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perches the precious birds were transferred to more 

 roomy quarters. I was a bit disappointed at first at 

 their lack of interest in the boxes, but in August, 

 after I had put some grass in the boxes to tempt them, 

 it was found that the cage would not hold two pairs 

 unless the boxes were removed. I took the other 

 alternative of having two cages. By the time they got 

 really settled down and there were eggs shortly due to 

 hatch in both cages, it was the middle of October, and 

 time to move back to India, and so the birds had to go 

 back to their small travelling cage. Transport is 

 strictly limited with the Relief Column on account 

 of passing through a possibly hostile country, and 

 this prevented my taking the Gouldians down in their 

 own cages and giving the nests a small chance. My 

 charming tame Scops Owls, reared from the nest some 

 months before, were let go without compunction as 

 regards their getting their own living, as they were 

 nearly free before. I was glad I had resisted the 

 temptation of collecting live birds ; I could have got 

 many rare and beautiful specimens of the Bunting and 

 typical Finch tribes, but I am not keenly interested in 

 these, and the market for sale or exchange is very 

 small. I must say I do rather regret not having 

 brought Gold-fronted Finches and Cinnamon Tree- 

 Sparrows. However, only the Gouldians were taken. 



My faithful bearer Mira Bux carried them down 

 the whole way himself, and produced a shawl which 

 made a splendid covering at night and on the road. I 

 don't know what Mrs. Mira Bux said about the shawl, 

 but my wife said it was too good for the job. Those 

 birds were knocking about for the most part under 

 canvas and in the bitter cold until the middle of 

 January, 1904, and they never seemed sick or sorry. 

 Then we went into standing camp at Madhopur 

 (Punjab), and I managed to get a small bungalow 

 alongside the camp. This bungalow had been built as 



