202 Tlie History of the Budgerigar. 



ihem a certain number of the Blue Budgerigars.* 



Ir. "Bird Notes" for 191 4 we again are indebted to 

 Mr. Millsum for another valuable article from which, on the 

 principle that one cannot have ton much oi" a good thing, I 

 boldly again quote wholesale. 



Having Learnt that but little success had been met 

 with by the new owners of the birds after they had passed 

 out of his charge, he writes (p. 25) that he thought it worth 

 while recording what h^ oelieved " from practical experience 

 to be the only methods to real success." He says '"two 

 conditions are absolutely essential for the successful breeding 

 of these birds," and these conditions together with other advice 

 he gives in the following words : 



" (i). The birds must not be subject to any powerful light my 

 " contention being that powerful rays of light reduce the stamina of the 

 '■ of the birds. It must not be forgotten that their beautiful colour, a rich 

 " sky-blue, though pure, is not natural, having undoubtedly been produced 



" by selection; therefoJa I suggest a semi-darkened indoor aviary or flight. 

 " not allowing any direct or powerful rays of light to enter any portions, 



" of their enclosure. 



(2). Birds must not be allowed to mate until fully two years 

 " old. This is a most important item, and has been in the past the 

 '■ gieatesi cause of non-success. .\s with the Green variety, these birds 

 '■ will male when quiie young, but it is rarely with success. The young 

 " of such birds are anaemic and often infected with rickets, as well, the 



' colour exceedingly poor, more like grey than blue, they do not thrive, 



' and but a very small percentage live to any age. The parent birds 

 '■ are more liable to egg-binding, and when this occurs the chances for 

 " recovery are very small. 



" My advice then, is this, if too impatient for the birds to be- 

 " como fully adult, dispose of the birds. I know, for I speak with cx- 

 " periencc 1 made \.ht iam*, mistukt lu the yeai 191 1 I had about 

 " 30 of these delightful birds under my care at Everberg, and being 

 " an.xious to breed them freely, I located them in three large aviaries, 

 "each with a large open out-door flight. 1 had visions of such a lovely 

 " flock by the end of that year. My visions, did not however, niaterial- 

 " ise. Plenty of eggs and a fair number of young, but I finished up 

 " the season with I believe ten, and not a fine youngster among them. 

 " These were sold in one lot to a dealer on the Continent. So much 



*\Vhat about the Belgian breeder Mr. Millsum tells us about later? 



No doubt Mr. ^M. inadvertently omitted him, or only met him after 

 ihis was written. — E.H. 



In the Catalogvie ol M. Pauvvels' sale, Blue Budgerigars were priced 



"at 15 guinea^s a pair for adults, 12 guineas for birds of the year. 



