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SHAMA WITHOUT TAIL.


Sir, — I have a SliSma which has no tail. Upon examination, I find

there are no signs of tail-feathers coming. Is this usual in this kind of bird ?


Can you advise any treatment likely' to cause the growth of tail-

feathers ? as it makes him very unsightly. I have had him a month, and he

is quite healthy and sings well. I feed him on Carl Capelle’s insectivorous

food, ants’ eggs, a few mealworms, and a liberal supply of gentles. He

does not seem to care for fruit. Arthur Gire.



The following reply was sent to Mr. Gill :


You can encourage the reproduction of feathers by giving phosphates

in the drinking-water — eight drops daily of syrup of phosphates to a wine-

glassful of water.


It is not natural for a Shama to be without a tail; but, if knocked

out soon after it has been produced, a tail is frequently a long time before

it reappears. My Satin Bower-birds were tailless for about nine months,

but now they are both perfect. A. G. BuTrer.



PROPOSED AVIARY FOR WEAVERS.


Sir, — W ill you please let me know, by post, the following questions,

viz. : ist. Would 60 ft. long by 24 ft. broad be too large to keep Weavers


in ? 2nd. How many would it hold ? 3rd. What are the best shrubs to put

in ; would honeysuckle hurt the birds ? 4th. Would it be best to turf and

gravel the outer run, or cement ? 5th. What height should it be ? 6th. If

too large for Weavers only, what could I keep with same?


C. Castre-Sroane.



The following reply has been sent to Mr. Sloane :


An aviary can hardly be too large, if you desire to breed Weavers.

In such an aviary as you speak of it would be possible to keep upwards of

fourteen hundred Weavers in health, but there would then be no possibility'

of breeding, which (after all) is one of the most interesting features of

aviculture.


I do not think honeysuckle would hurt the birds, but they would

remove it all in a day or two : I should recommend you to cut a quantity of

reeds, bind them in bundles—towards the bottom of the stems — and stack

them upright at one end of the aviary, so as to simulate a reed-bed : it is

then quite likely' that you would breed the more beautiful reed-frequenting

Weavers.


The advantage of cement is that it keeps out rats : for this reason

the floors of all my aviaries are cemented. I would not recommend living

shrubs, because no finches will allow shrubs to live long unless the area is

very extensive and the birds comparatively' few in number. If you think

of breeding, I should recommend one cock and several hens of each

species to begin with. Of course you would include the smaller Wliydalis.


I should not recommend that the aviary' be more than ten feet high :

it is difficult to catch birds in very lofty aviaries. A. G. Butrer.



