i66 5^. Quiniin : Some Avicultural Notes. 



In all these cases the bird made some addition to the plat- 

 form or nest, as a finishing touch generally placing a few green 

 twigs of yew or spruce by way of lining. 



Perhaps from finding plenty of sites ready to hand, it Svas 

 not till this season that a Tragopan ever built a nest entirety 

 of itself. In this case a i-ather untidy pigeon-like nest was 

 made in a spruce tree some five feet from the ground, con- 

 structed of live, and dead, small branches and twigs of the 

 spruce ; and though it looked a shaky structure, it bore the 

 weight of sitting bird and eggs. I must have had at least 30 

 clutches of eggs, since I have kept Tragopans laid in all cases 

 off the ground ; and so I think I may safely draw the con- 

 clusion that this is the natural habit. 



In this imusual nesting propensity the Tragopan shows' itself 

 very distinct from its nearest allies, the Grouse and Pheasants. 

 Moreover the nestling is clothed with a peculiar hairy down, 

 and can fly several feet, and even from branch to branch, when 

 newly hatched. In fact the bird is strikingly arboreal in:its 

 ways. 



The Roller. Though very handsome, I don't recommend 

 the European Roller as an aviary bird to anyone who is not 

 prepared to take a great deal of trouble. The bird is extremely 

 nervous and shy, and unless great care is used, will certainty 

 spoil its plumage against the wires of the aviary. It is quite 

 impossible to keep either an Oriole or a Roller in a cage, for the 

 same reason. Both are shy, and both are short-legged, and 

 when clinging to the side of a cage will not keep their bodies off 

 the wires like a Crow or a Thrush, but seems to find a perverse 

 delight in thrusting tail and flights through, till nothing but 

 stumps remain. • 



Rollers are so nervous that I have known one suffer real 

 hunger and decline to come down to the foodpan, because a 

 brush had been accidentally left inside the door. 



With regard to food, a Roller lives much like a Shrike, and 

 therefore must have a Shrike's food : mice, beetles, meal-worms, 

 and when meat is given, it must have at the same time what a 

 falconer calls ' casting,' namely feathers or fur, which it will 

 presently eject as a pellet. 



Therefore, to get Rollers to breed, which was at one time 

 my ambition, I had first to get hold of two sound birds, which 

 was not easy ; then get them well moulted, and thoroughly 

 used to the aviary ; and finally only one person ever went into 



Naturalist 



