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somewhere that "a loud report or the slamming of a door will

kill young birds in the shell;" mine, however, had a fair test

in that respedl on the 5th of November last. But the hen

Golden-crown was not so easily startled, and proved herself a

most assiduous sitter.


When first hatched the young were covered with a dirty

yellow down ; the}^ grew very rapidly ; and during the first week

the hen bird did not leave them much, but the cock bird fed

her both whilst she brooded her young and when she came off'

for a little exercise. As the young got stronger, she left them

more frequentl}^, and when about ten daj'-s old both birds entered

the nest to feed their young. They began to feather when about

fourteen days old, and were fully fledged when about a month old.

The young did not leave the nest until they were five weeks old.

They were then very much like their parents, except that the

crimson band above the upper mandible was hardly perceptible,

and the patch of golden-yellow less bright, the red under the

wangs was only just indicated, and the beak was flesh colour,

being rather darker at the tip. The j^oung were reared on

canary, hemp and millet seed, and in addition, about thirty to

forty mealworms per diem, and stale bread soaked in cold water

and then squeezed nearly dry.


About a fortnight or so after the young had left the nest,

I was so unfortunate as to lose three out of the five young ones :

they died without giving the least warning. The last one of

the three I sent to a well-known aviculturist for post-mo7ie?Ji

examination, and received from him the following report : " The

crop was filled with hemp, the liver was much congested, and the

kidneys were affected although to a lesser extent ; but there was

great effusion of blood on the surface and in the substance of the

brain which vv'as the immediate cause of death, the congestion

of the liver being the remote one. You would find a diet of

canary seed and oats preferable to what you have been giving.

The bird was a male and in excellent condition."


It would seem quite possible that the hemp seed was the

main cause of the death of the young ones, as the old birds are

particularly fond of hemp and will eat no other seed so long as

there is any hemp left. I now only give them a little occasion-

ally. The remaining young are doing verj^ well and can scarcely

be distinguished from their parents.



