120 A FccU Experiments. 



!.;"reat display of affection towards liis new mate, lie i)roceeded 

 <^o guide her in a wide circle around the limits of his domain. 

 A fortnii^ht or so later this hen connnenced relinin^' a deserted 

 Missel "riirnsh's nest near the snnmiit of an oak tree, and in 

 due course three ei^gs were laid, and incubation commenced. 

 After she had been sitting steadily for about a week I noticed 

 one day that the cock was looking rather off colour and had 

 become strangely silent. Late that evening, whilst returning 

 to its roost after a final feed at the feeding table, 1 saw it 

 suddenly falter in its flight and next moment fall as though shot. 

 On hurrying to the spot and picking him up I found him gasping 

 for breath and obviously suffering from a severe attack of 

 pneumonia. I did all I could for him, and, as so frecjuently 

 happens in such cases, he appeared to improve a good deal for a 

 time, but this improvement was quickly followed by a relapse, 

 and in spite of all my efforts he succumbed four days later. 

 The hen meanwhile w"as steadily incubating and only left her 

 duties at long intervals for a hurried meal. She w'as much 

 distressed and worried over the disappearance of her mate, but 

 as she called to and was answered by the cock of the second 

 pair, which I had in an aviariy in the large barn, I hoped that she 

 would conclude that her own mate was still in the neighbour- 

 hood and woitld not desert the nest. This, in fact, she did not 

 do, but two days before the eggs were due to hatch I missed 

 her, and, fearing the worst, climbed up to the nest to investigate 

 My worst fears w-ere unhappily realised, for I found all the 

 eggs broken, but not a sign of the bird itself was to be seen. 

 This occurred just ten days ago, and I have not seen anything 

 o^ her since, so that the only conclusion is that she has shared 

 the fate of hen number one. My experiences, such as they are, 

 lead me to the reluctant conclusion that this locality is unfavour- 

 able for experiments of this nature. The surrounding country 

 is not properly preserved, and as a consequence hawks, owls, 

 stray cats, stoats, weasels, and last, but not least, rats are very 

 numerous; but to anyone favourably situated I can warmly 

 recommend Green Cardinals as subjects for turning out. The 

 cock especially is a most showy bird, and he evidently knows this, 

 for he invariably selects the most conspicuous and conunanding 

 positions from which to serenade his mate, and always advertises 

 his arrival in any spot by the extraordinary noise, for so small a 



