152



Correspondence.


PEKIN ROBINS.



Sir,—A friend of mine has a pair of Pekin Nightingales with which

she has vainly tried to breed, and I should be most grateful to be told where

she is at fault.


The birds are kept by themselves in an aviary in a conservatory, and

provided with a growing shrub, and further shelter arranged by fixing fir

and other branches at the top of the aviary. The birds are in good

condition, and two years built a nest by weaving soft unravelled string,

grass bents, etc., but, before it was finished, in each case, the hen laid her

eggs, not soft ones, from a perch, so of course they were broken. She used

to squat broodingly on the earth in the flower pots, but never built in such

a situation. The birds disregard a box on the wall with pigeon-hole

entrances.


In the spring mouths they have the use of the conservatory, which

keeps them entertained insect-hunting. Perhaps the right nesting

material has not been provided, though almost everything has been tried,

including fibre from palm stems, moss and feathers.


M. Kangford.



The following reply was sent to Miss Langford:


The Pekin Robins are dissatisfied with their surroundings, or with

the accommodation provided for them.


They build open nests, and will not take readily to any kind of

closed-in nesting-box, except the common wooden-barred German cage.


In the garden aviary they build in bushes.


In smaller places, they nest in open nest-boxes, like Canaries.


One of the earliest cases of the successful breeding of this species in

England was an experience of a lady-friend of the Society, a lady who still

keeps many Canaries, who, after various failures, loosed her Pekin Robins

in the Canary birdroom,—“and I hung for them, at about two feet from the

ceiling, a Canary nest-box, with a tiny basket, lined with flannel, tightly

fixed into it. This time they did not try to build a nest, but on the ist

August I had the satisfaction of finding that an egg had been laid in the

basket.” Two young were reared. See Notes on Cage Birds , Second

.Series, page 157.


String, or anything of that kind, is dangerous. Give hay, grass, etc.,

and small feathers, and hang up Canary boxes, etc., and Canary pans lined

with felt,— and give them as much liberty as possible. The less you

examine the nests the better.



Reginald Philupps.



