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Mr. E. J. Brook,



These birds do not actually belong to me, but are left in

my care by their owner, who has gone to East Africa, and who

anyhow did not wish to take them home to lose them there from


cold or on account of no facilities for their keep. From their


earliest days they have been made much of, living loose in their

owner’s camp when on the march or in his compound when at

headquarters, and have never been caged except for the actual

day’s march or at night. Now they are living on my verandah

in Bathurst with wings sufficiently clipped to prevent their straying

far, but not enough to prevent them reaching a favourite tree

near by or to cause them to fall in a heap at every attempt at


flight. Nearly every night I find them at dark in their cage,


which they reach via the verandah steps, though occasionally

they have to be hunted for at dusk ; but this never takes long,

for they always make their whereabouts known by their voices.

They have no longings for a night out.


Against their charms, which are many, must, however, be

put two great drawbacks—namely, their great destructiveness

and their screaming powers ; but neither of these out here matters

so very much, where one lives a practically outdoor life and where

the things on which the huge beaks can work havoc are of small

account; but at home I am afraid that consideration for (or the

hostility of) one’s neighbours, combined with a regard for one's

furniture and other belongings, would soon cause their exile to

the Zoo, in spite of all their endearing ways.



BREEDING OF THE YELLOW-BREASTED

GROSBEAK (Pheucticus chrysog aster), NANDAY

CONURES, and GUTTURAL FINCH.


I am sending these notes to report the rearing of the Yellow

Grosbeak, Nanday Conures, and Guttural Finch. The Grosbeaks

came to me in a collection from Ecuador, and when recovered from

fihe long journey were placed in a good-sized aviary with an outside

flight. The nest was built in the fork of a branch in the inner

house, and was a very rough construction of coarse grass. The birds



