THE GOULDIAN FINCH. 171 



these little hindrances, and when every thing seemingly is now square 

 and plain sailing, your hen will, likely enoiigh, once more disappoint 

 your expectations by becoming egg-bound. And, lastly, when every- 

 thing is really all right : when the season is propitious and the nest 

 is ready, when the eggs have been laid and the hen is still well, the 

 cock bird, in his turn, oiit of sheer cussedness, will, as likely as not, 

 destroy the eggs. 



" But these are all difficulties that may be overcome. A little 

 foresight, a little management, a sharp eye to detect at once when 

 anything is going wrong, and, with birds so willing to nest, success 

 must follow sooner or later, if, as I hinted before, you are able to 

 provide the needful accommodation. 



" So far as my own bird-room and aviary are concerned, I have 

 not had, and have not now, any suitable place for these little birds. 

 A succession of Hawks and Owls, Choughs and Crows, Jays and Pies, 

 Parrots and Parrakeets, and a host of other foes to tiny creatures and 

 their eggs, have made it impossible for me to keep them properly, 

 almost impossible, indeed, to keep them at all. But in the spring of 

 1891, notwithstanding these impossibilities and disadvantages, finding 

 that no one had so far been able to breed them, I, in a spiteful spirit 

 of emulation but could there be a better cause? obtained a fresh 

 pair of Red- faced Gouldian Finches, and put them up to nest on the 

 28th April of that year. The birds immediately commenced to build 

 in a dead tree, which I had fixed in a large aviary-cage in my 

 dining-room ; there was another large aviary-cage on the opposite side 

 of the room ; and, as the doors of both were usually open, the birds 

 had a fair amount of exercise, flying backwards and forwards. A lady 

 aviarist, in Hampshire, had most kindly provided me with two kinds 

 of dry grass, one rather broad and the other fine ; and with these, and 

 a few odds and ends, the Gouldians constructed a very large nest, 

 domed, but with the aperture nearly at the top. The first egg was 

 laid on the 5th May, the 5th and last on the Qth, when the hen 

 commenced to sit in earnest, the cock taking her place when she 

 came off to feed. The first young voice was heard on the 24th May ; 

 and, on the i6th June, two young birds in full feather were enticed 

 out of the nest by their good old mother. On the following day, on 

 examining the nest, I found another young bird and two clear eggs. 

 The two elder became grand birds ; but, not having room for them, I 

 parted with them on the 5th September. The other was killed by 

 some ruffian in my bird-room on the 5th November: it had not shewn 

 any signs of falling into moult. 



