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In September, 1899, my Green-wings first showed signs of pairing.

The cock would frequently coo to and caress his mate. While courting he

depressed the head and breast, raising the closed wings over his back, thus

presenting the whole of his glittering green plumage to his lady love.


The pair soon took possession of an old Turtle Dove’s liest in a birch

branch, carrying in a few twigs, but before any eggs were laid the cock was

unfortunately killed by a cat.


I soon procured another mate for the hen, and last September she

again seemed anxious to nest. The cock, however, though friendly, took

little interest in her proceedings. No nest was made, but two very small,

round eggs were laid in a basket lid. She commenced to sit, but seeing

that the eggs were useless, I broke them and found them to be yolkless.


About a fortnight later two more eggs were dropped from a perch.

So far as I could judge these were normal.


As the enclosure in which these birds are kept is not sparrow-proof,

their food consists almost entirely of maize. Would this account for im¬

perfect eggs? The birds seem to be in excellent condition.


B. C. ThomassET.



NOTE RE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.


Sir,—E ast Spring I received several Black-tailed Godwits, all of

which arrived with their wings cut, and towards the end of November it

became evident that they were not getting through their moult ; besides

being dirt} - , with their feathers all glued together, their feet had large

lumps of dirt adhering to them which accumulated again and again almost

as fast as it was removed, and this was not due to the ground of their

aviary, which was made of fresh turf and shingle, being dirty.


About Christmas-time, being reminded in an article I read that birds

with cut or broken quills were often unable to cast them in the moult, I

caught them up and removed the stumps from three of them, leaving them

on a fourth individual who had succeeded in moulting the first two primar¬

ies. They were then removed from their outdoor quarters and placed in an

indoor (but unheated) aviary, having the floor thickly covered with sawdust.

One of them died almost immediately, and of the others, those whose

stumps I had removed are now once more in perfect health and plumage;

while the third, whose primaries had not been drawn, is still in the same

state of dirty feathers and clogged up feet, although it has been kept under

precisely the same conditions.


I have ventured to write this note as, while it is fairly generally'

known that to remove the primaries and place the bird in a warm place is

often efficacious in backward moult, yet it is worth while noting its far-

reaching effects, as general slovenliness and dirty feet are not usually

associated with moult. J. Lewis Bonhote.



THE REGENT-BIRD ; SKINS OF DEAD BIRDS.


Sir, —Permit me to thank Mr. Phillipps for bringing me up to date

re Regent-bird. I had no recollection of seeing them advertised—foolishly,

I did not turn up my copies of Proceedings Zoological Society or I might

have satisfied myself there.



