294 Correspondence. 



got as far as eggs this season, though apparently very fit. Yellow- 

 faced Conures have got as far as eggs — most disappointing. 



Even the usually prolific Budgerigars have the same record 

 of failure. True, I introduced fresh stock to prevent deterioration, 

 but this should surely not have upset them sufficiently to nullify 

 all nesting results. 



The Eed-crested Cardinals have nested twice, with clutches 

 of five and four respectively — again no result. 



1 suppose these disappointments, etc., are the glory or other- 

 wise of aviculture! 

 Wolverhampton, Sep.tcmber 19th. H. S. DEAN. 



STRAY NOTES. 



Sii^,— In the August issue our esteemed Editor asks for copy 

 for the British Bii'd Section, so am sending you some notes on ray 

 sister's birds in case they should be of any use. I had no idea 

 the club had anything to do with British bii'ds and Canaries till 

 seeing that notice. 



I keep a few and hope to try and cross some next season. 

 As regards my own birds I have no copy for you as too many are 

 kept together to have good breeding results, as they dis- 

 turb each other. I think I must put up with a few in future and 

 try to do better. When I w^rote to you in March the Yellow Bud- 

 gerigars were nesting but I have only one young bird as the result. 

 There w^ere five eggs, but the other four all contained fully formed 

 dead birds, so I feel rather puzzAed as to why none of th'iem 

 hatched out. The hen pi'oved a g)orl mother to her one chick. 

 Except for a few Canaries that is the only young bird I have this 

 season. The Grassfinches and some other birds had eggs but they 

 proved too tempting for the Eobins. I have five Pekin Robins 

 and I think next season they must be separated or else I must 

 separate the nesting birds as the Eobins p'uU the nests to pieces. 



June 1910 I had one pair of Budgerigars; when I wrote 

 you in March this year I had 60 or so birds, now they number just 

 over 90. When I bought most of my birds between Septemoer 

 1910 and March 1911, I had a few losses from getting newly im- 

 ported birds but not many, though I lost my only pair of Gouldians, 

 they were not in very good condition but were the only ones I 

 could get at the time. 



This year I have had very fr-w losses, though all the winter 

 and since, the birds have been kept in an unheated room and the 

 window is always open. About February one Grassfinch died from 

 pneumonia and since then I lost a Cutthroat hen from Qgg binding", 

 a Eobin through an accident, land a Bronze,-wing Mannikin and 

 Spice Bird during the heat, so on the whole considering the number 

 of "birds, I do not think I can complain of the losses. The Bishops, 

 Weavers, Cordon Bleus, etc., have all come into very bright colour 

 again w^hich I feared might not be the case being cage moulted. 



