352



Editorial.



Sixteen eggs laid, one unfertile, two failed to hatch, two casualties.


The parents were most anxious to nest for the fourth time, but notwithstand¬

ing their fine condition, I judged it wiser to remove the cock indoors. There was

great lamentation at this, and every time I appeared he commenced singing, and

sidled up to me on his perch, asking in the plainest possible way to be allowed to

rejoin his wife.


Little food was consumed by either at first, and I was afraid the youngsters

might be neglected. However, nothing of the kind happened. In the absence of

the nesting-box, the hen collected fragments of hay about the length of a match,

and dumped them into odd corners (when she was not pushing them down hex-

children’s throats !). The makers of bricks without straw were not in it with her,

for she tried to build a house without materials or suitable foundation, being quite

assured, poor little thing, that her lord and master, whom she heai'd singing con¬

stantly, would return very shortly.


I think there are two hens and three cocks in the third brood.


14, Royal Terrace, E. Kingstown, Geo. E. Low


August 29th, 1917.


UVCEAN PARRAKEETS.


In case anyone is able to profit by my sad experience with Uvoean Parrakeets,

I may as well give it. Early in the spring I received three in fair order, which

did well for some time, being fed on the usual parrakeet diet. During the hot

weather in May, they were turned into an outdoor aviary, and a few weeks later

died, one after the other, after a few days’ sudden and severe illness. Post-mortem

examinations revealed in every case some enteritis, extreme ansemia, and brittleness

of bones. The last bird had no hemp seed for about a week befoi-e it fell ill.


I am told that the secret of keeping these birds is fresh air and no hemp.

Mine had the fresh air, and I cannot quite see why hemp should cause anasmia.

Would Parrish’s chemical food have saved them ?


Yours, etc., Tavistock.


Perhaps Monsieur Delacour can give some information, as I believe he still

has a Uvoean Parrakeet in good health. W’ould mealworms and leather-jackets be

eaten ? My Queen Alexandra Parrakeets eat them greedily, and they must be very

nutritious. H. D. A.



Sib,—S hould not the title of the paper on p. 304 of the September number

more correctly read, “ St. Helena Waxbill—Cordon Bleu Hybrid,” seeing that the

Cordon w r as the female parent ?


Dr. Butler, ‘ Avicultural Magazine,’ New Series, iv, p. 350, recorded

11 Cordon—St. Helena Hybrids ” (apparently obtained abroad); but is not Mr.

Drelincourt Campbell’s the first success this way—“ St. Helena x Cordon ”?


45, Sussex Square, Brighton ; E. Hopkinson.


September 1 2th, 1917.


Dear Sir, —Is there any distinctive marking between the sexes of Red

Collared Lorikeets?


I bought a cock and then a pair (supposed to have started nesting, but

the box fell before the eggs were laid). The pair seem exactly alike, are smaller

and more lightly built, collar orange, not red, and not so much red nor so bright



