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BREEDING OF SHARP-TAILED FINCH AND SILVERBILL


HYBRIDS.


Sir, —I thought it might interest your readers to know I have bred

two hybrids (male and female) from a cock Sharp-tailed Finch and a hen

Silverbill.


They were born in July, and are most like the hen but a shade

darker, and have a few spangles here and there ; the bill and legs are also

darker. But what I think curious is that they have some dark red feathers

on the saddle, which are noticeable when flying. Neither parent has any

thing approaching a red tinge.


Their call-note is like the Sharptail, but the male hybrid sings like

a Silverbill only louder. They are lively and altogether very interesting

birds. Chas. Dell.



A TAME BARBARY TURTLE.


Sir, —The following case has just come under my notice, and is, I

think, worthy of being recorded in our Magazine.


An old lady has a tame Dove, a friendly and constant companion.

She is in the habit of taking a nap in her arm chair of an afternoon ; and

the Dove sits on the back of a chair close by : as the old lady dozes off, so

does the Dove. But the other day the Dove, instead of taking its seat on

its accustomed chair, perched on the lady’s head, and, as the lady snoozed

off, comfortably nestled itself in her cap.


In due course the lady awoke, and tried to remove the Dove; but the

Dove declined to allow itself to be removed. A female relative came te

her assistance ; and then it was found that the Dove had laid an egg—a

beautiful instance of trust and confidence in a dumb creature.


Reginald Phillipps.



