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•shape of bushes or hurdles packed with straw ; 3rd, if possible,

a light, dry soil, with facilities for dusting. The enclosure must

be effectually fenced against the intrusion of dogs, and of course

of foxes. Though the plumage of the Bustards is soft, and they

suffer much discomfort from continued wet, they seldom, of

their own accord, seek shelter from any kind of roof overhead ;

but good thick evergreen bushes, dotted about, will afford a good

deal of protection from bad weather, and they readily avail

themselves of it.



THE NESTING IN CAPTIVITY OF THE

RIBBON FINCH.


By Coriolanus.*


I have always “ gone in ” for British birds rather than

foreigners, (though I have not been very successful in breeding

them) and an article on a foreign species is a little out of my

line. Still, I succeeded one year in rearing a good number of

young Ribbon Finches, and it may interest the readers of the

Avicultural Magazine to hear the story.


But no. I won’t tell the story just as it happened, for I

did many stupid things with my Ribbon Finches, and I don’t

want to expose myself to the friendly contempt of those

members of our Society who are more learned about the habits

.and customs of foreign finches than I ,am. I will tell my

readers, instead, how they ought to proceed, setting down,

however, naught which I have not proved the truth of by

personal experience.


And one word more in preface. What I am going to say

refers only to breeding Ribbon Finches in-doors; for I have

never tried them in an out-door aviary.


I do not intend to write an eulogy of the Ribbon Finch,

for my deliberate opinion is that it is a hateful little bird, but it

has one great advantage over the Parson Finch, the Silverbill,

the Bronze Mannikin, and some other easily-bred species, in

that the sexes are readily distinguished both in mature and

immature birds. The Cut-throat mark of the male Ribbon

Finch is unmistakable. You will therefore have no difficulty in

selecting a pair. And if you have made up your mind to try to



* To the writer of this article (Mr. S. Perkins) has been awarded

the prize of one guinea offered by the Society for the best article on the

nesting in captivity of some common species of foreign bird.



