20 



tlieiii both safely down to Buenos Ayres, and from there to 

 La Plata, in company with some hundred other birds— but 

 unfortunately found one of them dead when I unpacked them 

 on board ship on my voyage home to England. This was one 

 of the three Argentine or Brazilian birds which I lost on the 

 voyage, out of 150 specimens. 



I should be pleased to show my bird to any member who 

 cares to call, (he should drop me a line first, to be sure of finding 

 me at home). It was to be seen at the Crystal Palace vShow of 

 February, where I again exhilnted it, this time under the 

 name of the Argentine Bobolink. 



Reginai^d D. vSteward. 

 6, Stanger Road, South Norwood. 



SOAKED BREAD FOR PARRAKEETS WHEN 

 REARING YOUNG. 



Sir, — Dr. Creswell seems to be under the impression that a 

 immber of my young Parrakeets died, but that of course I, not 

 being a pathologist, could not possibly know what killed them. 



Let me state, once and for all, that since I commenced to 

 give my breeding Parrakeets soaked stale bread, as an addition 

 to their ordinary diet of seed and green food, a dead young 

 bird has been practically an unknown quantity, and my 

 brother, who during the last two or three years has reared 

 Budgerigars literally in hundreds, has had a like experience. Of 

 course a youngster will occasional!}' fall out of the nest or be 

 killed by an adult ; but apart from these occasional accidents I 

 can state from experience that if Parrakeets (I am writing of 

 the commonly kept species such as Budgerigars, Cockatiels, 

 Redrumps, or Rosellas)are kept in outdoor aviaries,* and fed as 

 I have reconmiended, dead young birds will be almost unknown. 

 I am perfectly well aware that it is possible to rear Budgerigars 

 on dry seed and green food alone, but I say emphatically that 

 some addition in the form of soft food is very desirable, and, so 

 far as I know, ordinary soaked bread (which must have all the 

 superfluous water squeezed out by hand) is about the best 

 thing that can be given. Dry seed and green food alone are 

 not natural, for in a wild state the seed is generally eaten in a 

 more or less unripe state, and innumerable delicacies such as 

 berries, buds, tender shoots, and ver}' possibly insects, which 

 we cannot provide in captivit}', are added to the menu. 



• I canuot say what might not happen in a badly ventilated birdroom. 



-D. S.-S. 



