U reed ing in Aviaries. 79 1 



Four living nestlings used, with us, to be no un- 

 common thing, but then we were not too helpful ; 

 we saw that there was always food at hand, and once,, 

 when the hen bird died and the cock seemed perplexed 

 as to how he was to act nurse, we undertook to help 

 him, and by feeding endlessly from early morning to 

 quite the evening, we certainly contrived to rear a tame 

 and pretty set of little downy birds. 



18. The birds, sometimes, after building properly,, 

 will, without any apparent cause, coolly fill up the 

 nest, generally with some white stuff, and quietly 

 forsake it. This is generally when they have been 

 disturbed by strangers, or when the eggs are addled. 

 The latter is sometimes the case after a thunder- 

 storm, a door slamming violently, or some such cause. 



I do not think that after the nest has been once 

 filled up they often return to it. I should, in such 

 cases, therefore, take the birds into another room or 

 aspect if they are in a cage ; at any rate, removing the 

 whole machinery, box, or branch, or whatever it may 

 be, of the other nest, and giving facilities for making 

 a fresh start. The nest may, however, in some cases, 

 be left as it is, when it would be troublesome to re- 

 move it ; but deserted nests are bad nooks for insects, 

 and a bird is all the better for not being reminded of 

 its former failure. 



19. Some birds are first-rate sitters and nurses, 

 others very careless, and while these need constant 



