25§



Miss E. E. West,



two years ago *) flying about the bird-room with pieces of hav,

or anything she could find, and constantly going to the window

bars and calling and talking to the birds outside, so I concluded

she wanted a mate. I at once did my best to gratify her, by

going to a naturalist and bird dealer in our town of Bromley

and procuring a nice cock Blackbird. I brought the gentleman

home with me, and the next day I fixed up boughs in a

good-sized aviary (not a cage) where the two could be quite

to themselves and very private. I got an old Blackbird’s nest

out of the garden and put in hay and stuff for the use of my two,

then put the hen in and let the cock loose in the other part of

the room. He at once joined the hen and they took to each

other and mated without any fuss.


The hen had begun egg-laying before I left home on the

ioth of May, and it was thought she had hatched a bird while I

was away, which was nearly three weeks, but this did not prove

to have been the case. However, they had another try, and on

the 18th of July I felt sure there was a young bird. I noted that

date, but fancy the young one was hatched on the 15th. The

parents were so attentive I had great hopes they might rear their

offspring; of course I did not know if there was one or more.

The gardener and I worked quite hard getting worms for them,

and put some in the room in a box with some mould every day,

and provided also a constant supply of fresh turf. I gave a lot of

mealworms and plenty of the soft food I always use for the

Blackbirds, viz., Neutratiue, ant eggs, and preserved yolk of egg.


The cock bird was a most devoted husband and father, he

never ate a mealworm himself, but carried them all to his wife

and little one. I do not know if he ate any of the garden worms,

but they always disappeared.


Things went on well for just a fortnight, and then disaster

put an end to my hopes. I went into the aviary early as usual

that morning and found a little bluish heap 011 the floor, which

proved to be my young bird. It was beginning to get the wing

feathers, which were quite blue, and it seemed a fine bird for its

age. I had a suspicion that the hen had pulled it out of the nest

and killed it, as it had certainly been knocked about. I had

noticed for some days that the hen had taken to eating the meal-



Ser. z, Vol. VI. p. 240.



