10 



BIRD NEWS 



that is song, for as song birds they 

 have no song: of course they are not 

 dumb, and to their own kind would 

 appear to be undoubtedly fluent and 

 fine performers, from the evident sat- 

 isfaction expressed by the demean- 

 or of the musician and his compan- 

 ions. 



Even in the aviary their soft, sibi- 

 lant and grasshopper like twittering 

 is quite audible nevertheless they 

 are not song birds as we regard the 

 term. 



Their wants in captivity are of the 

 simplest; canary, white and spray 

 millet, form their staple bill of fare, 

 while oats and paddy rice are also 

 eaten. Rock salt, cuttlefish, and a 

 cube of loaf sugar, with plenty of 

 grass in flower and other green food, 

 should be regularly supplied. (They 

 are better without the sugar. — Ed. ) 

 In winter and early spring I always 

 use French lettuce as green food. 

 Green oats (i.e. oats in the ear), are 

 very wholesome, and are greedily 

 eaten when in season. My birds al- 

 so pick over the soft food mixture 

 supplied to other birds. 



It must be admitted that these 

 lovely birds are a great disappoint- 

 ment and trial to many, new pur- 

 chases dying off very quickly; losses 

 with new deliveries of all kinds of 

 birds I fear there always will be, 

 as most aviculturists know to their 

 cost; but once acclimatised and kept 

 hygienically, Gouldians are neither 

 delicate nor difficult to keep. They 

 need space and must have a roomy 

 cage, with plenty of perches (natur- 

 al branches by preference). If con- 

 fined in a small cage, they lack ex- 

 ercise, get over fat, and soon "shuffle 

 off." At the same time they neither 

 need hot-house treatment, nor will 

 they shrivel up at the first frost; 

 this I have proved experimentally. 

 In a garden aviary with space for 

 flight and a night shelter, they are 



as "hard as nails" and care no more 

 for the worst vagaries of a sharp 

 winter than do our native sparrows, 

 in fact not so much. If care is taken 

 to procure healthy specimens, few 

 Ijirds are less trouble to keep in 

 health; their delicacy is only fancied 

 and not real. The critical period 

 of their life being the first few weeks 

 in this country. They should only 

 be turned out of doors during v/arm, 

 dry weather. They are an excellent 

 aviary bird, being very cheerful dur- 

 ing bad weather. 



Unless the aviary be a large one. 

 the best breeding results will be at- 

 tained by including only one pair 

 in it, as Gouldians are by no means 

 kindly disposed to their own species 

 during breeding season: at the same 

 time they are harmless to other 

 birds, no matter how small. In a 

 cage two pairs would spend their 

 times quarrelling instead of reproduc- 

 ing their kind. For nesting they 

 seem to prefer a Hartz travelling- 

 cage, or else a box of the cigar type. 



The readers of B. N. will probably 

 recall the "Lady Finches" or Para- 

 dise Birds of our local bird stores; 

 these were Gouldian Finches: 

 amongst the most brilliant plumaged 

 of 4 small birds. In our climate they 

 would breed readily and should prove 

 an interesting and profitable species 

 for some of our aviary owners. Since 

 the fire they are very rarely found 

 in the stores. But a special order 

 would probably secure breeding pairs 

 from Australia. 



Itrli Nftua 



FREDERICK W. D'EVELYN, Editor 



Owing to excess of "notes," editor- 

 ials held over. 



Future issues of BIRD NEWS will 

 be bull-etins published by Executive 

 Committee. 



