Correspondence. 3'27 



in tlie same ciiijfo. Also a 'PickcH's Flowci- jirckcr, tlic most miimtc and 

 greediest littlr 1. in] I have ever seen ; the V\\v]Av Snnhiiil lo,,ks .|iiif(. Iar<;e 

 by tlie side of him. 



1 liavc also recently acqniicil a nice pair of Ifaii.l.nw Hnntint,'s {('//n/i- 

 o.^p/'jit lt'f/(i)icheri), which seem hc.ilili\- so iai-. 'riuy i)artake freely of 

 mealworms, live ants' et;i,'s. s])ray niillcl, canary seed, and tureen food. Tliey 

 are indeed lovely creatures. 



Last week I sawsonicthino I coidd scarcely have .■redited liad I not 

 seen it. Wi'havc seveial iiaihaiy ])ovcs Hying loose, which conic to lie fed 

 evrry ni-,dit an<l mornini.'. 1 saw a cock of these Doves attack and kill a half 

 grown Short-taih'il Vole which had come to steal some of the seed scattered 

 for the Doves. The Dove pecked it again and again with great furj', and 

 when it was dead stood bowing and cooing over the cori)se for several min- 

 utes. Has such a thing ever occurred before ? [T do not remend)er a 

 similar case applying to Doves, but, some years ago a cock Yellow limiting 

 in my aviaiy diovc a full grown SIku I t;iil( d A'olc out of the seed hopper 

 pouncing ujjon it with beak and claws, not <lcsisting (ill the affrighted Vole 

 ha<l Hed from the aviary. — Ed J. 



The Purple Sunbird is carrying nesting material, and (he Yellow- 

 winged Sugarbirds and Red (Hooded) Siskins aie displaying and courting. 



^Miss) p:thel f. chawner. 



Forest Bank, Lyndhurst, Hants., 

 June 8th, 2(ltii. and 24th, lOl.'l 



HODDAM CASTLE AVIARIES. 



Sir— My Purple Sunbirds are sitting (June loth) ; the Purple Sun- 

 biids are incubating steadily (June Itltli). 



IVfy Occijutal Blue-Pies nested and laid, but I found the male was 

 eating the eggs and I removed him. The hen laid another egg which proved 

 fertile and a chick was hatched out, which she promptly swallowed ! 



E. J. BROOK. 



i"I have taken the liberty of extracting the above from three letters 

 dated June loth, I'.lth, and 'Jlst, which had not been penned for pnldication. 

 -Ed J. 



TO PRESERVE FROM EXTINCTION. 



Sir, — I should be very glad to know if any member of the Foreign 

 Bird Club is at present in possession of a cock Tuiijuoisine (irass Parrakeet. 

 I happen to have a hen of this species in good condition and last autumn I 

 saw a cock which may be still alive in this country. 



As this lovely little bird appears to be on the very vergeof extinction, 

 it seems a pity that if a cock and hen should still be left in 6i-eat Britain 

 some attempt should not lie made to breed from them. If the owner of the 

 cock^assnming it to be alive were to communicate with me, I think we 

 might possibly be able to make some satisfactory arrangement. In case of 

 an^'one being in possession of a Turquoisine without being aware of its 

 identity— which of is course, very improbable— I may describe it roughly i,s 

 being abouta third less in size than a Cockatiel, green in colour, with the foie- 

 head, cheeks and part of the wings blue ,• there is a small chestnut patch on 

 the wing-coverts. (LORD) TAVISTOCK. 



Woburn Abbey, Beds. June IGth, l'Ji:5. 



