Aviary Notes and Episodes — 1912. 45 



diininuitive bird striving to satisfy tlie demaiicls of four luilf- 

 llcdyod Cardinals, about three times his size. 



Pakkot FiNtHKS {Enjthrura psit(acea) : Tliese are 

 I'cally charming little birds, and moreover rare on the market, 

 and, so far as my experience goes, are easy to breed, which 

 two facts should make them appeal still more to most avicul- 

 uinsls. iMy birds commenced buiidai,g ui earnest on the 

 lirst of May, aiid completed their nest by the sixth. 



The nest was built in a box, really supplied for Can- 

 aries, an earthenware cup with covered in and slightly 

 proj(.'ctiiig top. Four eggs were laid, pure wdiiie and rather 

 oval in shape. The lirst egg was laid on Ttli May, the day 

 after the completion of the nest and the oUier three un con- 

 secutive days. The young, however, were not hatched till the 

 2Uth May! 1 That is nineteen days I This is surely rather 

 unusual, as 1 have always seen it stated that tlie eg_gs, of 

 this species hatch on the 14th day. 



As a matter of fact, after the sixteenth day had passed, 

 and ihc eggs still remained unhatched, I nearly destroyed them 

 uoncluduig that either the young were dead in shelter that the 

 eggs were not filled. Fortunately, however, I tested them 

 on the off-chance, and was very much surprised to find tliat 

 the eggs appeared to contain young. I therefore replaced 

 them and waited developments, the eggs hatching out as I have 

 already mentioned on the nineteenth day. One young bird 

 left the nest on June i3th, and the other three the following 

 day. 



The young were all distinctly marked with red some 

 clays before they left the nest, and were rather a darker, 

 gri-een than the old birds. 



The young were reared on greenfood and seeding 

 grass .together with a good insectivorous mixture, and a few 

 mealworms, though a certain amount of millet seed appeared 

 to form at any rate a part of their bill of fare. 



The young, from the time they were batched, till quite 

 hidependent of their parents, were a very lusty brood, in fact 

 the strongest young birds I have ever seen and their crioo. 

 for food Avhen still in the nest could be heard at a consider- 

 able distance. The old birds went to nest again and had laid 

 a clutch of four by August 16th. 



