224



Dr. Maurice Amsler,



Several years ago I determined to breed the Gold-fronted

fruitsucker. I may as well admit that I have failed; but I nearly

succeeded, as two little chicks in spirit will prove. One was two days

old' and the other, alas, fourteen days. The latter was already

beginning to show the green in his plumage. I look at him occa¬

sionally, and mourn the hen, now dead, who on four different occasions

did her best to satisfy me. She would have succeeded but for the

ardour of her mate.


It was in 1910 that I took two of these Fruitsuckers from a

dealer in exchange for a pair of Green cardinals I had bred (my first

success in foreign birds). These Fruitsuckers were described as

finger tame; they were, for the simple reason that their feathers

were so matted with sugar and dirt that they could not fly an inch.


Shortly after their arrival I attacked them with a shaving

brush, hot water, and soap. The resultant water would have been

an improvement on the ink we get in these war times ; but both

birds very nearly died as the consequence of my ministrations. A

couple of hours in a small cage near the fire and a little brandy in

their sop improved matters considerably, and next day they had

recovered. The male is still alive, and the hen lived with me for five

years.


About the same time I bought for 20s. another specimen

described as out of feather. She arrived safely and in fairly good

condition, but was as bald as a vulture, which, as it turned out, was

lucky for me ; for in about a fortnight, as the quills came on the head

and neck, I began to realise that she was not quite like my own

birds, and soon after I recognised her as a female Jerdon’s Fruit-

sucker. She lived happily with the other two for a time, but finally

I parted with her, and she later appeared on the show bench, I

believe as the property of Mr. Maxwell.


My original pair spent the summer out of doors, 1910, when

the hen amused herself with bits of straw and hay, but did nothing

really encouraging in the way of nest-building. In November I

brought them in for the winter.


In April, 1911, the birds were again put out into a small

aviary, 14 ft. x 6 ft., having a brick shelter. The hen at once began

to carry nesting material, but she seemed difficult to satisfy, both as



