Mannikins. 7 



powerful l)eak. at any bird which came near, anyone of which 

 would have been fatal had it reached its mark; for this 1 

 certainly did not blame him, especially as ay;"gressors took care 

 to keep him out of reach; in fact it was a case of " good luck 

 to him." And he was always a proud father indeed when he 

 brought forth a troop of babies into the aviary-world. 



The Magpie, too, likes plenty of insects when he is rearing 

 3 family, and my advice is "" let 'im 'ave em." 



One season I had neither a trtte pair of Magpie nor Bronze 

 Matuiikins in the aviary, simply a cock Bronze and a hen Magpie. 

 The Bronze had been the father of several families of his own 

 kind, but being bereaved he married again, and the size of the 

 only hen of the mannikin fann'ly did not daunt him, but after 

 considerable skirmishing, for it amounted to that, the lady 

 consented and accepted him. As a result two broods of very 

 pretty hybrids were produced about intermediate between the 

 parents, both as to size and plumage. 



Bronze-wing x Magpie Mannikin Hybrid. 



I may here remark that many, nay most, Mannikin hybrids 

 are fertile when paired back to other species, but not intcr-sc. 



In point of fact Mannikins are, I consider, readier to 

 mate among each other, failing a mate of their own species, than 

 any other group of birds, and will even mate up with a grass- 

 finch sooner than remain unmated. In support of this 

 statement I refer my readers to back volumes of Bird Notes. 

 and reprint a plate of Mannikin hybrids w-hich the late H. 



