136 



Sljj^g' gorre6pondence 



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^NC^ 



BULLFINCHEvS. 



Sir, — I beg to thank Mr. Ride for his kindness in 

 answering my letter about Bullfinches. 



I shall try the sulphur cure at the first opportunity. Of 

 course, the feeding may have something to do with the 

 trouble, and the seeds mentioned by Mr. Ride are no doubt the 

 best to give, but when one is trying to breed hybrids, one 

 must give seeds suitable for both birds. Take Goldfinch- 

 Bullfinch for instance. No Goldfinch will thrive without an 

 abundant supply of hemp — at least that is my experience — 

 and hemp is said to be bad for Bullies. 



But, after all, the feeding cannot be the principal reason 

 for the gasping, as some of the affected finches were getting 

 just the seeds named by INIr. Ride, viz. : canary, German rape, 

 teazle, and a little sunflower. Wm. C. Cunningham. 



jforetgu 3BirD (Queries ant) IReplies. 



FERTILITY OF HYBRIDS. 

 Question: Please tell me through "Bird Notes," if across 

 between a cock Redrump and hen Rosella would be fertile. I 

 liave some very pretty 3-oung birds, which are anxious to nest 

 themselves. Would there be any use in getting pure bred 

 mates for them ? 



E. B. 



Answer: 1 understand that 3'ou have somehj-brids between 

 the Redrump and Rosella, and wish to know whether these 

 would breed, either among themselves or with pure bred 

 examples of either species. I should say, decidedly, that it is 

 extremely improbable that they would breed— as hybrids 

 between different species of birds, except in the case of game 

 birds and some others, are practically invariably sterile, 



H. R. F. 



