6:2 Notts on a Few W ell-known Species. 



and. once in a moment of almost reckless daring, 1 bougin i 

 pair of Red-faced Lovebirds, whicli, however, did not live lonj^. 



1 very soon t;ot rid of the i\ed-lie;ui. ., iiiicnes (Amadina 

 crythrocephala) because they bullied everything within reacn 

 never giving any other bird a moment's peace. 



The Cutthroats {Aniadiua fasciata) bullied the other birds 

 somewhat, and, when they got tired of doing that, they btiilt a 

 slovenly nest and hatched several young ones, which were 

 mostly thrown out of the nest by their villainous parents, when 

 about three days old. 



A pair of Avadavats (Sporaegintlius amandava) success- 

 ftilly reared their yotmg ones in a nest in a German canary 

 cage, till they were a week or ten days old. when they shared 

 the same fate as the yotmg Ctitthroats — I know now that 1 

 ought to have given them more live food. 



The hen Alelba h'inch (I'yfdia iiiclha) always seemed to 

 me a delicate bird, though cocks lived for years, i ney remindea 

 me, I remember, very much of Black-cheeked \\ axbuis in their 

 habits and disposition, always sktilking in low bushes, and 

 seeming to like to remain near the ground. 



Zebra Finches {Taoiiopygin castauotis) were the first 

 birds to rear young successfully in my aviary, and 1 shall never 

 forget my immense feeling" of satisfaction when I first saw the 

 young ones flying about — T felt that it really was rather an 

 achievement — I am glad I did not know then ihat tne difficult}- 

 is rather to prevent Zebra Finches breeding, than to induce 

 them to do so! Zebra Finches and (iuinea Pigs have this in 

 common, that, where two or three are gathered together, there, 

 with as little delay as possible, will appear two or three more. 



I have got at the present time five pairs of Zebras, which 

 I shall put up for breeding about the beginning of .\pril, an 1 

 which I generally depend upon to pay for the rest of my birds" 

 r>|)keep for the season. 



Usually the cocks are separated from the hens about 

 C^ctober, because I have found that winter-breeding is, on thr 

 whole, unsatisfactory, as one loses several hens from egg- 

 binding for every nest of young successfully reared. 



Tlie cocks which are in the aviary at the present moment 

 spend most of their time in strutting about and singing their 

 absurd song for the edification of the hens, which are in a large 

 cage out of sight, but within hearing distance. 



