3^5 

 BIRD-ROOM NOTES. 



It may interest members of the F.B.C. to hear of my 

 varied luck with foreign birds, this season. 



With regard to Budgerigars, I find the Yellow variety 

 by far the more difficult to breed: though when reared 

 they are quite hardy. The Green and the Yellow flying 

 together iu an aviary make a fine contrast. All in}' 

 Budgerigars are extremely fond of egg- food, and 1 alwa3-s 

 keep a saucerful on the bird-room floor. 



I have bred, this season, some curious hybrids— the 

 father a Spice Bird and the mother a Bengalese. The 

 young ones, five in number, are more like the father 

 than the mother. 



'My pair of Orange-cheeked Waxbills spent most of 

 the summer in building nests and laying eggs, but 

 were apparently too shy to sit. 



I w^as lucky in having a fine nest of five Zebra 

 h'inches, but the last nest contained only one young 

 bird — a poor crop. 



To-day, I see, rather to my surprise, in the nest of a 

 hen Yellow Budgerigar, a young one apparenth' greenish- 

 yellow in colour: having kept the Green and Yellow 

 varieties together for two years, and never having had 

 a hybrid, I supposed there was no fear of a cross. Can 

 anyone tell me if the Yellow are a separate variety .^ * 

 It ma}- be argued that a Green hen may have laid in the 

 Yellow hen's nest ; but this is not likely to be the case, 

 as for some months past the only hen Green Budgerigar 

 in the room has suffered from an injured wing, and can- 

 not rise from the floor. 



*Vello\v Budgerigars are a distinct variety, and generalK' breed 

 true to colour, but they are not a diflferent species from the Green. 

 ihey are an artificial variety like White Java .Sparrows, or the 

 afferent breeds of Canaries^ and nodoubt originated in an accidental 

 -port, perpetuated b\- "careful selection. \Ve have lieard of B/ne 

 liudgerigars, but have never seen them.— Ed. 



