177



THE NESTING OF THE PEKIN ROBIN.


B}^ the Rev. C. D. Farrar.


Pekin Robins are among the loveliest birds imported into

this country. They usually arrive about February or March, and

can often be purchased for as low a price as 5s. a pair. The

reason of this is that, being half insectivorous birds, very few-

amateurs keep them proper!}'', and consequently they soon die

off. Another reason why so few are kept is that Pekins are

very soft feathered birds ; and, after being a few days in a dealer's

box-cage, they present a really deplorable appearance, — wings

fra57ed out and tails like a stumpy paintbrush. This comes of

their habit of clinging to the bars of the cage. Personall}'-, I do

not think Pekins suitable to cage life at all ; unless they are very

tame. I have always found them most hardy. Mine are kept in

a big outdoor aviary all the year round, and they never seem to

ail anything, and care nothing for the severest cold. The only

sort of weather they object to is "Fog;" but all birds do that.

Pekins are the most gentle and inoffensive birds, and may be

kept with perfect safety in any company. They are tremendous

fellows to bathe, and in hot weather are in and out of the water

all day.


I saw, somewhere, that it is not safe to put them in an

aviary, as they steal eggs. I don't believe it one bit. I have had

them in an aviary with nests all round them, and they never

touched an ^%% or a young bird {b). I have two pairs, at present,

in an aviar3^


I find the best staple food for Pekins is Abrahams' 3'^olk of

^%%\ they are also very fond of white millet, which they swallow

whole. They must have some insect food ; they like mealworms

better than anything else, and will eat small " clocks," big ones

they can't swallow. Of course in a large garden aviary they

catch a great many live things for themselves. They are

fond of maggots, and a decaying old hen is to them a joy for

ever — or at any rate as long as she holds together.


The cock birds sing pretty well, but nothing to boast

about ; the hens do not sing, as so often stated — they simply


(3) Has Mr. Farrar ever read these words of a well-known writer ? " To deny

what is outside one's own experience, however large that experience may be, proves it

capable of increase." — Ed.


Last month, in one of my aviaries, I had twenty-four eggs and five or six newly-

hatched young eaten by these birds. — A. G. B.



