Notes on the Pintail -Nonpareil. 69 



would be very disappointed and surprised to find them dead in 

 a day or two. I was! Last summer (September 8th), I received 

 one pair of above birds. They were young birds but seemed 

 to be quite healthy, these I placed in a cage in my outdoor 

 aviary and fed on a mixture of the following seeds: Canary, 

 millet, whole oats, and Paddy rice; a little of all was eaten. 

 The next day the cock died: cause of death unknown. The 

 same day I turned the hen into the aviary; she has developed 

 into a splendid bird, and although December was an abominable 

 month, by the turn of the new year she had finished moulting 

 and was in splendid feather and condition, in fact never ailed 

 anything. In the aviary my one and only is very lively and 

 bathes frequently. Not being able to obtain Paddy rice locally 

 [ substituted whole oats, but even when I supply Paddy rice 

 my bird prefers canary seed. These birds, if not diseased 

 when obtained, are I consider, quite hardy judging from my 

 own specimen. This concludes my notes on the Pintail 

 Nonpareil as an aviary bird. 



Cage Life: A month after I obtained the above pair I 

 purchased three more specimens, in the hope of making two 

 complete pairs, but the season being well advanced (October 

 4th) I turned above into a large cage indoors. This time 

 the birds were adults, very lively and tight as wax in plumage, 

 but rather wild. As they appeared to be so healthy I naturally 

 expected them to live, l3ut it was not to be, and they were 

 all dead by October 6th. Cause of death apparently unaccount- 

 able. I carefully observed these birds when feeding, and 

 noticed they hadn't much strength to crack their seed, this 

 applies chiefly to whole oats and Paddy rice. In the event 

 of my obtaining more of these birds I feel inclined to give 

 crushed oats and also to soak the Paddy Eice. When sleeping, 

 these birds made a slight noise as if in pain, and I have 

 come to the conclusion that the cause of their death and the 

 weakness of the beak, is the result of a partial stoppage by some 

 growth in the throat, which eventually chokes the bird. A 

 beautiful bird like the Pintail Nonpareil is in my opinion an 

 acquisition to anyone, and I am surprised more information on 

 it is not available. Take for example the " Gouldian 

 Finch " — a bird costing considerably more than the Pintail 

 Nonpareil— of this much has been written. Of course they are 



