Birds for London Aviaries 



black velvet skull-cap, white collar, and a big 

 bulbous pink bill. 



The Java sparrow is not an aggressive bird, 

 but he stands up for his rights, and any 

 bumptious budgerigar who attempts to hustle 

 him will feel the kiss of his rosy beak on his 

 own feet and be led to become a wiser and 

 better bird. Java sparrows set off budgerigars 

 beautifully ; they are not very free breeders, 

 but this does not matter, as they can often be 

 got for sixpence each by taking half-a-dozen, 

 being about the cheapest of foreign birds. It 

 is almost impossible to pick out pairs, as they 

 are more alike than the proverbial peas in a 

 pod, so it is best to take the half-dozen and 

 chance it. Budgerigars can easily be sexed, as 

 a rule, by looking at their noses ; the cock's is 

 cobalt-blue, and the hen's pale blue or brown. 

 When this distinction failed, a leading dealer, 

 now dead, used to sort his stock by letting 

 them all bite him, those which drew blood 

 being the hens ! 



The process of the building of a bird's nest 



is always interesting, and the most wonderful 



of all nests, those of the weaver-birds, can 



always be seen in the making by any one who 



will buy a few males of the African red-billed 



weaver, which cost about half-a-crown each. 



This is a little bird much like a small hen 



225 p 



