156 Editorial. 



especially so. have proved very disturbing- and combative in the 

 aviary and one or two tragedies have resulted therefrom. 



Young Chap^finches : In Mr. Page's garden, nests and 

 voung of this species have been very numerous this year, one 

 of which nests happened to be over the two pheasant runs, into 

 which two young birds drop])e(l and hopped about quite uncon- 

 cernedly, feeding on the j)lieasatits' soft food They remained 

 in during the whole of the day and were there the next morning, 

 had become quite tame. He feared that as soon as they left the 

 ])heasantry (covered with 2in. mesh netting) that they would 

 fall a prey to some maurading cat. so he caught them up (with 

 his hand), and put them in a smallish aviary with some Austra- 

 lian grassfinches. etc.. and tliey did well. For the first fortnight 

 they fed on nothing but moistened insectile mixture, then began 

 to take seed and to forage for insects, etc., among the tangle of 

 wild growth in the aviary. They still take some insectile mix- 

 ture. Mr. Page opines they left the nest prematurely, and so far 

 as his observations went, the parent birds never visited their 

 young either in the pheasantry or aviary, so presumably they 

 were only part of the brood. 



Cockatoo Hybrids: (Jur member. Mrs. M. A. Lee. has 

 a brood of hybrids between the Roseate (Cacatua roscicapUla) 

 and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (C. galcrita) all but ready to 

 leave the nest. These should prove very handsome hybrids. 

 The instances of cockatoos reproducing their kind in captivity 

 are not numerous, and we congratulate Mrs. Lee on this suc- 

 cess. F\n"ther details will appear in a near issue. 



Zoo Notes: The species reported as " Bred in the men- 

 agerie " in the Zoo lists for April and May are as under: — 

 I Green White-eye (Zosterops 'i'ircns). 

 I Grey Sinq-ing Finch {Crithagra viusica. 



1 Pileated Song-Sparrow (Zoiwtricliici pUcata). 



2 Auriculated Doves {Zenaida aurirulalu). 



2 Southern Triangular-spotted Pigeons iCi^htniba phaeonata). 



Blue Budgerigars: ( )ur member Mr. J. W. Marsden 

 has already two of this lovely variety among his young birds 

 this season; also one young ])arti-coloured bird, green with 

 numerous blue areas. This makes the third season Mr. Marsden 

 has procured some blues from cross-bred parents, i.e. bred 

 from the green, blue, and pale yellow varieties; the green and 

 blue bloOd predominating. 



