THE



Hvtcultural /llbagasme,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VI.— NO. 61. All rights reserved. NOVEMBER, 1899.



BREEDING RESULTS FOR 1899.


By D. Seth-Smith, F.Z.S.


Although the past summer has been all that could be

desired for breeding foreign birds out of doors, the spring was

most trying, excessively cold nights being experienced in May

and June. Several nests in my aviary produced nothing in the

early part of the season ; Parrot-finches nested early and sat

well and most of the eggs were fertile, but for some unknown

reason the birds left the nest a few days before the eggs were

due to hatch, although no human being, at any rate, approached

the nest.


A pair of Crimson-finches have behaved in much the same

way, the only difference being that they have on one or two

occasions actually hatched their eggs, but the young have

perished at an early age. They r sit very closely'- and defend their

nest capitallyE


A pair of Sydneys Waxbills hatched two young birds early

in the spring, which got on very nicely r until they were beginning

to be fledged when an extra cold night killed them.


Diamond Doves have not done so well with me this year

as last. Myr old hen is quite blind in one ey^e and shews unmis¬

takable signs of old age—so we must not expect too much from

her. The first nest in May produced one young bird—a cock—

which was successfully reared. A second nest in June likewise

produced a single bird (hatched on the 19th) this time a hen, which

was also reared all right. These two young birds were afterwards

transferred to another compartment in which lived a solitary'-

cock of the same species (one we reared last year) which had,

throughout the spring, been cooing in vain for a mate. He

immediately took possession of the y r oung hen and I fear rather

persecuted the other. On September 2nd, I noticed the last

year’s cock sitting upon a newly made nest, and, prompted by^

curiosity, drove him off and discovered a single egg. The same



