75 



being desirable additions. They breed very freely in- 

 deed, nesting in small open boxes or baskets, which 

 they line with twigs, etc. Two eggs are laid, and 

 several broods are raised in a season. In a large aviary 

 several pairs may be kept, and they are harmless to 

 other birds, though quarrelsome with each other in 

 a small space. They would be very suitable for 

 Mendelian experiments, owing to their cheapness, 

 but they are not very saleable. They hybridize 

 freely with other forms of Turtle-Doves, of which the 

 l^ritish turtle-dove is most easily obtainable. The 

 hybrids are sometimes at all events fertile, and, taken 

 altogether, the Turtle-Doves are the best birds for 

 the study of hybridism. 



The price of the fawn variety is about 2S. a pair, 

 and of the white about twice as much. 



The Java Sparrow {Mimia oryzivora) is a stoutly- 

 made finch of about the size of the House-Sparrow. 

 The type has beautiful lavender-grey plumage, with a 

 black and white head and rose-pink bill. This is the 

 wild form commonly imported ; but there is also 

 obtainable a domestic race of Japanese origin, which 

 is pure white or pied, still retaining the pink bill. 

 There is no noticeable sex - difference. When the 

 two colour-forms are crossed the inheritance appears 

 not to be alternative. 



/The Java Sparrow should be fed like the Budge- 

 rigar, and given similar nesting accommodation. It 

 breeds well if hens of the domestic race are provided, 

 but needs some food prepared with egg when rearing 

 3'oung. Several pairs may be kept together, and 

 associated with Budgerigars, as, being strong -billed 

 birds they can defend themselves against these. The 

 combination has a singularly pretty effect in an aviary. 

 The colour variations of this bird need to be worked 

 out experimentally. The white form has a different 

 song from the type, and is superior in this respect. 



