on an Avicultural Medley.



221



of doing things, a short record of the goings on in my aviaries last

year may not be out of place.


A pair of Peach-faced Love-birds laid some ten or twelve

clutches of eggs, but the young were never fed beyond a couple of

days. Finally the eggs were transferred to budgerigars, who hatched

and reared their foster-children to the age of three weeks and then

struck work. This occurred on two occasions and the young had to

be hand-reared ; five were fully reared and are now full-grown and

healthy.


“ Joey,” a veteran cockatiel and an old friend of the Editor’s,

was mated to a young hen ; several nests of eggs were laid. All the

eggs were clear until last Septsmber, when one chick was hatched

and reared to the age of ten days.


Five pairs of Zebra finches were given nest-boxes in early

spring; they only reared fifteen young, although they had a large

aviary, were not inbred, and were not interfered with in any way.

At the present price of 12s. Qd. a pair I had hoped to earn my

income-tax.


A pair of green cardinals bought from Mr. Allen Silver went

to nest at once. I transferred the eggs to a pair of Orchard finches,

who were a few days later in their nesting arrangements. These

hatched and fully reared two cardinals ; the third died at the age

of a week, although well nourished. I suspect that he came from

an egg which I had at the time almost thrown away thinking it

must be malformed ; it was more like a sausage than an oval, more

than twice as long as it was broad.


Some of my readers may remember my breeding the*Great

tit and giving the parents semi-liberty by opening the aviary door

for a few hours daily.


As Orchard finches appear to be a drug on the market, I put

my breeding pair in the aviary I used for the Tits (only 9 ft. x 4 ft.),

and allowed them their freedom as soon as the young cardinals were

hatched.


The cock Orchard finch, as is usual on these occasions,

became very tame, and would meet me in a field at the back of my

gai'den quite 80 yards away from the young birds.


I have also seen him sitting on a telephone-wire over the



