BREEDING BLUE ROBINS.


By A. Savage.


It is about four years ago since I purchased the first pair of these

birds. They were not in the best of condition, having existed for a month

or two at the bird-shop where I bought them, on “Chopped cabbage

leaves, smashed hemp, and bread-crumbs!” A sumptuous concoction un¬

known to me as suitable food for soft-billed birds, until the dealer recom¬

mended it as all they required, and added, it was all they had had. How¬

ever, I failed to see in such a mixture the animal food soft-billed birds

required, and as soon as they were mine I determined to change it.


I removed the broken feathers from their wings and tails, so many

were broken in the former they could scarcely fly, and placed them alone

in a small aviary. The food was changed to the following : Scalded ants-

eggs, a little preserved yolk of egg. chopped green-food' and powdered

“ echaude ” * mixed. They had also a couple of mealworms a day. I

offered them too a few small garden-worms, now and then, but to these they

were never very partial. In a month they looked grand ; the fine lustre had

come on them, especially on the cock, and his blue back was lovely. We

got great friends, and my approach to the aviary was always greeted with

excitement and chirping, especially when there seemed to be signs of a

mealworm coming.


When putting them in their small aviary, I placed a nest-box in one

corner, near the roof, and put a little nesting material on the floor. I had

never noticed airy nesting operations going on, and one morning, when

looking into the box, for curiosity, I was surprised to find a well-built nest,

quite finished. A morning or two later, I missed the hen, and found the

cock making a great fuss round the box — poor fellow ! he was telling me,

in his way, that his wife was very ill inside, and when I took the box down and

looked in, I found her in a critical state, egg-bound. She received care and

treatment, but could not lay the egg, and died that night. I was fortunate

enough to procure another mate for him almost immediately, in good con¬

dition, and I turned the pair into a larger aviary containing a few parrakeets

and hard-billed birds. They very soon nested—four blue eggs were laid,

similar to those of the Hedge Accentor—and three hatched. One young bird

died very early, but the remaining two grew well for about a week, when

one morning I found one had fallen out of the nest during the night and

was dead on the floor. The other was successfully reared and turned out to

be a hen. She was a greyish looking little creature, tinged with bine, and

rather spotted on the breast.


Another nest of four followed shortly after, but they all disappeared

one afternoon, at a very early age, as if by^ magic, for I could never find a

trace of an}' of them, or with any certainty w'ho was the culprit; but I

firmly believe they were eaten by some birds in the aviary — perhaps their

parents. This ended the nesting for that year. All three "birds passed the

winter, a severe one, in an outdoor aviary, where the water was frozen into

a solid block morning after morning; they were hardy birds and did not

suffer from the cold. The following spring, the cock seemed to get on the

best of terms with both the hens, and, as I could not conveniently shut one

up alone, I resolved to leave all three together and experiment breeding with

two hens to one cock. Each built a separate nest and the younger laid first,

three eggs, of which two hatched. The other hen laid five eggs a little

later, and hatched all. They disturbed each other, though, and no young

were reared. Towards the end of the season the cock was found drowned in

the bath-dish, and I eventually disposed of the two hens.


According to my experiences Blue Robins are hardy birds, they do

not appear to suffer from the cold—mine only passed the night in the closed



*“ Echaude” is a kind of light and easily-digestible bread, eaten in France by many

people who cannot digest the ordinary kind. It somewhat resembles cnlifichet , but is more

carefully made for human consumption. Broken pieces and scraps can be bought at a low

figure, and come very handy for bird-food.—A.S.



