Nesting of the Black -headed Croshcalc. 



elsewhere (except for ,i little grey down on the back and 

 crown )perfeetiy naked, it was not surpiisin,^: to note that he 

 seemed shivery and unhappy. On tlie tenth day he looked 

 much more respectable, with a decent covering' of dark fea- 

 ther,< and showing some bull on the rump and wing coverts. 

 On the thirteenth day the nest was empty, but, after a long 

 search, I found my young fri(Mid snu^y ennc(!a!ed in the thick- 

 est part of an Euonymus. 



He soon began to follow his parents on the wing, and 

 his curious mewing food-call (much resembling the distant 

 wailing of a Herring Gull) was one of the features of the 

 past summer. As showing how necessary it is to consider the 

 habits of individual species individually, when awarding medals 

 for breeding results, I may mention that the young bird was 

 not quite independent in the matter of food jor two months 

 after leaving the nest. 



Even wiien he left the nest his plumage was much 

 brighter than that of an adult female and at once declared his 

 sex. H>' died on the 19th of October, owing to not being 

 supplied with insect food during the moult (these foreign 

 Grosbeaks are not l.'alf so hardy as they look). 



The following note was made on the 20th of October, 

 and compares the young bird with the skin of an adult male 

 in summer plumage: — "Breast bright chestnut, O.AT. (old 

 "male) muc'i lighter — more orange-red; centre of breast grey- 

 " ish, O.M. bright orange; across upper breast zone of black 

 "spots, O.M. none; chin buff, O.M. black; crown black with 

 "bull' centre stripe, O.M. black; white superciliary stripe, 

 "O.M. none; white stripe under lores, O.M. none; back dark 

 "rufous with bold black striations, O.M. dull orange with 

 "ditto; rump dark rufous, O.M. orange; tail dark rufous- 

 " brown, O.M. black with white inner margins to lower half, 

 "white bar on primaries and coverts much duller and smaller; 

 "feet dark bluish-black, O.M. same." 



The Breeding of Grey-headed x Cape Sparrows 



{Passer diffusus -\- P. arcuatus). 

 By Gerald E. Rattig.^n. 

 Many keen disappointments as well as triumphs are 

 the portion of the aviculturist, the former mostly pre- 



