;V2(') Correspondence. 



intf her e.cg.s ; ns if tliere had been young, the visits would Imve l)ecn more 

 frequent and both liirds woidd have taken ]):irt in tl)e wnik "" 



•• AccDi-dingly next niornin-,'. Afarch 'iDth. I went to cut out the nest 

 and found that the tiny hole on the tr>p of the w.iit was ically the entrance 

 to a hvrgish chamber. The entrance h:)le liad been partly i)lastered up with 

 mud: and theebiniher wis half filled with fragment-! of Sliisham seed c isos 

 which formed a lo)se nest in which the fo. n ile wa^ sittin',' up:):i five half 

 incubarciland an addled egg." 



•• The eggs were while, siieckled wiih dull lilac, :ip.d brick-red the mark- 

 ings being sonirwliat thicker towaids the larger eml. They measure I'T.'j .\ 

 1-35 : l-7l) .\ 1 :0 : 1 -70 .\ 1 30 ; 1-36 x ]-2'> ; 1 70 .\ 1 3l) cniin As this was tlie 

 only occasion J met with the sjiecies in the district. I preserved l)oth birds." 



'■ Tlie use of fi-agmeats of seed cases of Shisham is remarkable as 

 likely to have some connection with the English Nuthatch's habit of using 

 pine bark in the construction of its r.est : at any rate both materials would 

 8, 'em to have the same characteristics and presumably the same (unknown) 

 advantages." U. WH[STLEIl 



Indian Police. Pnnjab. 

 From the 'Journal of the Bombay Xat. Hist. Soc," Vol. .xxii. No. 1. Ed. 

 n ■ D 



Correspondence 



RE STOCK FRUIT FOODS. 



Sir. — For a long time I have felt the want of a stock fruit food 

 for mv aviaries. A fruit that can be stored in cjuantiiies like seed and 

 insectivorous food ; not to take the place of fresh fruit such as apples 

 oranges and bananas, but to sui)plcment these and eke them out when they 

 are scarce and dear. 



I have tried soaked raisins and cunants, but I sonietinies suspected 

 that the skins were tough and indigestible. 1 have recently tried passing 

 nnsoakcd currants and laisins together with fine biscuit meal through a' 

 mincer The biscnit makes the finely minced fruit break up into pellets' 

 about the size of large peas, and prevents it becoming too cloggy. After 

 mincing th3 mixture is left a few hours for the biscuit to swell 



The birds eat this greedily with the exception of some Tanagers — 

 {Cdll'xtae) and 1 give it either by itself or mixed into the insectivorous 

 food. 1 think the reason the CnllisUu do not care al)out it is they like to 

 champ up their food before swallowing it, and like their fi nit juicy. 



I give all this for what it is woith. 



E. J. HKOOK. 

 Hoddam Castle. Ecclefechan, 

 September 11th. VMW. 



FERTILITY OF HYBRID QUAIL. 



Sii-. -I have a troop of young Quail from the hybrid Sfpiamata x Cali- 

 fornian Quail [CaUipepJa nqiianiatd x Lop/iort;/.'- ntlift riiir-i). I thought this 

 would i)ro!)vbly be of general interest, as it proves the fertility of this 



W. SHORE HAILY, 

 September 3rd, 11U3, 



