158 Correspo7idence. 



following reasons. The organs of a Idrd sujh as the gizzard, dc, 

 would, 1 think suggest the nature of its food in a wild state, if 

 there is notlung in t!ie food question to account for those sudden 

 deaths all the better. Next I come to overcrowding on the voyage 

 which may cause a certain fatal disease to occur which a post 

 mortem examination should diagnjsc. SL'coiidly, Do they ? I always 

 carefully f(;How all post mortem examinations, but have seen nothing 

 to conclusively justify these sudden deaths. Are these birds sub- 

 ject to any special disease, or is the species constitutionally nelicate? 

 I am afraid these notes will trespass far more than I inhemded, 

 but h()i)c I have now made all clear to Mr. Gray and others. 



H. V. JOHNSON. 



Sir, — I thank Mr. Johnson for his lucid explanation, which 

 now enables me to answer his que.'^tions. 



I believe the majority of the I'intail Nonpaieils, like the 

 othei" highly coloured finches, die from an aut) infection, that is, 

 an infection of the blood by the ntrmal microbes of the intestine 

 gaining the blood-stream, and setting up a variety of septicaemia. 

 This is no doubt brought abcut by the ov> rcrowdiiig of the bii'ds 

 during transport, and afterwards, tlie lilthy cmlition to which they 

 are subject in bird shops. These by t'.iemselvcs lower the vitality 

 of the l/r,ls, and our climatic concUf.ons give the finisliing touch, 

 and in consequence disease is pi'oduced. 



At other times these birds suffer from line c uitagious dis- 

 eases aiul iiifcdicus septicaeimas wlucli are contr.icled at bii-d- 

 shops. 



I believe the ordinary food su])ply has nothing to do with the 

 mortality, and one cannot gather anything fi'om a study uf the 

 anatomy of the viscera as to the way a bird or even an animal 

 should be fed during confinement. This can only be obtained by 

 actual experience or by exiseriment. 



Yours faithfully, 



HENRY GRAY. 

 NESTING NOTES. 



Sir, — I have two young Virginian Cardinals that, I expect, will 

 leave the nest to-morrow. They are in an aviary with a pair of 

 Stanley Parrakeets, which, 1 think, pecked some of the Cardinals 

 young ones last year. The Stanleys, a beautiful pair, examine 

 the nest boxes each year, and raise my hopes, but, never get any 

 further. I have two young Tari-ot Finches, about a wieek old in 

 another aviary, and a St. Helena Seedeater sitting, but unfortiuiately 

 she has no mate. The Black-cheeked Lovebirds have a nest in 

 a log, where they built and brought up five young last year. 

 A curious thing, to me, is that the hen has moulted out w<ith a 

 yellowish -brown neck and head, and a few lighter green feathers 

 on her body, quite a different looking bird. The Californian (^)uail 

 have eggs, they are in a small sheltered aviary with a pair (of 



