45 



her kind was to build a nest, lay one egg, build some more nest, 

 and about a week after lay another egg and so on ; needless to 

 say she never " had any luck." What great expectations we do 

 have, and how quickly they are shattered ! 



This spring I am moving to a larger house with good 

 garden, and I hope soou to be the proud owner of several decent 

 aviaries. My great wish is to try to rear some hybrids between 

 foreign finches. 



I am afraid I can tell your readers very little that can be 

 of use to them ; there is however one thing I should like to 

 mention. Sometimes I have been troubled with growths on the 

 feet of birds in the shape of small lumps on the joints. Last year 

 I had a Siberian Goldfinch affected in this way on one claw, and 

 tried the experiment of removing the ordinary perches from his 

 cage and substituting the branchy end of a pea stick : this, 

 consisting as it did of small branches of various sizes, gave him a 

 chance of using his feet more, and in about a fortnight the lump 

 entirely disappeared. I give this for what it is worth, but cer- 

 tainly think it is worth trying. 



Strav> IRotes on mv> H\>ian> anD its 3nmates. 



By Capt. J. S. REEVE. 



My aviary was constructed three years ago out of a portion of 

 ui}' house, which faces south, and it is roughly of the following dimensions : 

 height 15 feet; length 12 feet; depth 6 feet. At the eastern end is a 

 window hermetically sealed with a sheet of plate glass, and at the opposite 

 end is a wooden door from which the aviary can be cleaned out; the only 

 opening therefore is in the western end of the southern wall, which is a 

 large one (9 feet high by 6 feet wide) and which is never closed summer or 

 winter. The floor is concrete and has a stone basin in it for water. 



I keep no soft-billed birds, and feed only on millet and Canary except 

 plenty of green food. In the frosty weather a little hemp, and in the 

 summer ants' eggs are given. 



I will now give you a list of those birds which have survived this or 

 last winter in this aviary, with any special notes connected with each. 



Zebra and Diamond Doves have laid and sat, but always had their 

 nests destroyed. 



Java Sparrows never attempted breeding till after two years when 

 they hatched two young ones out of four eggs, but deserted them before 

 they were fledged. 



