41 



the country have to contend with, is getting suitable 

 birds. If anything rare reaches the I^ondou dealers it 

 is snapped up at once, for there is a certain cult which 

 makes a practice of going the round of the London 

 bird shops, picking up bargains. 



Lastly, we have in the country to wage continual 

 warfare with weasels, hawks and owls,* in addition to 

 the cats, rats f and mice which all aviaries suffer from. 

 T think if anyone, living near London, had leisure and 

 inclination to give his whole time to his hobby, he 

 would do great things in that branch of aviculture 

 which consists in breeding rare birds. 



However, I am digressing. 



The winter and early spring of 1906 were, on the 

 whole, cold and stormy. Something seems to have 

 gone wrong with the South Devon climate these last 

 two winters. Frosts used to be a rarity, and for weeks 

 together we used to have delightfully warm and genial 

 weather. However, despite the night-frosts and gales 

 of wind, several species began to nest in January. 

 Golden-breasted Waxbills made several attempts but 

 did not succeed in rearing any young, being so much 

 persecuted by larger birds. This seems to be quite a 

 hardy little species, X and it is much to be regretted 

 that it is not more frequently imported. The two 

 young I bred in 1905 are still alive and vigorous. I 

 believe that Lady Dunleath was the first to breed this 

 species in 1903 in Ireland. 



* Double wire netting-, with a few inches between eacli course, would 

 prevent losses from this source. Kd. 



t Danysz Virus keeps both rats and mice in check. Ed. 



t These have lived out of doors all the year round in my aviary. The 

 average length of life of many pairs has been from four to nine years. Ed. 



