BREEDING OF HYBRIDS FROM TWO BRITISH BIRDS 365 



taken to, but she would have none of 

 them, and went for each newcomer open- 

 mouthed. Yet when her old partner was 

 put back she was as fussy and loving 

 with him as possible. Of course, a little 

 scrimmage at first need not be noticed, and 

 in many cases there is no quarrel at all, 

 and as a rule these are the successful 

 breeding pairs. 



Most of our hen Finches will sit, hatch 

 and rear their own broods, the Bullfinch 

 perhaps excepted, and even she will do so 

 in an aviary. In The Feathered World 

 some years ago, Jlr. John Hector, of 

 Aberdeen, wrote that ]\Ii'. William Ramsay, 

 of Maryton, Forfarshire, had a hen Bvdl- 

 finch who, with a cock Goldfinch, reared 

 three young Hybrids, and doubtless some 

 kindly disposed pairs would do the same 

 if given the opportunity, but these Hybrids 

 are so valuable that breeders will not risk 

 the eggs, but transfer them to a hen 

 Canary, or a hen Siskin, or Greenfinch 

 as more reliable foster-parents. 



Roomy breeding cages, about 3 ft. long, 

 are advantageous, especially if fitted up 

 like a miniatiu-e aviary, with 

 clgef"^ a nest pan in or behind a 



bushy branch of broom, 

 heather, privet, or other shrub in one 

 corner. Seclusion of this kind is a great 

 inducement to the hen to take to the nest 

 and lay in it. Failing this, see that the 

 breeding cage and its door are sufficiently 

 large to admit a small German wicker 

 cage being hung wp as a nesting place. 

 Most British hens nest readily in these 

 little wicker cages, with the wickers at 

 one end removed, so that the birds can 

 pass in and out. A liberal supply of short 

 lengths of hay, fine rootlets, moss, lichen, 

 doe-hair, small, soft feathers and, when 

 procurable, even cobwebs and thistledown, 

 should be provided for building material. 



Some may say, why take all this trouble ? 

 To which we reply, the difficulty in breeding 

 with many wild Finches is not in inducino- 

 them to lay, but in securing the eggs when 

 they are laid ; and hence the imiDortance 

 of doing everything to lead them to con- 

 struct their own nests — a thing they 



frequently do not seem to care about in 

 captivity. To prevent any mishap to 

 eggs laid in the cage, or even dropped from 

 the perch, which is of common occurrence, 

 it is well to cover the bottom of the cage 

 with bran to the depth of an inch, and, if 

 persistently dropped from the perch, to 

 lower it to a height from which no danger 

 from fracture can be anticipated — say, 

 about three inches from the floor of the 

 cage. The number of eggs is uncertain, 

 the natural order of things being occasion- 

 ally disarranged in a strange way ; two or 

 three only being sometimes deposited, 

 while at others a " clutch " of five will be 

 laid in the nest with regularity, or a con- 

 siderable number — a dozen or more — at 

 uncertain intervals. These should all be 

 placed under Canaries which have just 

 commenced to sit, to be hatched, literally 

 not putting too many in one nest — say, 

 two or three in each — both on account of 

 the ordinary risks and the extraordinary 

 demands the yovmg birds will make on 

 the feeding capabilities of their foster- 

 parents. The rest is only a question of 

 ordinary management. 



Mr. Ernest Stevens, of Sidmouth, Devon, 

 built a large flight along one side of his bird 

 room to turn young Canaries into. He parti- 

 tioned a portion of this flight ofE 2 ft. by 2 ft. 

 and 18 ins. deep, and in Octol)er, 1907, he 

 caught two Bullfinch hens ; one of these, in 

 Feljruary, 1908, he put into this portion of 

 the flight with a cock Linnet. They were 

 quite amiable to each other, and as the spring 

 advanced he noticed the birds feeding one 

 another, so he hung a German wicker cage, 

 as advised above, in their compartment, sup- 

 plying them with some hay, rootlets, and a 

 strip of coconut matting about 4 ins. long. 

 They were soon busy pulling the matting to 

 pieces, and built a nest nearly as large as a 

 Rook's witli this and hay and branches of 

 shepherd's purse, hut on the top of the wicker 

 cage. In due course the hen laid four eggs in 

 the nest. Mr. Stevens put these under a hen 

 Canary to incubate, three proved fertile — one 

 hatched out, the other two, though fully 

 developed, were " dead in shell." The survivor 

 was a fine chick, but only lived three days. 

 The Bullflnch hen had two more clutches of 

 eggs, three in each fertile, but did not hatch 

 out. 



