364 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



Cocoanut husks with an entrance-hole at one end should 

 be fixed for them to breed in ; for food they need 

 merely canary-seed and millet, with a fresh sod of turf 

 put in daily. So treated, they will multiply like the 

 Sparrows, having up to five young at a brood ; they are, 

 in fact, the best and most certain breeders of all cage- 

 birds, and will very much more than repay their original 

 cost, keep, and housing, if any market at all exists for 

 the young. They are much bred in Europe, and have 

 been bred successfully in India, especially by Mr. F. 

 Groser, who, starting with only one cock to three hens, 

 bred a great number for years without any fresh blood. 

 But this is the only case I know of where these birds have 

 been allowed to revel in polygamy, and in-breeding is 

 best avoided though I am bound to admit that I only 

 saw one unhealthy bird in all the numbers my friend 

 had bred in this way. 



In Europe a breed of yellow Budgerigars has been ob- 

 tained, and specimens of this variety are now pretty 

 generally for sale, though at three or four times the price 

 of birds of the natural colour. One pair of these yellow 

 birds I saw was absolutely pure yellow, with red eyes, 

 but as a rule the eyes are of the natural colour white 

 with a black pupil and the plumage, although yellow 

 altogether at a little distance, shows on close inspection 

 faint traces of the dark markings above, and a wash of 

 green below. The blue cere and cheek-spots are as 

 bright as in natural-coloured birds. Blue Budgerigars 

 have even been obtained in two instances, the parents 

 having been yellow ones. 



