. 237 



iBMtorial. 



AN INTERESTING HYBRID:— In a letter re- 

 ceived a month or two ago from Mrs. Button (of 

 Stone) there is the following passage : — " One of these 

 *' old pets is an elderly hen Seed-eater which surprised 

 " us all by laying in April four fertile eggs, (she had 

 " paired with a cock Siskin). They were put under a 

 " Canary, but unfortunately she turned sick and re- 

 " fused to finish feeding the young ones at 16 days. 

 " One only, a cock, was successfully reared, and he is 

 "a queer looking customer. The second clutch (of 

 *' four) contained two full eggs. They were left with 

 •' the mother, and although she proved an excellent 

 *' feeder she was not successful in rearing them." 



Of course there is nothing very surprising in this 

 cross, because the Siskin-Canary hybrid is obtainable 

 quite easily, and the Seed-eater was presumably either 

 the St. Helena, the Sulphur, or even the 6". icterus, all 

 of which, as is well known, are near relations to the 

 Canary. But it is none the less interesting, because I 

 believe this is the first recorded instance of the occur- 

 rence. 



IS EGG -FOOD NEEDFUL?— I have recently 

 come across a letter received by me some time ago 

 from a gentleman who has recently returned from 

 abroad, Mr. C. W. Woodhouse, a student at the Royal 

 Veterinary College, and a late member of our Council. 

 In it he sa3\s — " I had a pair of Liothrix hitezcs, witli- 

 " held all ^^% food, and they came into splendid 

 *' plumage and lost the diarrhcea they had when pur- 

 '* chased — became in fact much healthier." 



