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his relative has both rings quite as clearly marked on leaving the

nest as the Ringed Finches have now at nine weeks old.


They are very tame confiding little creatures, and very

gregarious in their habits, feeding, bathing, and playing about

together with no quarrels or jealousies over food, mates, or nests.


Our aviary was made to stand in a sheltered verandah, but

is a great success in a conservatory. It is made of wood, wired

only in front, with a high wooden gable roof, and this probably

protects the birds from the extremes of heat from which they are

said to suffer in a conservatory. If it is very cold in winter and

early spring, and the usual heat seems insufficient at night, we

set a powerful lamp on the floor close to the aviary, which gives

out a good deal of heat as well as light, and lasts all night. It is

also used for an hour before bed-time as long as the very dark

evenings last, to give the birds a chance of a late supper, of

which they take full advantage.


The Ringed-Finches used grass for their nest, and also

some New Zealand fibre, which we threw into the aviary on the

chance of some bird taking it.


The parents seem to be nesting again ; and the other pair

bought at the same time have eggs, if not young ones, so we are

hoping for an increase in the number of our little family before

long.



BIRD NOTES.



The July number of the Zoologist contains a most useful paper on

aviculture by our esteemed member, Dr. A. G. Butler. For twenty years he

has kept birds in captivity, not only as a fascinating hobby, but as a means

of acquiring a knowledge of the habits and life of birds, of which the

“ cabinet ornithologist ” often knows next to nothing. During the whole

of the time that Dr. Butler has been an aviculturist he has striven, as he

tells us, “ to make this labour of love useful to ornithologists generally.”



A pair of White Storks, which have lived in Kew Gardens for three or

four years, have this year reared one young bird. This is a matter of con¬

siderable interest, as it is probably the first instance of this species having

bred in this country. An interesting letter on the subject, from the pen of

Dr. A. Gunther, appeared in the Field of August 2nd, to which we would

direct the attention of our members.



Some of our members will be interested in the following letter which

appears in the current number of the Emu , from the pen of Mr. E. H.

Webb, of Macknade, North Queensland, dated May 12, 1902 : “ A few days


ago I found a nest of the Crimson Finch {Neochtnia phaeto?i) in a curious



