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for some months in a cage. Last June it escaped, and its feathers havin

grown again, it flew to a farm belonging to Mr. W. F. Rawnsley, of Par

Hill, Lyndhurst, where it has remained flying about the place and feedin

with the fowls. During the summer it set about building a kind of nest

on the thatched roof of the farm house, nipping off long twigs of hawthorn

for the purpose from a hedge near at hand. Since the colder weather

began, the bird has greatly added to this nest, and uses it as a shelter,

often lying in it by day and always sleeping in it.


The nest is now a tunnel, about 18 inches deep, coming straight out

from the thatch, and partly supported by a chimney stack. It has a

cup-shaped opening about the size of a cocoa-nut. It is very firmly and

compactly woven, and is entirely made of hawthorn twigs. High winds do

not affect it, and rain cannot beat into it; the only thing to be feared

is a heavy fall of snow.


I suppose the bird to be Psittacus murinus ( e) ; its colouring and general

appearance agree with the description of that species bv Bechstein, except

that this bird’s tail is certainly more than five inches long, nearer eight, I

should think. Though shy with strangers, it is quite tame to the farmer's

wife, and will feed from her hand.


I shall be glad if you can tell me : —


1st. Is it usual for Psittacus to build nests of this description ?


2nd. If the nest is only a shelter, or whether, if a mate could be

obtained, the birds would be likely to breed in it ?


3rd. Is there an}" difference in the plumage of the sexes, and is this

one likely to be a cock or hen bird ?


4th. Can it survive an ordinary winter in a sheltered spot in the

South of England ? Ethel F. Chawner.



The following reply has been sent to Miss Chawner.


Miss Chawner’s letter is very interesting. I have no doubt the

Parrot is the one she supposes, viz., Myopsittacus monachus, as the British

Museum Catalogue calls it. This is the way it builds. I should expect it

to be a female. It would, no doubt, be quite hardy. Were a mate

provided, they would probably breed. I should advise a cock bird being

hung up near when it is warmer.


I am not aware of any difference in the sexes. F. G. Dutton.



TREATMENT OF SMALL FOREIGN BIRDS IN WINTER.


Sir, —For the encouragement of anyone who, like myself, cannot

manage to give their little birds artificial light. I should like to record the

fact, that I have for some years kept the little Waxbills and exotic Finches

successfully, with no other light than that which the sun bestows—which

certainly is not much just now.


When I first started my bird room, the birds I had were all confined

in cages, and I gave myself a good deal of trouble and anxiety in providing

artificial light for them, as I was quite under the impression that our long-

winter nights would be too much for them otherwise.



(*■)• The familiar Quaker or Grey-breasted Parrakeet.—R. P.



Grq m q



