Red- crested Cardinals. 147 



Freely Imported Species and Their Treatment. 

 Red-crested Cardinals. 



(Paroaria cucullata) . 



By B. Hamilton Scott. 



I have been asked by our Editor to write my experi- 

 ences in breeding Eed-crested Cardinals. I may say I am 

 quite a novice, never having kept any foreign birds before, 

 although I have had an aviary of British Finches for eight years. 



About September, 1 909, I saw a very dirty specimen 

 of a Red-crested Cardinal in our local dealer's shop, and on 

 finding it was a cock bird I purchased him and turned him 



into a large cago hung out of doors. 



In a very short time he was in very respectable 

 plumage. Later on when the weather became colder I brought 

 him indoors. In the following April 1 bought a very line 

 hen, which, I at first had serious doubts about as she sang 

 nearly as well as the cock bird, and was even brighter in 

 colour. 



On Whit Monday I turned them into a fairly large out- 

 door aviary, the only other occupants of which were a pair 

 of White Java Doves. In less than half an hour I was sure 

 they were a pair for they went through most curious antics 

 such as one sees the Wryneck doing at the breeding season. 

 About a fortnight after turning them out I saw them carrying 

 nesting material about so I gave them a good supply of 

 fine birch twigs and hay, cut into lengths. They immediately 

 started nest building in earnest, choosing the top of a flat wire 

 screen inside the house. Here they built a very neat cup- 

 shaped nest, the outer portion consisting of twigs and coarse 

 hay and lined inside with fine hay. The nest was started 

 on June 2nd, and finished by the 6th. The first Qg,^ was 

 laid on the 7th, and the two others on the two following days. 

 They were dark olive -green in colour, thickly mottled with 

 a darker shade and in size a little larger than Nightingales. 

 The hen had sat for the first few days but later on either bird 

 might be seen on the nest, seemingly having no fixed time, 

 except that the hen bird sat at night. In thirteen days the 

 first young one was hatched, another following the next day; 

 the third qq^ was clear. They were dark grey in colour and 



