284 British Birds. 



I have just heard from a fancier to whom I sold some 

 Masked Finches, that he has five young birds on the wing. 



In conclusion I shall be glad to hear from anyone who 

 is interested in Australian Finch breeding, with a view to 

 exchange of birds and experience. 



Since writing the above I find the hen Black- head 

 Gouldian is sitting on six eggs (vSeptember 16th). 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



Breeding the Tree-Creeper (CcrUiia fdniiiiaris) in 

 confinement. 



By W. R. Temple. 



I had no intention of publishing an account of the 

 partial success of breeding Tree-creepers: but the Editor, 

 on seeing my notes upon the subject, asked me to do so. I 

 trust these lines will prove of interest to some of the readers 

 of Bird Notes. 



In April last, at the suggestion of Mr. P. F. Gallo- 

 way, of Caversham, I fitted up one of my smaller aviaries 

 for the Creepers. The aviary is 10 feet long, 6 feet wide, 

 and 8 feet high. It is built against an old Ijrick wall covered 

 with ivy, and 4 feet of one end is roofed in. The bottom 

 of the roofed in part is covered with gravel, and the rest 

 is grass, with a yew tree in the middle. I got several out- 

 side planks from big trees with the bark on, and placed these in 

 the corners of the aviary, tixing the nesting sites on two 

 of them. These were made of pieces of bark stripped from 

 small trees, and nailed and pinned on to the tree trunks. 

 The top was covered with a piece of bark and a hole cut 

 in the side next the bark of the tree. Two of these sites 

 were put up — one outside and the other under cover. They 

 were about a foot long, and fixed upright to the bark. The 

 nesting material provided for them to start upon was some 

 ■small broken -up sticks about the thickness of matches and 

 an inch to two inches long, some decayed wood, and a Long- 

 tailed Tit's nest pulled to pieces, and stuck about on the 

 bark of the trees. On April 29th I procured a pair of 



