HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



77 



matise, as our gardeners have plenty of native pests 

 to contend against, without adding anotlier to their 

 number. 



The pretty and lively little zebra-finch is a native 

 of Australia ; it is tolerably hardy, and may be win- 

 tered in an out-door aviary, providing that it is 

 supplied with a snug retreat in which to spend the 

 night ; but on the whole it will be safer to keep it in 

 the bird-room indoors ; under either condition, how- 

 ever, the zebra finch breeds very freely, and several 

 pairs may be kept together, if there be plenty of 

 nesting accommodation, which may be small boxes, 

 cocoa-nut husks, small cages, hollow logs, or any 

 nook in which the birds can deposit a mass of hay, 

 fibre, &c. The eggs are about the same size as those 

 of an English wren, quite white, and vary from three 

 to seven in number ; the young are fed on chopped 

 egg, soaked sponge cake and ants' eggs. At one 

 time these little birds were worth from 1 5^-. to 20^. a 

 pair, but can now be bought for 6j. or %s. a couple ; 

 still, as they are hardy and very prolific, I can recom- 

 mend them to the attention of amateurs, 



Java sparrows and cut-throat finches are also 

 hardy birds, breeding freely in captivity, but as they 

 can be purchased for a trifle, it is scarcely worth while 

 breeding them. Bengalees, however, are charming 

 little birds from Japan, about the same size as the 

 zebra finch, but as they are decidedly delicate they 

 must be kept indoors. A pair in a common canary 

 breeding-cage will soon make themselves quite at 

 home, rearing a numerous progeny, which may be 

 fed as already recommended for young zebra- finches. 

 As these little birds command a good price, perfectly 

 white specimens fetching 30J. a pair, they are well 

 worth the little extra trouble they will require, and 

 on the whole are not much more difficult to breed 

 than the canary,! 



Saffron-finches are charming birds, breeding freely 

 in the indoor aviary ; they make their nest in a cocoa- 

 nut husk, lay an egg like that of our sparrow, are fed 

 as indicated above, and are worth above 20^. a pair. 



Blue robins, and Pekin robins, or nightingales, 

 are delightful creatures, especially the latter, they 

 belong to the class of birds called " soft-billed," and 

 are a trifle more troublesome to cater for than the 

 finches ; but amply repay their owner for his care by 

 their beauty, docility, and charming song. They do 

 very well out of doors during the summer in a well- 

 wooded aviary, but must be taken indoors before 

 winter, as they are rather susceptible to cold ; or a 

 pair may be kept in a conservatory, where they will 

 do no harm to the plants, but on the contrary keep 

 the place clear of insects ; if the conservatoiy be 

 heated during the cold weather, these birds will live 

 there very happily all the year round, and will cer- 

 tainly breed, a consideration to the amateur, as they 

 are worth from 20s. to 30;-. a pair. I know of no 

 more delightful birds (always excepting my friend the 

 cardinal), they are fed on a mixture of grated bread 



crumb, carrot, and crushed hemp-seed, and as many 

 insects as possible ; ants' eggs, dried or fresh, forming 

 a valuable addition to the bill of fare ; flies and gentles 

 are objectionable, the latter especially seeming to 

 disagree with these birds. 



Many of the tiny finches, such as the silver-bill, 

 the orange-cheek, and orange-breasted waxbills, the 

 St. Helena waxbill, the pheasant-finch, the diamond 

 sparrow, and others have been bred in captivity, but 

 as with the exception of the last, they can be bought 

 for a trifle of the importers, and require a great deal 

 of attention to induce them to build and rear young, 

 it is not worth the while of a beginner to make the 

 venture. The diamond sparrow, however, is a beau- 

 tiful Australian bird that always commands a good 

 price, and an exception may be made in his favour, 

 but he is a horrilJy quarrelsome fellow, and he and 

 his wife must have a house, and a good-sized one too, 

 all to themselves, it being not unfrequently necessary 

 to remove my gentleman when madam has laid her 

 complement of eggs, as, annoyed apparently by the 

 loss of her society, he is very apt to pull the nest to 

 pieces, and smash the little white eggs on which his 

 owner's hopes of profit depend. 



^Yithout having more than very slightly glanced at 

 a subject about which volumes might be written with- 

 out exhausting it, and which offers a wide field for 

 experiment to the amateur gifted with leisure and a 

 love for the most beautiful portion of the animal 

 creation, and who, at the same time, is not above 

 combining pleasure with profit, I cannot conclude 

 without a word of admonition to the sanguine, who 

 may fancy that in this case, as in many others, they 

 have nothing to do but to " come, see, and conquer," 

 they must be prepared for disappointment, which is 

 too often the order of the day, for, in spite of every 

 care "the best laid schemes of birds and men gang 

 aft agley : " but, as in more serious matters, so in the 

 breeding of cage-birds — 



" Experience joined with common sense 

 'I'o mortals is a providence." 



Nesting of Swifts. — In the volume on Orni- 

 thology, in Jardine's Naturalist's Library, the follow- 

 ing remarks regarding the nesting of the common 

 Swift occur : " We now find its resting-places only 

 in ruined towers, or old buildings, where lapse of 

 time has formed holes or rents ; " and " We are not 

 aware of any natural station for this bird, which we 

 would be prepared to find in the clefts and rents of 

 rocky precipices." No doubt the greater number do 

 select the first-mentioned sites for their nests, but in 

 an escarpment of the Cleveland Hills, near Bilsdale, 

 Yorkshire, I last year observed hundreds of swifts 

 flying in and out of the fissures in the rocks, which 

 v,'ere also tenanted by a colony of jackdaws and 

 pigeons. Although I did not look for the nests, I 

 have little doubt of their having nests in the holes 

 from which they issued. — J. A. Wheldon. 



