;U) Frcclji hnporlcd Spcc'icH and Ihrir Trcdlmeni 



The youn,!,'' leave tlic tiesl about a rortniuiit after lliey 

 ai'e iiatehed. Their plumage resembles that of the female, 

 l)ut is slightly paler. 



AVhile in the nest the young are fed almost entirely on 

 live food, mealworms, gentle-;, spiders, flies, eto., Avlien the 

 su])ply beeomes exhausted they readily feed on soft food. 



I should say the Yellow Sparrow would rear young in 

 almost any enclosure, unless it is that I have lieen exroption- 

 ally fortunate with my individuals. With everything' in their 

 favour, they should rear three oi' e\en four nests in the season. 

 Live food in the shape of mealworms or gentles should ibe 

 sui)plied as soon as the eggs are hatched, though I do not 

 think these are necessary to success if the old lairds will feed 

 on a good soft food mixture. 



My lirst specimens wei'c pui'chased as a jiair of young 

 l)irds in the late summer, ))ut as they l)oth l)uilt nests and 

 laid eggs the following- spring, I concluded both were hens, 

 I could not get hold of a male just then, so I turned; 

 a 'Tree Sparrow into the aviary with them. He eventually 

 paii'cd Avith both hens, and a line crop of hybrids would 

 have resulted had it not been for the interference of a pair 

 of Swainson's SparroAvs (a far more powerful bird) w^ho 

 murdered at least two promising 1_n"oods. 



However one hybrid was reared, which proved to be 

 a hen. She was very plainly clad and resembled her mother, 

 with the Tree Sparrow markings shcAving- faintl.y about her 

 head. 



I got a cock Yellow Sparrow before that season was 

 over and released the Tree, who Avould not leave the vicinity 

 of the aviary for weeks, spending most of his time trying to 

 iind a weak spot in the wire netting. The hens inside 

 however barely gave him a second thought, accepting the 

 attentions of the Yellow, and four pure bred youngsters were 

 reared before the parents commenced to moult. One of the 

 hens died during the winter. The other pair successfully 

 reared 9 youngsters the following season. The hen died in 

 the spring of 1908. She had reared two young ones and was 

 again incubating four eggs. 



An incident in connection with the death of this hen 

 may be of interest. Some time after she had disappeared I 



