Some Interesting Birds. 35 



rearing oi the young up to the point ol'i being independent 

 oi' tiuMi ])arenty — wad noi attained; one only living lor six 

 da\s, ilu' clluT d.\iiii^ (Ui ilic iweUtli day. 



Ihe ws\, an opeii -cup -shaped sti'UciUie was connnenced 

 on June i2th, and eompleted two days later. It was construc- 

 ted oj hay — very deep — in brau'dies against wire-netling faeiiig 

 west. Iwo (^'^'^•'^ \v(,'re laid, a liitle shoi'lei' ihan a Blaekbii'd's, 

 pale bluL in coiour, with brown niarkhigs. The eggs were 

 laid on June 22nd, and 23rd, re-spectiveiy, and on the 2J:th 

 uieubation connnenced. Ihe hen sat very steadily and was 

 Ted by the cock on the nest. 



Une c^^'^ hatched out on July btii, and the other the 

 to 1 lowing day. 



Ihe lledgelings were blind, of a deep red -brown, quite 

 naked, no down being visible. 



Une chick uied on July 12th, but tne other throve well, 

 and appeared to be very healthy, tne quills appeared on ine 

 seventh day, and on the tentn day, the colours of tiie plumage 

 were plamly visible; on tne twelfth day, when it died, it 

 was in every respect the same in colouring as its parents. 



The parent birds liad access to ripe fruit, mealworms, 

 g'entles, live ants' cocoons and insectile mixture. The parent 

 birds fed it from tlie crop, and so far as observatiom 

 went, on mealworms only, ihe weather was very wet, and 

 duruig that time the cock bird mostly sat beside his mate^ 

 pfresumably, to assist her to shelter their progeny. 



i'rom 1U08 to lUlO, a pair of this species, imported by 

 Major (then Capt.) Perreau, occupied the writer's aviary, 

 which, unfortunately, was rather overcrowded, and in cgnse- 

 (^uence natural cover was not possible — nevertheless they did 

 attempt to buihl, but their structure, similar to that of the 

 Grey-winged Ouzel {Meruia buulboui), save tliat it was not 

 plastered together with mud, was never thoroughly finished. 

 The dismantling of my aviaries in 1910, led to the dispersal 

 of most of my collection, and I have not kept the species 

 since. I know of no finer spectacle than a pair of these birds 

 disporthig themselves within the confines of a roomy aviary — 

 unless it be to see them in their native haunts — the rapidity 

 of their noiseless bight, graceful wing evolutions, interest- 

 ing characteristics, whether at work or when engaged in the 



