350 How I Started Aviculture. 



given another week would have successfully brought oIT their 

 broo:!, but a mischievous Tovi dashed all one's hopes to the 

 ground, and incidentally several frail young fledglings. These 

 Green fcinging finches like many of the series were trouble- 

 some in my Finch aviary, and had to be banished. My Grey 

 Singing -finches (S. leucopyguis) are most amiable, and have 

 built a most perfect cup-shapsd nest in some perennial 

 asters (Michaelmas Daisies), and deposited therein one egg so 

 far. If I may venture on a few words of advice on know- 

 ledge bought and gained by experience I would say, Firstly: 

 never buy cheap birds, especially Parrakocts. Parrakeets 

 are long-lived birds, and it is folly to buy, say, Rosellas for 

 £2 fa pair, and then to lose them both rather than pay £3 for 

 an acclimatised pair. Secondly: never buy if you can possibly 

 avoid it Parrakeets with their wings cut. They are liable 

 to all kinds of accidents and never seem to thrive like the 

 flying birds. If you must keep such birds, arrange ;some rough 

 boughs for them to climb up into the shelters and to the food 

 shelf. The only birds I have lost have had one wing clipped. 

 Thirdly: never buy birds in any way malformed, especially 

 about the beak. You will only regret it if you do. 



In conclusion, let me say that Parrakeets are a good 

 investment if bought wisely. .One need never lose money over 

 them, but, one should always insist on having the birds on 

 approval or seeing them before paying for them. It is the 

 experience of aviculturists that many treed readily in captivity, 

 and for general interest and beauty they are impossible to beat. 

 Their diet, too, is extremely simple, viz.: plenty of millet and 

 canary in equal parts, and a small quantity of oats, hemp, rape, 

 paddy rice, dari, and sunflower seeds. Most, if not all, are 

 extremely fond of fruit, such as bananas, and apples, bufi 

 oranges must be given sparingly. Cuttle-bone and grit are 

 a sine qua non, and, I need hardly say an abundance of 

 green food, as well as plenty of fresh clean water to drink, 

 and for some of them at any rate to bathe in. Others will 

 *,ake a dew bath in the long grass. 



One last word— don't imagine Parrakeets will dash off 

 and lay eggs the moment you let them out of their travelling 

 cage. They are shy birds and need time more than any other 

 class of birds to settle down befoi^e they nest, and for the 



