2S4 Practical Bird-Keeping .— Correspo?ide?ice.


The winter residents were :—


A Comoro Weaver, which has been out over a year and came into

gorgeous colour in April.


A Red-vented Bulbul, bought in 190S, now in fine condition, its head

and neck shining with quite a metallic sheen.


A very old pair of Masked Weavers, bought last autumn from a friend

who had had them for years ; the cock is now in fine colour.


An American Bunting bought last June.


A cock Blossom-head Parrakeet, bought last autumn from a friend,

but though accustomed to open-air life, he rarely left the bird-house. He

arrived rather shabby, but soon got into perfect condition.


A pair of English Thrushes, rescued from a cat at different times last

spring.


These are all the birds which spent last winter in the garden aviary,

though I have successfully wintered Grassfinches, a cock Gouldian, Orange

Cheeks, Lavender Finches, etc., in this same aviary some time ago, but I

rather think they were entirely shut in the bird house.


I can throw a light on the disappearance of the Quails of which your

correspondent complains, for the same thing happened to some of mine.

They were taken by rats, which will tunnel a long way and come up in the

run, and then I believe drag the poor things down. I once found a rat hole

under a little wooden box, turned upside down with a hole cut in the side,

in which my Quails used to sleep. I was hunting for missing ones and

picked up the box, only to find the hole, and to get there the rats must

have burrowed several feet as they could not have got into the run in any

other way.


I think that to winter birds successfully without heat in a garden

aviary it is necessary to have them out all the summer before.


L. WrLhiAMS.



