ZAU !J^igl)ts yi&sarvcb, !>ttay ^ 3un(t. 1922. 



BIRD NOTES: 



— THE — 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



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May in My Aviaries. 

 By W. Shore Baily, F.Z.S. 



I wonder whether any of our members can remember a 

 May in any way similar to the on.e that has just ended — / can't ! 

 From an a\'icuhural point of view it lias been the most disastrous 

 experienced here since 1 took up the hobby of bird-keeping — not 

 entirely from the extraordinary climatic variations we have 

 experienced, but partly from this cause, and partly from a series 

 of untoward happenings. 



( )n the 1st of May in Wiltshire the weather was cold and 

 raw, with winds steady in the east; the elms were absolutely 

 leafless, and the hedges entirely bare; in spite of this I turned 

 my birds into the outside aviaries at the usual time. Now, at 

 ihe end of the month, we have semi-tropical conditions, the 

 thermometer for the last ten days having ranged well over 80 

 degrees in the shade, and the poor birds, instead of suffering 

 Irom chiUs. have been half baked by the hot sun. 



The following daily notes may be of interest to our readers : 



May ist.— A great loss occurred. My cock Tragopan, 

 .1 most beautiful bird, was picked up dead. It had burst a 

 blood vessel whilst displaying. When found, its horns were 

 e.N tended, as was the gular lap. but the colours were fading. 



May 2ud. — Hen Dick-cissel died of enteric; cock Bobolink 

 ki'led by Weaver. 



May i^rr/.— Algerian Chaffinch and Stni)e-headed Gros- 

 beak laid. The Chaffinch built a neat nest, but it was not 

 covered on the outside with lichen as is usually the case with the 

 nest of the common bird. The Grosbeak built this time in a 

 box; four eggs were laid in each case. 



