76 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



the particularly jolly, but quaker-plumaged cockateel, 

 which is very prolific, and must be fed and treated as 

 the budgerigar. A good cockateel is worth from \2s. 

 to I'^s., and is altogether a very nice bird, though 

 perhaps a trifle noisy. A candle-box with a hole at 

 the top and a handful of sawdust inside, makes a 

 first-class nest for this bird, as well as for the tur- 

 quoisine, red rump and rosella, all very desirable 

 birds, and perfectly hardy. I would recommend, 

 however, that only one species of these parakeets be 

 kept together, as the 

 different kinds quar- 

 rel among themselves, 

 in which case success 

 in breeding them can 

 scarcely be looked 

 for. 



Athough a native 

 of Brazil, there is, 

 perhaps, no bird that 

 better accommodates 

 itself to the vicissi- 

 tudes of our change- 

 able climate than the 

 red-headed cardinal, 

 whose scarlet crown, 

 pure white breast, 

 light grey back and 

 black tail, no less 

 than his bold, not to 

 say martial carriage, 

 render him such a 

 conspicuous object in 

 a collection. He 

 lives and thrives out 

 of doors in this 

 country to a marvel, 

 seeming as happy and 

 contented when hop- 

 ping about in the 

 snow, as when thread- 

 ing his way through 

 the birch-branch fur- 

 niture of the aviary 

 on the hottest sum- 

 mer-day. 



A t ru e finch, 

 though a large one, 

 his eminence will live 



on canary and hemp seed (though the latter is apt 

 to discolour his beautiful plumage) but he will not, 

 on such diet, enjoy the same amount of robust health 

 as when supplied with a sufficiency of animal food. 

 Black-beetles are a readily procurable dainty, but 

 caterpillars are his favourite food. He, or rather his 

 wife, builds a nest like our thrush, in a bush, or a 

 wire-basket hung up in some quiet corner ; the eggs 

 resemble those of our blackbird, and are four or five 

 in number ; the young are hatched in thirteen days, 



Fig. 55- — Java Sparrows (Ffiii^iUa oryzi-jora). 



and may be readily reared on chopped e^g^, minced 

 veal, or other white meat (cooked), and such insects 

 as can be procured. There are usually two broods in 

 the year, the birds fetching from 15^-. to zos. each 

 when adult. The sexes resemble each other, but the 

 male is brighter-coloured, and has a bolder and more 

 upright bearing ; his song is not unlike that of the 

 thrush. 



As these birds are very quarrelsome, only one 

 pair can be kept in the same enclosure, which may 



also be tenanted by 

 a pair of the larger 

 parakeets. Nothing 

 would be easier than 

 to acclimatise the 

 red-headed cardinal, 

 which would be a 

 most desirable addi- 

 tion to our fauna, and 

 an acquisition to 

 farmers and market- 

 gardeners, as he is 

 not a fruit-eater, but 

 lives chiefly on in- 

 sects, particularly 

 caterpillars, of which 

 he will devour his 

 own weight a day. 



The Virgini an 

 nightingale, from the 

 Southern States of 

 North America, is a 

 kindred species to the 

 foregoing ; it is of a 

 brilliant red colour, 

 verging to brown on 

 the wings and tail, 

 and a sweet singer, 

 but is not as hardy as 

 the cardinal. I have 

 not succeeded in 

 breeding this species, 

 but know some ama- 

 teurs who have, and 

 speak very highly of 

 it, as a quiet, peace- 

 able bird that never 

 quarrels, unless with 

 another pair of the 

 same kind during the breeding season, so that 

 it will be necessary to isolate each couple, if they 

 are to do any good in the breeding line. The 

 female is brown, and sings as well as the male, some 

 people say better than he does. The Virginian 

 nightingale is to be fed in the same way as the 

 cardinal, adding ripe fruit and green peas when in 

 season. An escaped pair of these birds nested, and 

 reared a brood of four young ones in a wood near 

 Berlin ; but it is scarcely a desirable subject to accli- 



