65 



impossible for me to say under the above circumstances 

 what killed these, but I advise perseverance in the non- 

 iise of egg. I rear a greater per-centage without this food 

 than with it. 



YeIvI^ow Budgerigar, hen. (Mr. Slatter). Recently bought. 

 It had congestion of the liver of long standing and a 

 recent pneumonia. As might be expected it was not in 

 breeding condition, no ova being in the slightest degree 

 developed. This variety is just as hardy as the ordinary 

 green one. The absence of green is not " the form of albin- 

 ism peculiar to this species," as I have seen stated, but 

 is due to the absence of a structural peculiarity in the bar- 

 bules of the feathers, which in the ordinary variety gives 

 rise to the optical illusion of green being actually present. 

 Albinism means absence of any pigment whatever. 



W. Gp:o. C res wet,!,. 



Sbort motee, anb Xettere to tbe lE&itor. 



COCOA NUT FIBRE. 



Sir,— In reading Post-mortem Reports for March, I note 



Dr. Creswell's remarks re cocoa nut fibre. I was advised to use 



this, but discarded it, finding that the longer pieces of the 



fibre became twisted round the birds' feet. I now use moss 



peat. At one time, when I was out of peat in the bale, I sent 



for a small bag, which arrived when I was away from home, and 



some of it was used for some Blackbirds and vStarlings, with the 



result that next day two were dead. Upon examining the 



peat in the bag I found it was all fine dust, in which state it 



should not be used. When mixed with sand or road dirt, and 



damped, I have had no ill effects from it. 



John Acutt. 



[Dr. Creswell strongly deprecates the use of road dirt. He 

 also regrets that the two dead birds were not sent to him that 

 he might have verified the cause of death. Ed.] 



THE MORTALITY OF BIRDS DURING IMPORTATION. 



Sir,— It would possibly interest many of the amateur bird 

 fanciers and collectors among your readers, besides myself, if 

 some of vour readers who are connected professionally with the 



