. Sellars, Edinburgh). Cause of death, pneumonia. L.v\ KNDEK Finch ( some of the species t'ik(> the eggs and young of moorland -game nnd water-fowl; grain also is taken to some extent. The indigestible portions of their food are ejected in the form of large pellets. The Lesser Tilack-hncked Gull is a beautiful hird (the same may be said of all Chills) and one of the most attract ivej and loveliest scenes of spectacular avifauna is a group of these bird^ foraging for their food on their feeding grounds, hovering" above the water, or their domestic life on or about their nests. How beautiful are the pure hues and the usually spotless con- dition of IlKur plumage ! J^esrr/plio)/: Tn summer the plumage is pure glisten- ing white. exce])t for the mantle and wings, which are blackish - grey; the first three primaries have an oval white spot at the tip. the secondaries a-id scaim'ars ai'c tipped with white; l>ill and feet yellow. Tu Avinter the head and neck are much' streaked with brown. The nestling is greyisli-white mottled with brown, prim.-iries have no white spots, and the bill and feet are dusk.y. 230 Some Interesting Binh. This species is pretty generally distributed around our coasts, and also in the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Eed Sea, and the coasts of 'North America. NotaV)lo nesting places are the coasts of Devon, Cornwall, Wales, Tsle of Man, Scotland, and Ireland. I may specially mention on pajsani the settlements on the Scilly Isles (where our illu:"-- trations were taken), Parne Islands, the Northern Shetlands and the Outer Hebrides. In Ireland this specie? nests both on the coasts, and near inland lakes, but the former position is the most common. Rocky Islands and steep cliffs are its favourit;' nesting sites. The nest is rather a large one, constructed of seaweed, grass stacks, and a few twigs, with a slight hollow or cup for the eggs (see phofo). 'The eggs, three in number, vary considerably, 'the ground colour being mostly buff, blue, or green, and either spotted and lined all over, or only at the 'arger end of (he egg. Size 2.8 by 1.9 It has been many years since I visited a Gull -colony, but the memory is ever with me and I certainly envy my friend, Mr. H. Willford, his experiences in the Scilly Isle^ this season. As I pen these notes, I live over again the experi- ences of the past, and the imp^ressions recalled may well tlnd a place here. The noisy, busy life of a breeding colony is apparently continuous. The apparent oneness of the mated pairs, the complete sharing of the duties of domestic life by both sexes, and their al>vorption in the one business of life, viz., the reproduction of their kind— t!e many pleasing episodes which go to make up the above, how they appeal to the bird lover: during incubation, when the time comes for relieving each other comes round— the mate of the incubating bird is always near, for after foraging and feeding it always returns to the neighbourhood of the nest, and sits near it— how carefully the sitting bird rises and appears to examine the eggs (see photos), and with like care the other takes its place, ap- parently examining and turning the eggs before settling down to incubation. Then again, such scenes are repeated as :hey "change guard" while brooding the young; how tender and So?ne In foresting Birds. 237 solirilous appears to he llicii' i-arc^ of their brood; liow in- ((Mv.sliiii; lo walch the rrluniiii- liird ali-lif near IIm' ih'sI. Ilii'ii p.insiiii;- ill I'roiil oF it ^ pri)L;cii\', caliiih- disia^or^' tlu^ (•(.tiiciits of its crop on the .^'rouiid before tlicin ;nid as pal iontly as a cluckiiii;' licii, teaching them (in the early stages) how to pick up and feed. And what apt pupils 'they are; but few lessons being needed. Again, how soon the young leai^i (or is it in- stinctive?) to crouch on the ground, at any cause for alaini or consciousness of danger. They become practically invisible as they thus crouch, so perfectly do they harmonise with their environment. 'Then again, how sedate and peaceable they are (T now write of vcspeiM ive jiairs)., how difTei'ent from many other species of birds we know, with whom sparring and un- classical language is very common, liut Gulls liave a sedate- ness and "dignity all their own. Even Londoners are acquainted with Gulls, and appre- ciate their beauty, as during the winter and early sjiring they watch and feed the wheeling crowds at the bridges and in tli(^ parks. That they do appreciate their great beauty is ap- parent from the hnoivn fact that city business boys and girls spend a portion of their meagre lunch allowance in the purchase of food for these beautiful, wild creatures of the air. Gulls make nice pets and when pinioned, or with the featherb of one wing cut after each moult, they can be left to wandei at will about any roomy garden or back yard, they will eat almost anything, but should get some natural food (already stated), and also have a large shallow vessel of some kind to wade about in. The title at head of these notes is "The Rlack-bncked Gull," l)ut I have also written much of Gulls generally; how- ever my readers will have no difficulty in distinguishing one from the other. {To he continued). Nesting of the Eagle Owl. (Bubo nia.r/imas). By Miss E. F. Chawnek. The Eagle Owls have succeeded at last! For the last ^Wi^ yeai's the hen has laid two clutches and incubated them 238 Nesting of the Eagle OivL until spontaneous comliustion romovcd them. Two years ago she had a fertile egg. and by la sad mischance it was broken', a couple of days before it was due to hatch. Therefore this spring-, when I found her again on her nest, I merely remarked " poor old lady," and beyond supplying the cook Avith the special titliits for his wife which he expects while she is engaged in the nursery, I thought no more about her. Time went on, the hen had sat her fuU eight weeks and I l>egan to expect the usual finale, M'hen my suspicions were aroused by the rapidity with which the food disappeared. The birds eat next to nothing Avhile breeding and make up for it during the moult and autumn, but now the cock never wearied of taking in supplies, and the hen frequently uttered the special clucking call which means "bring food at once and plenty of it." Could it be ? I made up my mind to find out. This was easier said than done. Eagle Owls are not lightly coerced, and nothing would induce the hen to come off the nest while I was any- where within view. At last I hit upon a plan. I kept her waiting an hour or two beyond the usual feeding time and only brought round her food when she began to cill urgently for it. Then instead of giving it to the cock for her I offered it myself, dangling it above her head as she squatted. She stood up and stretched to reach the dainty (a large field vole): and I caught sight of an extremely addled egg and a young bird probably two or three days old. Its mother took the vole, crunched it, and putting her head down, fed her baby without paying any attention to me: afterwards the cock brought her a young rabl)it Avith which she busied herself. I did not see the young one again for nearly a week, when it had grown greatly and was evidently thriving. On the 15th of May its mother moved it into the outer part of the aviary where the cock had prepared a fresh scrape which served as a day nursery. This was particularly inter- esting to me, as it explained why the cock had always dug this second place alx)ut ten days after the hen had given up sitting, and seemed so anxious for her to occupy it. Hitherto I supposed that he wanted her to go to nest again, but now I see it is part of the routine of bringing up the young. Nothing more of importance occurred until the 20th, when T saw the owlet very intently watching its mother break. Nesting of (he Eafjle Oivl. 239 up and prcpai-c a yoaiii,'- raMiit, rNiilciitly I'cccivint,'- iiislnic- liiiii. il prdlilcd so well 1iy its Ics.o:! that li\'r days lain- wlici. slndliiii,- alxMiI the a\ iary, it p;c,kc(i up and ,i;uip<'d down the whoh' hind jr- of a youn^ ral)liit. No wonder it ^vrw ! its cjuill^ wrro showin.u' thrcra.uli the thick down which (■n\ (doped it and il I'oljowcil its mother ahout tin; aviary, but dici not lt^•l^•e the yiuiniil until June 10th, when it seranilvleil to the to[) of a big stump ami perched there fur several hours. r.y th'-' lyth it could lly to the liighest perch and was prac- tit-ally itulependent, though its mother still controlled and watched over il, and its lather still carried food to them both. rp to this time tlie old birds had shown themselves unexpectedly amiable and made no objection to my entering the aviar\-, liut now the hen became savage. She took to hissing and snapping ami ei'ccting her feathers as soon as she heard me and if I came in while the young one; was visible she Hew at me viciously. The cock never took part in these hostilities, but looked on placidly from his perch, and occasionally hooted to the enrag^ed lady befow as much as to say, "my dear, pray calm yourself." This was fortunate for me, for I should have found it diilicult to tackle both birds had they set on me together. Of course), I did not intrude more than was unavoid- able, but a certain amount of sanitation is necessary especially in hot weather, and it would be a mistake to \let ,^th& hen think that I a,m afraid of her, so I persevered, choosing as far as I could those times when the babe had retired, in order to spare ity mothers feelings as much as possible. These tactics answered pretty well and as the Owlet is now (July 1st) launched into the world and as tall (though not as thick) as its father, and furnished with most formidable claws and beak, its mother though still guarding it, has somewhat relaxed, and I think as she moults will gradually lose her intei'cst in it. She has certainly done her work well. These splendid birds carry out a strict system of labour, when nesting, each t-aking its part and keeping to it. The cock digs the " scrape " in a place (usually the same every year) approved if not chosen by the hen. Once she begins to lay she remains on the nest, only coming off for a hurried stretch once in the twenty-four hours, usually alwut dusk; sometimes she indulges in a batli, but whatever she 240 ]S!esthig of the Eagle Owl. may be doing she hastens back to her eggs the moment she, hears or sees any one approaching. The cock meanwhile sits on a high perch, keeping a look out; his business is to keep the larder supplied, and he carries everything edible that he car collect straight to the nest. If the hen does not want it at once he lays it beside her and returns to his post. When young are hatched his exertions are redoubled, and one can easily see how these great Owls must harry the countryside when they are in a state of nature. The hen meanwhile takes entire charge of the young and will fight anything in their defence. Most formidable she must appear to any prowling fox or dog when she stands over her young hissing and snapping, all her feathers puffed out and her orange eyes glaring, ready to launch herself at the enemy and fix flier terrible talons in his flesh. Even in the cramped quarters of an aviary with her instincts dulled by captivity, and a never failing supply of food, her courage is undeniable and she is not to be trifled with. She prepares the food and teaches the young how to tear it, she moves them to their day nursery and hustlet them back to concealment at the approach of real or fancied danger. The young feed themselves and fly well when about six weeks old but their parents guard and tend them for fully three months, by which time their " down " has given way to adult plumage. ■■ Breeding of the Great-Tit (Pams major j in Captivity. By Dr. Maurice Amslbr. Having noticed that none of the genus Par us had been bred in captivity, I determined early this year to try my luck with the Blue -Tit and Great -Tit. My attempts with the former, a cage-moulted prize-winning pair weie not success- ful, but I succeeded in rearing the Great-Tit from a freshly caught pair of this species. Being unable to buy a {)air of Pants major through the usual sources I profited by a few days holiday in Hertfordshire, and caught a couple pretty quickly in a 'home-made trap. Tliese two birds although a pair, were obviously not mated, for when placed together in a cage, the hen soon began to make her \voiild-l,xi 'spouse's Urcdiiiii oj I hi' drcil-'rH In CaptivUij. 241 fratlii-i-s lly. The following day (April 18th) I liberated the male Itird, and by using the hen as a Uecoy was able to eapture the gentleman of her choice, U)v when ]iut together thei-e was no sign of disagreement. I had always understood that Great-Tits were mucii harder to meat oil" than the Blue-Tit, but these bii-ds nevei' looketl sick nor sori-y on a diet of sundower seed and meal- worms. On I'eturning to Eton on April the 21 si, I turned llu; birds out into a small aviary 9ft. x Sft. x Kjl't. higii, and and provided them with a Berlepsch nesting log, which I had sawn in half, and hinged for purposes of inspection. At \\vA my Tits were extraordinarily wild for such impudent ,uid i-ou- liding bird.s, bu;t a fortnight later I thought I saAV the lien Ijird carrying and on looking into the box I found about a handful of moss, at the bottom of the cavity. p]ach nigld the hen slept in the lo.u', llic male inoiuiling guard in a small travelling cage nailed up a few feet above the log. On May 10th (3 weeks from their capture), a lu-at cup shaped nest had been built, composed enVirely of line mo.ss, and lined with hair or fluff obtained from a piece of coarse, felt, and the first Qg^ was laid. Six more eggs were laid on successive days, but incubation only started in earnest after the second Qgg. , ' , As fai' as my olis.-i-variun goes tlie male look no pari or interest in the Ijuilding. an.i certainly not in incubaliou. The latter lasted 13 days, and not once during this time did I see the hen ofl" her nest, though I looked into the log on two occa- sions to make sure she was in the land of the living. |What food she had was given her bjy the cock, unless per- haps she left her eggs in the early hours of the morning. On May 28th the hen made her first re -appearance into the world, and suspecting that she had hatched I took a lii's ('/'. mitfiiGiis). all lorai^iii.i;- lor looil, cn idciil l.v For llii'lr laiiiiiics. Tho Blackbird (Mcniin uicniln) was to lie met with iicjc in i^Tcat tiuiiiliers and ol'tcn spoilt N'oiir chance ol' ,i;-ettiii^- a (doser view of other lurds by his warning- cry. Daintily tripping' about the mossy ground were nuiucrous lleiii^c Accentors {Ac- cf'Hiur iitudidaris), counuonly known as the Hedge Sparrow; tlicsi! birds have a very pleasing little song, i had a nestling a year ago and iie sang well in a cage. In the spring a liille lady of his sc.ecies, which could always be lonnd near my lui'd-housc captured his heart and I gave him his Ireedoni and was rewarded liy seeing him a ])i'oud lather. 'I'heJ'e are nuuiy now Irequeiitly to bo seen by my aviary. On a gorse bush some Linnets (Acanthls ca)ui(ih>)m), were singing gaily. \\\m\\ a treat to hear them I'oui'ing lonii melody in freedom, and how ditlerent also do they look when you see them in a tiny cage behind the glass of a bird sliop window! A lloek of (.ireenlincdies {Chloris milgaris) Hew o\er and one line male settled and some of his notes were vei-y musical, quite good enough to be called a song. Flitting about above the ground, some distance away(I now had to bring my glasses into use). 1 saw five iStonecliats {i talinvola ruhicola), three cocks and two hens. A\'hat bright lively little fellows they are. 1 always think it a pity to (^ cage them; You must see them at liberty to appreciate their graceful move- ments. I now proceed, as our American friends v/ould saj, to get a move on me and came (across three Whi\tethroats {Syl- via cinerca and S. curruca)], Greater and Lesser, creeping about among the brambles in search of insects. A number of Chaffinches {Fr'uujUla voclehs\, Yellow Buntings {Eni})cri:a citi uiclla), nioi'e fiinnets and Cireeniinches, Rooks, and .Jaek- da\vs. Overhead a hawk w'as hovering, liut not being well up in these birds I cannot say for certain whicdi it was, probably a Sparrow -Hawk or Kestrel. A few yards fi'om me a Spotted Flycatcher '{Muscicapa (jrisula) was keeping watch for all stray (lies, civ., and incessantly darted lo and fro , candiing them. On some freshly ploughed ground were IMed Wagtails iMotacilla lugabris) running about, one of the gems of the bird world, graceful to the highest degree. Overhead, Swifts, 24(5 Holiday JS'otes from Eastbourne. SAvallows and House Martins, were showing aviators how liying should be done, and many Larks could be heard pouring forth their delightful song. To some a lark is just a bird, to me it is one of the most marvellous of living creatures. Soaring almost out of sight, and even with the exertion of flying, it pours forth at the same time a flood of melody our greatest singers might well envy. Further along the road I ^noticed some Warblers, Willow, I think, but something alarmed them, and I had not time to identify them, about here a \Yren. {Troglodytes parvulus) popped out on to a gate post, a perky little fellow, with tail erect, poured forth a challenge, at least so I con- strued it, the volume of song this little chap gives forth is surprising, quite sufficient sound for a bird six times his size. Towards the close of my ramble, I saw creeping topsy turvy about some tree branches, Great Tits (Parus major) and also Blue Tits, commonly called Tom-Tits (Paruscmiileus); a few Coal Tits {Parus ater) I had seen earlier in the day. Being about five o'clock I had to hurry along as we dined at 6-30. Many of the birds I have mentioned I again saw. Crossing a field, on some w^aste, I saw a Moor -hen {GalUnula chloropus)., and also a Partridge took flight at my approach. Although nothing rare had been seen, a most enjoyable day had been spent. I hope that other members will take some notes and send along an account of the birds they notice. Surely with our membership, nearly every corner of the British Isles must be visited, and records would be most interesting reading. An Island on the River Jhelum Punjab, By High Whistler, I. P., M.B.O.U. Not long ago I dismounted from my horse at the edge of the River, Jhelum where a boat was waiting for me to embark; opposite to the spot, in the middle of the swiftly flowing water was a small heavily wooded island, attracting attention as being unusual in these parts, where the islands are as a rule mere sandbanks, or else flat cultivated stretches with scarcely a tree of any size; some three or four hundred yards up stream was a similar but smaller and less densely wooded island. A couple of months earlier I had found some Little A)i Island on the Ttlvcr Jhrhim P/injah. 247 Egrets noai- lioto, and had decided di.it tho island was worth searching for tlioir iir>t.s hitoi' on at the proper season, 'i'his was why I now entered the boat and gave the 'woid for the island. Though the distanee to the island was only ahout two hundred yards, it took time for the l)oat to roardi there owing to the strength of the eurrent, and I had ample time to look around. 'The island was not above one hundred and fifty 5^ards long by souK^ sixty wide; the major ])ortion, which stood some eight feet above the water, with steep banks screened by brushwood, was covered thickly with trees, forming a mass of dark unbroken green which showed up the white plumage of a few Egrets that could be seen sitting on the boughs. The lower i)art of the island end was covered with stunted tamarisk and ended in a pointed spit of sand clothed with " sarpat " grasR to within a foot or two of the water's edge. T'^ndf^r the trees grew "bhang" — the drug produeing plant, and in 1h(^ more ojien ]iarts this formed dense undergrowth, reminis- cent of an English nettle-bed. On neighbouring sandbanks, a few birds were standing at the water's edge; here a group of .Spoonbills (FWalea Icucorodia) were busy cleaning their plumage; there a few Cattle Egrets were wrapped in meditation. Over the shallower water, between tho two islands, a number of Black -bellied Tern (Sterna mclanoga.sirr) were wheeling backwards and rnr\vards, fishing. Now and again a Heron or "E'^M-ot flew pasl, to disappear in the trees on the island. 'As we approached nearer T could see a few Night Herons standing on the wet sand in that lumpy fashion, which one comes to look on as a chief characteristic of the species. Jleaching the island we scrambled up the sandy bank— and the spot lost its calm! Every step was greeted by the he^vy flapping and harsh grunts that announced the startling of an indignant bird from its nest; while a host 'of Crows {Corvus spJetnlrns), fluttered and cawed, apparently most in- dignant at our intrusion. 'My expectations were fulfilled; this was indeed the nesting place of the Egrets, and it was evident that the only obstacle to securing their eggs, would be the difticulty of identi- fying tho actual owners of each nest. 24:Si An Island on the Hiver Jhelum Funjah. By dint of cai-oful ohscrvatioii T iiiaiiauo!] to idcntiry sufficient nests for my needs, and found that four species wereT breeding on the island; these were in order of abundance: the Cattle Egret, the Little Egret, the Pond Heron, and the Night Heron. A short account of each may not he out of place. The Cattle Egret (BuhuJcus coromandus) is in winter I)ure white with a yellow hill and black feet; in breeding plumage the head and neck and long decomposed dorsal plumes become orange buff. Length 20 inches. The bird takes its name from the fact that it is a cons'tant attendant on herds' of cattle, feeding on the grasshoppers that are disturbed by the herd, and the insects that are attracted by it. The Little Egret (Herodias garzetta) is pure white at all seasons with black bill and tarsus, the toes being a curious mixture of black and yellow. In the breeding season a crest of two long attenuated feath^^rs is developed and the pectoral feathers become lengthened and lanceolate; the dorsal feathers become a train of long decomposed plumes, turned up towards the end, — these being an inferior variety of the plumes of coinmerce. Length 25 inches. The Pond Heron or Paddy Bird (Ardrola f/rai/i)--'d relative of the European Squacco Heron— is one of the most familiar of Indian water birds. In winter it is roughly speaking, a mixture of buff, yellow, and various sliades of 'l>rown, in streaks, with pure white wings and tail. The breeding plumage 'is very different. The head and neck are light yellowish brown, with an occipital crest of long narrow lanceolate white feathers; the feathers of the upper breast are long, partly decomposed, ashy brown with narrow whitish streaks; the back and inner scapulars are long, decomposed; and coloured deep maroon; remainder of plumage pure white; bill blue at the base, yellowish in the centre, and black at the tip. Feet dull green. Len.gth 18 inches. This little Heron frequents every description of pond, marsh, river, and pool, and is not (in winter plumage) usually observed, until It lakes flight, when by suddenly revealing the pure Avhite wings and tail it becomes most conspicuous. To return to the colony, the Night Herons had built their nests together in one part, but the other three species were nesting anywhere with their nests all mixed together. The An Islam? on thr THrcr Jhrhiw Pini'iah. 240 nosis of all wiM'c llx- ordinary st nicliiic ol" s! icks, and tln^ only onos that avsto (list in,-:!!! dialdc I'l'om t!io;(' of otlioi' s|)Cfie.s were tlio small plal forms of [\\o Pond TTei-ons. Tlio noises made l»v tbo Iloi-ons woi-o most (•ui'ioiis-- nsually a kind of rather fi-o,i;-lik<^ rroak, or a surglo, which' ill tlii^ ('\('il(Mni'iit of an oocasional squabhic were exohanj^ofl for liarsli (|uai-ks that mii,'-ht well have been uttered by an a,£ritated duck. The o^ix>i of all four species of TTeron nestintr in Ihf eolony were of courso of the typical blue-^n'oon co'onr, but bv eareful examination T fiMind tint the e,c:,ir^^ nii.tjht usually be dist,in,2:uished as follows: Horad'a'i rra>-zr/fn and Bi(hulrus rornmmvhin lay e.^ci^s rou.ijhly the sanio size, but tho-;e of the latter tend to be sliirhMy lar.crer: the colour however is very distinctive (as l-.c'woen these two specie 0 for the eg'g's of B . qafri'Ha ■,\r<^ a much de -per b'u'^-,e:reen, those of B. coromandns beinj? more properly described as white tinged with bluish -green. "Whereas 71. qarzcffa usually lays 5 or 6 eggs, B. coromanrfvs seldom lays more than 4. The eggs of NycUcorax cfrisew^ are dis- tinguishable by their larger size from those of Ardenia qrajii and Herod ia-i fia>-zr'fa, and usually from those of Bnhulcus coromanihc^. but large eggs of the latter approximate to small eggs of 'the former ; in such cases the deeper colour would -erve to I'dentifv tln^ eggs of .Y. gri'^ens. The eggs of Ardeola cfcn/? which are of the deeper blue-gi'cen Heron type may be distinguished from those of the other three species by their small size. The measurements in millimetres, of eggs recorded in my notes give the following results: Xi/c'icorn.r cjriseus: 6 eggs; length 40-4().r): breadtli .T4-.3f5..5; average 48 x 35.5. yi/Hicorax griscns: 0 eggs; lencrth J0-4(i.r); l)readth ;;i-.S4; average 44 x 33. Bubidcus coromandns: 22 eggs; length 42-4 7.5; breadtli 33-35.5; average 44.5 x 34.5 Ardeola grai/i: 30 eggs; length 30-41. 5: breadth 27 x 3 1.5; average 39 x 29. 5 . I visited the island on several occasions and always found Cornis .splo/dcns numerous in the trees. Knowing the 250 An Island on the River Jhelnm Punjab. propensities of the Crow tribe, one suspected that they were there to prey on the eggs and young of the Herons, but T never saw any thefts taking place, and the Herons appeared not to mind the presence of the Crows; and birds generally aro ready enough to object to dangerous intruders near their nests. The numerous dust and rain storms that occur in this part must do a lot of harm to such colonies, for on' one occa- sion when I went to the island the day after a ^bad storm^ many young birds were lying dead on the ground below the nests. or the other inhabitants of the island there is little to be said. A very noisy Grey Partridge (FrancoKnus pondiceri- auus) inhabits the wilderness of "Bhang" Undergrowth in the tamarisk: once, and only once have I seen him — perching on the lower bough of a tamarisk; yet he is 'always to be heard. Toward-, du k large numb':'rs of Green Parrakeets (Palie- or)}i'^ )ri)>alensis) and (torqnafus) arrive to roost in the trees, adding their full share of noise to the general contribution. Many Green Bee-eaters '(Merops viridis) perch on the trees and bushes round the edge of the island, launching forth ceaselessly in pursuit of some luckless insect. ,0n one occasion I saw a tiny Heron sitting on the sand by the water's edge, and stalking it found I had secured the^ Little Green Heron {Bui or ides javanicus), but i<- • did not appear to have a nest. My list of the Island liirds ends with the Indian Oriole (Oriolus liindoo), a pair of Ring Doves (Turtttr risorius), the Pied Kingfisher (Crri/Je rndis) and the Indus Sandlark (AJatiduJa adamsi); but doulitless it has many other visitors. ■ ■ Blue -breast x Crimson-eared Waxbill Hybrid. By De. Maurice AmSxbk. On April 7th of this year I turned out from their winter quarters, into my small Finch Aviary, three Blue-hreastod Waxbills and a hen Cordon Bleu. The former, I knew, con- sisted of two cocks and a hen, and they soon settled down amicably, one of the cock Blue-breasts obviously basing plighted liis troth to ihc lion Cordon Bleu. On June 10th, } found a typical spliei-ical nest in a Blur-breast x Crhn.son- cared ^Va.l■}>/I/ Ili/brids. 2")! privet liiisli tiid on tli.- 15th, it contained four or five eggs, and one ol' (he Hlue-l>rea>;ts wa.s .sitting. It never entered my mind, until later, that this bird was the Blue-breast who had mated off with the hen Coi'don Bleu. On July oth, I found that- three eggs had lialehrd out, tlie young birds b(>ing aljout half-fledged. About this time I added to the aviary a cock Cordon Bleu, who was the means of my discovering the Mii.xcd parentage of the young birds. liiiniediately he had got over thesurpri-e of auain seeing sunshine, trees, and grass, he made up to the female Cordon Bleu, who treated him with absolute contempt, whilst her Blue- I)reasted mate knocked his would-l>e rival off his perch, and chased him round the aviary. I then noticed that the Cordon Bleu hen's tail was bent to one side — as occurs with all long -tailed birds of this genus, after sitting for a few days. I watched carefully, and soon found that she was feeding the three chicks already mentioned. Even so she might possibly have been feeding the young of a true pair of Blue -breasted Waxbills, but on July 11th, the day before the three hylirids flew, I found in another bush a similar nest containing eggs, and being incubated by the other cock and hen Blue -breasts, their eggs were fertile, and I believe have now hatched. The nest is rather high and I cannot ex- amine it again without causing a good deal of disturbance. The your"- hybrids closely resemble Blue-breasted Waxbiils \\-hich I have bred before — they are however perhaps a trifle paler in colour. Gordon Bleus have the iris of a reddish-brown colour, and the beak has a distinct pink tinge; in Blue-breasted Wax- bills the iris is dark brown and the bill is horn-coloured. The latter species are, moreover, half an inch longer, and of course considerably brighter in body colour. It will be interesting to note later which parent the hybrids, favour, and more especially to find out whether they are capable of reproduction. I am hoping to get another brood this summer, which will increase my chance of securing one or more breeding pairs for next year. I have marked the hybrids with numbered rings, and shall turn them out in an aviary to themselves so as to avoid all chance of confusion with either of their parent species. 252 Jiird Marking. Bird Marking By Dk. Philip Gossk, M.B.O.U. A year ago there appeared in " Bird Notes " a short account of the birds marked here at Beaulieu during the season with migrat'on rings. Possibly this year's results may prove of a little interest. In 1912 we marked in all 822 birds during the first six months, and 45 different species. The total so far this year (end of July) is 1,279, and again 45 different species. Among the birds marked here this year for the first time are Snipe, Tree Pipit, Lesser White -ihroat, Bullfinch, Eing Plover, Stone Chat, Heron, Jay, Herring Gull; Guillemot and Land Eail. All the birds in the following list were wild ones, except the Rose-coloured Pastor, which had been in my aviary for a few weeks, but not settling down with the rest of the birds, was given its liberty. On the whole it has been a wonderfully good spring for birds here, as the weather was perfect for nesting with the exception of one violent thunderstorm, which drowned any number of nestlings and fledglings.. Nearly all the birds were marked as nestlings, though some Starlings, Chaffinches, Robins, and Sparrows, were caught in a trap and marked in the early part of the year. Of tiie "returns " of last years birds, the one of chief in- terest was the case of a Song Thrush, No. 22212, which was found dying at the St. Catherine's light in the Isle of ^^'ight at 5 a.m. on the 10th of February, of this year. In its stomach, which was rather empty, only fragments of insects were found. The lighthouse -keeper reported that the Thrush was killed during an immigration of Song Thrushes and Black- birds from the South; so that there is little doubt that it was returning to the neighlwurhood of its birth, St. Catherine's being about twenty miles due south of this place. I marked the bird as a nestling on the 25th, of April, 1912, in a wood here. We marked neither Marsh nor Coal Tits this year. During the winter these are to be seen everywhere in ;the woods, and plantations, but when the spring comes, I think they must to a great extent go elsewhere, as I seldom find Bird Marlxing. 253 ai-c" iiostin.i,'- in every nest- a nesi o^ eillier while llic Uliu'- Im).\ or otiu'i' suital)le plaee. I should like to lake (hi-^ oppoi'tiiiiity to riitisii Hirds." vol. v., page 220, is an intei'esting account of a Dart ford M'arbler that was caught at the Tuskar Li,i,>-hthouse, Co. Wexfoi'd, on October 27th, 1912. But thi^. i-^ tlie only example so far that has been obtained' in an\' I ii,'-! it house in (Jreat Britain or Ireland. Soii^' Thnisli •1?,\\ Snipe 8 Rhickl.iid 211 Tree Pipit 6 Rlue Tit l-if, liesser Wliitcthroat 5 Chaffiiu-h 71 BullfiiKli 5 Tiapwin? {^?, Yellowliannner 5 Starlinu r>;'. Partridge 5 Robin .')(■. Ring Plover 5 Hedge-Sparrow (A Sjiotted Plycaicher 4 House-SparroM' fjO Whitethroat 4 Missel-Thrush 41) Slonechat 4 Swallow ?'-! Nightingale 4 Linnet '11 Wren 3 Skylark L'(i Tree Creeper 3 Pied Wagtail l'.» Heron 3 Greenfinc'li ir, Wood Pigeon •1 IMoorhen 1.-) Tin-tle Dove 2 Greal-Tit 14 Jay Long-tail Tit 12 Herring (J nil Xutliat.-li 11 riiiilleniot Willow Warl.lcr HI Landrail .M. ;. be! of interest. ■Mexican Quail (^aJliprpla sqnamata), Douglas Quatl {Lophortyx douglasi)., and Spotted Tixamous (Nothurn nmc- ulosa), all have broods. Elite Water-hens {Porphyrio porphyria) have suc- cessfully hatched out two chicks, which are being brought up by Bantams. American Red-wtnged Starling (Agclaeus phocni- eiis), have three young birds on the wing, which are not yet fending for themselves, but thi> is now only a matter of a few days. Beonze-wing and Crested Pigeons and White- fronted Doves are all feeding young. Among the failures may be mentioned the Orange - headed and White -throated Ground Thrushes, both of which successfully reared young last year. Among the recent additions are a pair of Australian Flower -Peckers (Dicaeum hirundinaceiim); these were much admired by the membc^rs, who attended recent Club Afcctings at the Zoo. Another interesting arrival is a second Kay-u, but unfor- Bird Notes. Photo hi/ E. 0. Page. Pelican Prccniiig its Plumag-e. Ti.sifs io Monhcrs' Aviaries and Birdrooms. 25') tur.atply, I U^ixw (Iiat this l)ir(l is of the samo sex as the one already there. While writing of the Zoo, the Pelican enclosure is always of interest, and the plate of one of these hucre and atractive birds preening its plumage, taken by my brother two years ago, may prove of some little interest. For the same reason a photo of part of the Waders' Aviary is given, with a group of Avoects in the distance. This aA'iai'V always attracts iiiucli adinii'atioii, and its varied occupants arc a source of gicat iiitci'cst (it many visitors. 1 may remark, oi pa.syaHl. that three years ago a young Avocet and two Redshanks were successfully reared in this aviary. Unfortunately the process of enlargement of the photos has been carried too far, and detail has sulTored somewhat therefrom. Visits to Members' Aviaries and Birdrooms By Whslky T. PAfiE, F.Z.S., Etc. {Continued from page 184). Mk Scott-freeland's Aviaries : These Tonl>ridgc aviaries are really picturesque and will be more so as they develop, for they were not finished (two of them) till quite late in the autumn of 1912, and of course natural cover, etc., has yet to develop, yet sufficient has been done to give them a natural appearance, and the general effect is very pleasing, much enhanced by the setting of a most picturesque garden. Mr. Freeland is quite a new adherent to aviculture, but he certainly has made a most promising beginning, arid evidently does not intend to l)c content with the " Freely Imported Species," for he already has many uncommon and beautiful species occupying the respective aviaries. The aviaries, three in number, have been named The Terrace, Rockery, and Road Aviaries, according to the position whicli they occupy. The Terrace Aviary, while containing a certain iuunbor of regular occupants, is looked upon as the reception quarters for new arrivals to be rested and acclimatized in, before being turned intc- permanent quarters in the Rockery or Roa!d Aviaries. The shelter of this aviary reminds one of a gigantic 2!'>C) V/^?7,s to Members' Aviaries and Birdrooms. l:iee-hive, foi' the Avails and roof are thatched externally with a three-inch tliickness of straw, and ve:'y pleasing the efTect is. Canai'ies and Cutthroats have rearetl young to fend for themselves. Its occupants at time of my visit were; 4 Canavips 1 Java Sparrow 1 Nonpareil Bunting ? 1 Combasou 2 Lavender Finches "2 Black-headed Nuns 2 Cordon Bleus 2 Spice Finches 2 Benealese 2 Cutthroats and Young 2 Zebra Finches 2 Silverbills A^ll being apparently in perfect hoalth and condition. From the terrace a flight of steps leads down to the Road and Rockery Aviaries. I must really speak of these two as one in describing them, for they are practically one structure with a wire netting partition down the centre of flight and lofty shelters attached to each flight. The framework of flight is of iron (semi -circular top), covered with half -inch mesh wire netting. The shelters are of wood, with three inches of straw between the two courses of boards, and are very lofty and light. I rdid not take actual measurements, but the shelters are about 10 feet square, and the flights about 40 feet by 10 feet each. I should say the terrace ground is much higher than the aviary site, and as the latter are approached from the high ground, the effect as one looks down into the aviaries is most pleasing and picturesque. An asphalte path runs through the entire length of each flight, and the beds on cither side arc planted with various shrubs, evergreens, etc., and the whole efTect is very natural. I hope at some future time !Mr. Freeland will describe these aviaries and illustrate his notes with photographs of the aviaries and their occupants. The occupants of these aviaries are as follow : — Rockery Aviary: 2 Tricolour Tanagers 2 Goldfinches ?> Superb Tanagcrs 2 Siskins (nesting) 1 Gold-fronted Fruitsucker ] Hooded Siskin 2 Blue Sugar-Birds 2 Grey Linnets 4 Yellow-winged Sugar-Birds 1 Ruficauda Finch 2 Orange-headed Ground Thrushes 2 Tndigo Buntings 1 Black Redstart ?) Zebra Finches and Young 4 Gouldian Finches 1 Black-headed Nun H Orange-cheek Waxbills 1 Grey Singing Finch 4 Grey Waxbills 2 Spice Finches \ i.sils Id Ml iiilifi.s' Ariarics (iml lllnfroinns. )>')1 ■1 (;.pM-l.lvaslr.l Waxl.ills 2 Sil v,Tl,il Is •1 Viul.t TMiia-vrs 2 Wliitr Ik'ihIcI Xuns 4 ('..III. .11 lil.iis 1 Liiveiidev Kiiicli ■_' Maskcl (iiMssliii.lus 1 Green Avadavat Ju).\i/ .\\i.\i;v: •_' SallVoii Kin.-ii.'s 1 I'iiil.iil Wiiy.lali 1 I'i.'.l Wnulail 1 lilur P.inl V 1 Vrll..\v Wa-lail ? I V.vvvn Sin-iii-liii.-li I llaMJwi.ks iMuilMi.'krr 1 Short-winged Weaver 1 Vii-iniaii ( ai-.iiiia! 2 lled-billed Weaver 2 Indigo liunti'igs '?> (various) Weavers 2 Silver-eared Mesias 1 Niglitingale 2 Blue Tanagers 1 Redstart i 1 Scarlet Tanageis d' 1 Bullfinch i 2 JTagpie Mannikins 1 Goldfinch ? 3 Paradise Whydahs . -2 Chaffinches 111 the Road Aviary Blue Tanag-ers and Silver-eared Mesias iiave each had three clutches of eg-gs, but all the eyi^'s were infertile. J^otli pairs were nesting again and hope had taken a new lease of life. Saffron Finches were incubating. In the Rockery Aviary Olive and Zebra Finches have young on the wing, but not yet fending for themselves. Maskt'd Grassfinches have young in the nest which were doing well. and Orange -cheeked Waxbills were nesting. There were a fair number of nests high up of which Mr. Freeland knew nothing. The above notice in most inadequate, but my desire is that owners should give descriptions of their aviaries and birds. jSir. Freeland said that up to the present only Canaries and Cutthroats had reared young up to the point of fending for themselves, but that there were many other pros])ects of success in other directions. L.M.T. CRirrrEs' Hospital and College .4viAniEs: These aviaries have now develo[ed and are now looking quite spectaculai', the Finch aviary in particular looks charming with the internal standards wreathed with Dorothy Perkins and other Rambler Roses, the door arches covered with clematis, ivy, and honeysuckle, while the evergi-eens, privet hedge, etc., have all done well and the result is very picturesque. In opposite corners brambles thrive and are now producing fruit. The occupants of the aviary are thriving also, and two rather interesting successes are worth recording-. :258 Visits to Memhers Aviaries and Binhonms. Red -billed Weavers (Quelea quelea). A pair of this species have successfully reared one young bird which was (July 30;h) fending for itself. There are very few instances of this species rearing young in captivity, and so far nothing has been placed on record concerning them save the bare fact of success. The nest which I closely examined was built in a honeysuckle which was twining round a spar.;e hazel bush. It was fairly closely woven, though the aviary attendant in- formed me that he could easily see the one e^g through it, and was a two chambered construction, a short tul;;e or spout led to the first chamber and the other or hind compartment formed the incubation chamber; unfortunately when I saw it, though nearly intact, it was too much the worse for " wejir and tear " to be photographed, the spout or tube having almost disappeared. I gleaned the following facts from the attendant concerning it. Only one a^^ was laid, which duly hatched out. The young bird was about sixteen days old when it left the nest. On July 30th it was fending for itself and had been out of the nest about three weeks. The nestling plumage is very similar to that of the adult female, but greyer and the striations much less distinct; Ix^ak light horn -colour. An interesting result, as very little live food is sup- plied, and the young bird must have been reared on seed and greenfood, plus what insects its parents captured in the aviary., Adult pair nesting again. Hybrid Mannikins: Odd specimens of Indian Siiverbill (cf) and Spice Finch (9) crossmated, and after laying a fair number of creamy-white eggs, succeeded in hatching out and fully rearing two young birds, which were about one week out of the nest when 1 saw them. The nest was a domed structure built, in a l)Ox, of grass and very compactly woven together. The nestlings are about the size- and contour of Silverbills, but at present it is impossible to say Avhat they will be like when they have moulted; at present they are of a nondescript brown, lighter on the underparts. On one of them there are slight indications of the scalings of the kSpice Finch, They are nesting again. I'/.svV.v lo Mcn/hcrfi' Aviaries (ukJ ninlroonis. 25'.l Cutthroats {Amaclhin fasciata). Tlicsc li.ivc one ])ro()v ilselF. I'arrakeet Aviary: Here, though all tlie birds Kosella, Ked-runiped, and Ring-necked Parrakeets; Madagascar, Blue- wing and Black-cheeked Lovebirds; Oockatiels and Budgeri- gars—are in excellent condition and very vigorous. Only the Budgerigars have reared young, though the Black-cheeked Lovebirds are nesting. They have unfortunately lost their hen Gouldian Finch. If any of our members has a duplicate hen such would be very acceptable and gratefully acknowledged. Mk. Chiozza Monky'b Aviakies (Highgate) : On Tues- day, August 5th, I availed myself of Mr. Money's kind in- vitation to lunch and to see his aviaries and birds. The house is barely completed, and it speaks volumes for Mr. Money's interest and enthusiasm in his birds, that the aviaries aix; uj) before the grounds are touched ! While Air. Aioney has provided a fair amount of natural cover, he has not so much as is usually found in the garden aviary, his desire being to have his birds mostly staged, as it were, before him, and he has certainly succeeded in securing this and at the sam(! time very pleasing and attractive aviaries; the ground plan clearly indicates how he has achieved this. Mr. Money also likes to have as varied a series of birds as it is possible to keep together, as will be indicated in the lists given later. The aviaries have only been up about six weeks, and were erected on bare, rough ground; yet Mr. Money ha« triumphed over difhculties and pushed on one side gardeners' and nurserymen's ol)jections that it was impossible to move large bushes in July — privet and other bushes, 8 feet high have been successfully transplanted, and by the fi-ee use or water, both as to the ground and sprayed over the foliage, this has been accomplished with scai'cely the loss of a leaf — 2('i0 Visits to Members' Aviaries and Bird rooms. ^'i.fi//,s to Me nil) Arhulcs (iii(( Ilinlrooi ■iC.l cind the iiviary yeiiL' e«qu.i appearance. A. reference, to the grou sistsj of two aviai'ies "A" and shelter lliglits 12ft. x 12ft. att iiig, has a passage " P " I'uiii whieh the shelter flights, " C " these the outer (lights are reae 1 will now give a list of aviai'ies : — Aviary A.— D. 1 jiair Sikliim Siskins 1 i Sliania 1 Hiudwifks J''ruitsiicker 1 Indian Grey Tit 1 Green-backed "^I'it 1 Laj)win Lavender Finches 1 g Napoleon Bislio]) 1 S Purple Sugar-liii-d 1 Hoopoe 1 pair I fart/. Canaries 1 ,, Cordon Bleus 1 S Virginian Cardinal 1 $ (ji-een Cardinal 1 Tricolour Tanager 1 i Dhyal Bird 1 i Redstart 1 i Whinchat . 1 t? Rainbow Bunting 1 3 Pileated Finch •1 -, fully ■• foallKM'oil, liut (lead, anil the old liiriU sitting again. One "young liylifid P.il) Finch \ Bi'oiizc-wiiii,'- Nfannikin was on the "wing, as wcM'i' also ano'hei' hrood oT Afagpi ' Maniiikins. I "also found two Inorc young 'iviainond Dov.'s and ono \'i()lot " Dove flying strongly. Me]l)as have built again, and there arc "more young T^ib Finehes. There are nests and eggs of all the "Masked, Long-tail,- and Ruf(Mis-fail Grassflnches, but no young "ones. Young Budgerigars and Corkateels in plenty. I hope "there is still time foi' tlu^ (irassfinclies to rear." OBiTfAKY: AA'e regrrt to have to record that oui- mem- ber Uv Albert Su'elillV has 'o t I'i:; I'a'her, Aldernian.T. Sutclin'e, with painful suddenness, from heart failure, on August 7th. We tender to Mr. FutclifTe and the family our deepest sympathy in their sad and sudden bereavement. "Erkata: The ])Iate oT Hemprich's Gull, opposite page 170 in June issue of "R.X.." is printed vipside down. With next issue a loose plate will be included to replace same. Page 195. line 0, for phnnenieop^cra read phoenicoptera. Pago 226, line 14, for "June 20," read June 16. The Hon. Editor regrets that pressure upon his time an«l the late arrival of copy, have made it impossible to include the usual notes, or to give the proofs the attention they should receive and members' indulgence is craved accordingly — the a1x)vc is also the reason of the late appearance of this issue. liEci-iNT Atmjivai.s: ])i-. Hoj-kin-^on has recently returned from S. Africa, with a few Quail Finches, Napoleon Weavers, and a ti-ue I'^air of Texto)' or Bufl'alo AA'eaver, oi- Oxbii'd (Tr.rfor srncgdlensiH) . Afost have been already distributed among members with garden aviaries, so that the Idids miglit have opitorlunity to reproduce their kind in captivity. -■1- 266 Srxh)(/ fhr Gold-frorifrd Friiitsiicl'cr. Sexing the Gold-fronted Fruitsucker (ChJoropsis anrifrojis) . In "B.N.," Vol. I., N.S., page 83, tho following ai'e sexual distinctions, taken l)y our member Mr. W. E. Teschemaker from a pair of living Wrds in his possession. 1. — "The female is decidedly smaller than the male and Ikm' lieak more slender." 2. — "The golden foreliead is much paler, and liei- upper and uiidoi' lai! coverts ai'e also paler th:in tho o of her mate." :•). — "The area of black on throat does not extend fur- ther back than a line dropped perpendicularly from the eye." Since then I Iiave had the opportunity of closely examin- ing several true pairs and it would appear that the above dis- tmctions are fairly constant., but owing to the variation common to all species with an extended range, distinctions Nos. 1 and 2 are not so reliable as No. 3, which has been constant in .all the reliably sexed "birds I have been privileged to examine, .some twelve pairs, and very many odd males. In April last Major Perreau kindly brought me over a true pair, kindly presented to me by our member Mr. Appleby, and these are now doing well in my garden aviary, though no attempt has been made at nest building up to the present, that T have discovered, though the male has been seen with bents in his beak on several occasions. As the above reTerred-to distinc- tions occur also in this pair I got Mr. Goodchild to make a drawing of their heads, which we reproduce herewith. We hope members with true pairs will compare their birds with the accomi)anying figure, and communicate any variation their biixl.; may show from the draAving. WEST.EY T. PAGE. Correspondence. THE NESTING OF THE BLACK-HEADED NUN. Sir,— Tn i-csixiusc to your ciKiiiirifs, w(. know so little .ilioiit the advoiii of the little Bhick-heiided Nun that we really .lesired to keep silent al.ont the iiiattei-, save giving a bare record of the episode. We had kci)t this species so long without their making any attemi)t at nesting that they did not interest us greatly and we took hut little note of their doings ; this species increase 1 the variety of our series of birds, and I fear our interest in them ended there. Sca'iff(j iJic 0()/(I-/i()i/(c(l Fnufsnel'cr. 2G7 OOLD-P^RONTED FRUITSUCKER. U])i:)er Figure— 9 Lower Figure — cf Correspondence. 268 III tlie sunimer of 1912 I found a l)r')\vnish coloured bird, on tlie floor of the ;iviary, which looked at first sij^ht like a young Sharp-tailed Finch Imt proved to he a Black-headed Nun {.]f^uN.t n/nni,;//,,) from the fad that tliey fed it. It was of a nondescript hi-owii, iiiihti'i- helovv. witli a t,'re_vish heak autl one white featlier in its wing. The parents were occasionally seen to feed it, and we conchide that it tnianated from a coco-nut husk, because the parents were observed hopping about a particuhir one. I a:n afraid this little strang3r did notiaterest u^ greitly, and we hook very little notice of it at the time and we are not sure if it is still living. Of course if the parents should go to nest again this year w • will carefully note all we can concerning the episode. We showed the little bird to our Hon. Editor, as he hnjipened to call very soon after the discovery of the fledgeling and he was interested at once. He is really responsible for what has appeared in " B.N." concerning it. 1 am aware this is not very satisfactory and that the episode adds nothing to our knowledge of the life history of the species, save the bare fact that we do now know of one instance of a young bird of this species liaving been reared in captivity. (MRS.) J. EASTON SCOTT. [I saw the young bird referred to above on several occasions and saw the parent birds (Black-headed Nuns; feeding it more than once, and also saw the parents and young bird on the husk together several times, and in my opinion there can be no doubt, either as to the parentage of the J'oung bii-d or the deductions drawn above from the few details observed.— El).]. MENU OF CAGE BIRDS. Sir, -I wonder how many people- not experienced avicultnrists^ think of giving their caged foreign Finches anything more than just seed and water. If they provided them with more variety there would not be such great mortality ]\Iine have every morning, among other things, a little tray of dried ants' "eggs," on which boiling water has been i>onred, then well drained away; there is never never one left next day. One ijttle Blue- breasted Waxbill I watch eating from 12 to 14 without stoi)}>ing, when newly placed in the cage ; but a circumstance connected Avith some freshly fathered " eggs " from the garden, seems to me worth relating : Yesterday morning, July 28th, I counted the said little Blue-breast swallowing 87 without a i>anse, this morning he partook of '.11, only stopjting once for "a drink." n.u.-h nL^Mk-d. omc w.ndd say. I may nay that two,,f nseonnt.'d this p,-rf(.rui;inre, liiat n,>r should do s<. uiiglii he too great a t;i.x upon credulity. ((Jarden ants' eggs are only about half the size of imi)orted on«;s, be it siid). liut. does not this show of what immense use our wild insect eating biids must be in demolishing garden, orchard, and agricultural pests V They deserve a better fate than they ordinarily meet with. To return to the "bread and water" diet of the average poor little cage bird, mine always have a lump of sugar in a little tin lid, cuttlefish bouc, and last though by no means least, a big bunch of flowering grass, i)lanted in a potted-meat vessel, and well moistened. When grass in flower is not obtainable, grass without the flower does just as well, and the blades are eaten close down, as a salad. Is it not worth while to be at the trouble of all this for 'their annisement, to Correspondence. 260 say nothing,' (if tlie liciulit tiic.v .IciivL- t'loni the vaiiod diet ? Some people f,Mve mciilwonus. l.ut inv tiny iiiiti.:s ilnn't seL-iii ahio to tackle these. Green fly from the roses and otlicr plants they like. If any member can suggest a still further e.xtension of nionn loi- the small foreign Finches, I hope they will do so. (.AIllS.l E. A. H. HARTLEY. TURQUOISINE PARRAKEETS. Sir, — It would l)e intei-esting to hear if Lord Tavistock succeeded in in obtaining a cock Tuniuoisine. A member offered me one last October ■which I would have purchased had F been able to jirocure a hen, but that I regarded as impossible. I understand that coek is now at the Zoo, but should be glad to hear it had been transferred to Wolmrn. affording the means of breeding that most lovely, and now. alas I almost extinct Parrakeet. IMany years ago (too many to reflect upon) wlien 1 was new to aviculture. I chanced to breed two broods in one season, seven in all, 1 think, or it may have been nine, and when advertised at 50s. pair, I lemember being inundated with checpies and telegrams. I gave .£2 for the parents which arrived perfect specimens — think of that now I It makes me snd to recall their fate, the cock was harassed to death l)y a nesting Blue Robin, the hen went blind, and finally died of starvation fioni an oveigiowii beak. T know better how to look after my birds now. l>nt one lias to pay dearly for one's experience. OIis. E. \ H. HARTLEY. July ;'.()th. St. Helen's l.od-e. llastinys NESTING OF OCCIPITAL BLUE-PIES Sir. — Another ilisa]ipointnieiit Occipital Blue-Pies nested again as I think you know. Thei'e were three fertile eggs, one hatched out all right and the hen ate the other two. The yor.iig bird did well for a week, the hen seeming to be a good mother This moriiing, when I visited the aviaries, I found the wretched bird calmly eating the chick. The nest was a very loose structure in a birch tree that I cut and fastened into the inner house ; it was so loose that the young bird could be plainly seen through the nest from be- low. I thiidc the period of incubation was 16 days. The young bird was without fluff and covered with a shining brown skin. E. J. BROOK Hoddam Castle, Ecclefechan, N.R.. •J4/7/"i:'.. British Bird Calendar. //<'.•< iinjmlhj rcfjiirMnl that Meinhfrs fimit all I'^iuul the ■ coast will note the nuiremeiitx