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Notes for the Month.



MONTHLY NOTES FOR JULY.


By Secretaries.


With the advent of July we shall expect, or at any rate hope,

to be in the very thick of the breeding season, but we must remem¬

ber that our summer corresponds with the winter of Australia, so

don’t be surprised if Grassfinches (Gouldian finches e.g.) go into

moult and lose interest in domestic affairs. If many of our birds

are not nesting there is some fault somewhere. And the successful

aviculturist must make it his or her business to find out where the

fault lies. Now, first and foremost we must be sure we have a

“ breeding pair.” Many birds are apparently sworn to celibacy.

Others only indulge in platonic friendship. A third class develop

unnatural affections for birds of another kind. Who could imagine

that a hen Dufresne’s waxbill would evince a strong attachment for

a Diamond dove ? And yet such is the writer’s experience. It is not

sufficient then merely to have “a pair”—they must be a breeding

pair, i.e. a pair that wishes to raise a family. If you have not, no

amount of coaxing will induce them to nest. You must effect an

exchange with somebody or buy another pair (if possible), separate

the shirkers and mate them up afresh. Of no creature in the world

is it more true than of the bird that “ absence makes the heart grow

fonder.” If you cannot effect an exchange try and catch up the hen

bird, cage her, feed her up well, and give her a supply of animal

food. Then turn her in with the cock again in ten days time. There

will soon be an announcement in “ The Times ” in most cases.


The next commonest cause is that one or other of the birds

is past caring for domestic affairs. For such an one there is no

cure but an old age pension. Old birds are easily distinguished.

They are humpy as a rule. The feathers are not sleek and glossy.

Their features get very “ prononccs .” The legs get thick and scaley,

and altogether their sole interest in life seems the food vessels.

Beware of birds with feathers missing. It may be due to feather

plucking, but it may not. Don’t buy waxbills that the prolix adver¬

tiser tells you he or she has had ‘‘in an outdoor aviary for six years,”

any more than you would buy a house that the owner had had for

25 years, even if it had never let them down.



