Brcnliiifj of the arri/ Waxhlll. 283 



shoi-t, and this ciiahlcs him to i-uii loii^' (listaii<-»'s. in tlic 

 aviai-y hr spctuls ((uilc half the time (»u the ^'lound, unlike 

 the (iyi'-Falcon, wiio was never content until she had ali^iili'd 

 on the hi,i,'hest pereii slie eouhl lind. 



Easy to keep, atti'active in apj)earance, and cxcoed- 

 :nj,M\ tame, th<'-;c three bifds make (^xeelhMit and (iuai;;f jiel-; 

 or anyone wlio can ol)lain a, supply of fresh raw meat, Idrds, 

 rats, i^-c. or I'oui'si' su(di liii'ds require j)Ienty bf r-oom, and 

 a \iiv<fi(' shallow i)aii of water for Ivathing and di-inkin^''. I 

 do no! ad\i-' town (lw(dl(M-s to keep them, but to those who, 

 like myself, li\e in the country, the care of these birds ])re- 

 soiif.-. no didicullie^, and very little expense. 

 — — ■■ — 



Breeding of the Grey Waxbill, 



{Estrilda cinerea). 

 By W. A. Bainbridge. 



In the aviary there were three of these 'Waxbills, T lie- 

 lieve a cock and two hens, hut, not ex]:>ecting them to breed, T 

 never troubled to catch them up and sex them until they had 

 be.i,^^! to huild, wlien it se;>med too late, as the catching and intro- 

 duction of a Idai-tli might have .-'done more harm than the 

 presence of an odd hird. 



Tn Febiuary and March, despite the weather, they be- 

 gan to build in a corner on the floor of the shed, but ,a pair 

 of cross-mated Key's Partridge and California Quail, taking 

 a fancy to the same place, ,the Waxbills had to give way. 

 They did not seem to mind much, merely going to the op])osite 

 corner and starting again, this, how^ever, they decided was 

 too near the door and their (juai'ters were again shifted; thi:; 

 time, a jiest was built under a bush, but ;till in a corner of the 

 aviary and under cover. 



On March 31st I deeidefl to put some pea stii-ks along 

 the liack of the covered flight, the floor of which is .sand, 

 about o inches deep. On Aj)ril 1st the Grey Waxbills again 

 decided that their (piarters were unsatisfactory, and another 

 nest was started l)ehind the pea sticks, but still on the flooi- 

 and again in a corner. 



Although the nest in each case was (piite easy to see 

 when in the aviary, they were very secretive about their 



