29



BREEDING EXPERIENCES IN 1900.


By Iv. W. Hawkins.


Some account of my breeding experiences this year may

be of interest.


My aviary consists of a span-roofed building, one half of

the roof being covered with boards and zinc, while the other half

facing south is entirely glazed. The walls are double-boarded

and have a window. The floor is concrete. A large portion of

the space is enclosed with straight wire as a breeding aviary, and

includes a loft 16 feet long. Here live in perfect harmony

several pairs of seed-eating birds,each pair belonging to a separate

species. Perhaps the most charming of these are the little Cuba-

finches, Phoyiipara canora. Their appearance is very pleasing,

but their chief attractions are their cheerful nature and continual

twitter.


My pair came into my possession in January this year. In

April they built a nest iu a cocoanut husk, swinging on the roof

near the highest part. The nest was composed of dried grass

and feathers, and completely lined the husk, the entrance, how¬

ever, being left quite free, so that it was easy to see into the nest.

Four eggs were laid 011 as many consecutive days, and were white

in colour, densely sprinkled on the larger ends with light brown

marks. The hen sat alone during the day, and at night both sat

together. Things went on satisfactorily for about a week, when

the increased heat of the sun on the glass roof made it necessary

to draw down the outside sun blind for the first time this year.

The result was disastrous, for the Cuba-fiuches at once deserted

their eggs, and nothing would induce them to return to them.

It was very disappointing, as all four eggs appeared to be fertile.

However, the little birds evidently became accustomed to the

pulling down of the sun blind, for, about a mouth later, another

four eggs were laid in the same nest as before. This timethesitting

was more successful, for 011 June 14th one young bird was

hatched out alive and well. Two of the eggs-were thrown out

of the nest and found broken, with young birds dead inside. The

remaining egg also contained a dead bird. The young bird

thrived and grew day by day, till it left the nest on July 2nd.

When first hatched it appeared quite bare, no down at all being

visible. The beak had a thick yellow edge, and the inside of the

mouth was red. When it left the nest, it resembled the mother

very closely. The yellow collar was very evident, but the upper

throat was still bare. Both parents were at first very attentive,



