on the breeding of the Yellow-breasted Grosbeak. 29


would not use dry grass or hay that was offered them, but built the

nest entirely.of green grass they pulled up in the flight. Two eggs

were laid, of a bluish colour mottled on the rounded end. Incubation

took about fourteen days, I think, and the young left the nest in

about three weeks. For about a fortnight the young were fed entirely

on insects, mostly mealworms, of which I luckily have plenty.


By degrees seed seemed to take the place of live food, and

now that the young are feeding themselves I do not think anything

but seed and green food is taken.


My observations on all these birds that I am reporting on are

rather crude, partly owing to the wildness of the birds and partly to

want of time to watch properly and take the necessary notes.


The pair of Nanday Conures I have had for about two years

They laid three eggs in a large parrot-breeding box, all of which

proved fertile. The three young birds remained a very long time in

the nest, and when they left it were so well grown that it was'difficult

to distinguish them from the old ones. I can see no colour

difference at all, but the tail is slightly shorter. There seemed to be

two or three days between the hatching of the eggs, and there was

an interval of three or four between each bird leaving the nest. I

sometimes think the young are larger and better grown than the

parent birds. There is nothing of particular interest to report on the

rearing of these birds that is not common to the rearing of all parrots.


The pair of Guttural Finches were obtained in Trinidad, and I

have had them exactly a year. The nest, which was in a large

mass of clematis, was built of grass and shaped like a deep egg-cup.

Three eggs were laid ; they all hatched, and the three young birds

are now on the wing.


I am not quite sure to what extent the young were reared

on insects, but certainly a good number were given, as the parents

were 'constantly on the hunt for what they could find, and as the

aviary is a large one there was no difficulty about an ample supply.


I can say nothing about coloration, as I cannot get near

enough to the birds to see the colour properly, and they are always

so mixed up with foliage that a glass is not much good.


B. J. Brook.


Hoddarn Castle,


Ecclefechan, X.D.



