164 Happenings in Our Aviaries. 



Happenings in Our Aviaries. 



By Dr. E. Sprawson. 



The following happenings in our breeding aviary are 

 forwarded, as they may possibly be of some little interest to 

 others : 



Zebra Finches {Tacniopygia castanotis) : Two pairs 

 have been laying and sitting, but have not yet brought anything 

 forth. 



FiREFiNCPiES (Estrilda 7nininia) have brought forth one 

 lusty youngster who is now commencing to show male coloura- 

 tion. The parents now have two more young in the nest. I 

 am not quite sure that the two parents are of the same species, 

 as the male which I purchased last year in immature plumage 

 has never shown any white dots on his sides; he was in with a 

 consignment of Senegal birds and many other ordinary Fire- 

 fmches, so I presume this is merely a slight variation from the 

 normal — but would be glad to know. 



RuFous-TAiLED Grassfinches (Bathilda ruficauda) have 

 four very fine and now quite independent young, and the parents 

 are now sitting again. These birds nested several times both 

 in 1920 and 1921 — always in the open in a bush or creeper, and 

 though each year they had one or more young leave the nest 

 they never reached the age of independence — rains always soaked 

 the nest or drowned the young. This year they nested in a 

 box, and in spite of the wet have succeeded; their second nest 

 they began in a rose busli, so I pulled it down and they have 

 again gone to a box. 



GouLDiAN Finches (Poepliila goiildiae): We have two 

 pairs of these — Black-headed, and at the moment both pairs have 

 young, four and six days old respectively; we have bred these 

 birds to maturity on three previous years — indeed, one of the 

 hens which has young now we bred here last year. 



Pectoral Finches {Miinia pccturaJ'is) : We recently 

 acquired a pair of these; once before we had young up to ten 

 days old, but it was too late in the year for complete success. 

 Several males that we have had have all, when courting, had the 

 same habit of collecting all the small white stones they could 

 fmd in the aviary, for what purpose it is somewhat difficult to 



