Correspondence.



33



Onr Blue-winged Lovebirds also bred in a log-nest out-of-doors while

we were away, but on onr return we found five dead young ones fully

feathered in the nest. I fancy rain must have got in and drowned them.

Our Virginian Cardinals also built, laid, and hatched, but we could not get

enough insects in time for them, and they (the young birds) gradually died,

the surviving one being about seven days old when it died.


M. F. RaThborne.


The following reply was sent to Airs. Rathborne :


%


Your Lettered Aracari is very seriously ill. Keep it as warm as

possible, be very careful to shelter it from draughts, and do not wash it on

any account.


Try and get it to take svrnp of squills. Try also ipecacuanha wine in

the drinking water. Place as near as possible to the bird ( outside the

cage and out of its reach) a small cup filled with cotton wool, on which

from time to time pour eucalyptus oil. In addition to the fruit, offertliebird

a few mealworms and a little very carefully scraped raw meat, and a

little cooked meat, such as cold mutton. Whole raisins often cause

indigestion; it is best to cut them up. You may also give boiled carrots

(cut up), grapes, and egg.


These birds are very sensitive to cold; and they are often in a dying

state before they reach our hands.


The Lettered Aracari, Pteroglossus inscriptus, comes from Guiana and

Lower Amazonia (South America). The throat and neck in the male are

black, in the female brown. (See also my letter on “Toucans,” in the

October number).


I am glad to hear that your Sykes’ Oriole is well. May I ask you to

watch its breast, and note when the speckles disappear. My Blaek-naped

Oriole (Vol. VIII., p. ioo) has been very slowly changing his body feathers

all through the summer, and last September suddenly' grew (for the first

time in this country) wings and tail, and is now flying about the aviary in

the most brilliant plumage, almost eclipsing in colour (a), but not in

character, the male Regent-bird (Vol. VII., p. 138).


The Blue-winged Parrakeets, Psittacnla passerina, are not true Love¬

birds (see Vol. II., p. 49). Although so common, they do not very often

breed successfully' in this country'.



* I have been so severely censured for presuming- to compare the two birds that I

hasten to add that the beautiful velvety feathering of the head and neck of the Regent is

■wholly wanting in the Oriole, the latter also wanting the rich orange-yellow and reddish

orange of the head and crown of the Regent-bird. In character the two species cannot be

compared for a moment.—R. P.



