Sonic Hybrid Records. 95 



and this material also forms part of exterior, the remainder 

 being composed of grass (only a little), hay and rabbit fur — 

 to-day (May 24th) it contains two or three eggs — I cannot say 

 more le this episode at present, save that, in spite of diabolic 

 weather, both are vigorous birds and in perfect form, having 

 spent the winters of 1922 and 1923 out of doors. 



3. Bronze Mannikin x Bengalese : The following record 

 i > not an English one, but is worth a place here — the scene 

 being laid in Italy : 



J have a brood of five youiiy hybrids from a I'.ronze Mannikin and 

 " a Fawn and White Bengalese — the young are exactly like Nutmeg Finches 

 " (S])ice-birds), except that the ground colour at the sides is fawn colour, 

 ' speckled with i)l;;ck. They are about the same size as the Nutmeg Finch 

 " — a good deal larger than their [larcp.ts. But my Bronze Mannikins are 

 " aviary-bred, and very small. — Giula Tommassi." 



In the above the one point for comment is the size of the 

 hybrid, for the Bronze Mannikin is a sDiall bird, smaller than 

 the Bengalese, and one would hardly have expected the hybrids 

 t'> be larger than the largest parent, in this instance the female 

 (Bengalese). In my experience, when parent birds have been 

 large and small, their progeny have been of intermediate size, 

 and also, from a rather wide knowledge of results in other 

 aviaries, this aj^pears to be the general rttle — to quote two 

 instances from my own aviaries, viz: Bronze x Magpie Manni- 

 kin (male parent placed first), and Cutthroat x Red-headed 

 Finch; in the former case all the young were of intermediate size 

 between the two parent species, and in the latter case the result 

 v.'as similar with one exception, and the exception very nearly 

 approached the size of the Red-headed Finch, but, so far as my 

 experience goes, it is the exception and not the rule, where the 

 female parent is the larger bird, for the young to equal her in 

 size — the Italian incident being the first case I have heard of; 

 i; causes me to query was the male parent of Giula Tommassi's 

 hybrids a Magpie Mannikin and not the Bronze ? 



With this instalment I am not going outside the scope 

 ( f the first volume of Bird Notes (1901-2), so will now turn 

 t > a few references of British hybrids referred to therein, as 

 follows : 



I'hose marked * were successfully bred and the young 

 reared; t — only partial success attained, young not reared; §-- 



