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mount two reeds at once, its feet being turned outwards, and

each grasping a different reed, and then by moving each foot

alternately, it would soon reach the top. With regard to the

moult, there is not much to relate, they have apparently only a

single moult, in Autumn, and their plumage was the same

throughout the year.


At the beginning of their second Spring, my pair showed

signs of mating ; previous to this they had always lived in perfect

harmony, feeding and preening one another, and sleeping close

against each other at night, but now the cock spent most of his

time chasing the hen backwards and forwards all over the cage..

Having, at the end of some ten days, brought her into a fit and

proper state of obedience to his wishes, they began amicably to

build a nest, which was placed in the reeds on the floor of the

cage; the exterior was a very rough and loose structure, doubtless

from want of suitable material, but inside it was carefully lined

with the dead flower of the reeds, and nicely shaped. It was

built by both birds, but the cock alone brought the materials,

and in consequence, had less of a hand in the building. On the

14th of April the first egg was laid, and the clutch of seven was

completed by the 21st. The hen, however, refused to sit, so on

the 24th, I placed six of them under a Canary, the seventh being

broken by mice, which, I believe, was the cause of their dis¬

inclination to sit. On the 27th they began laying again, and

completed a clutch of six, with the same result, and later on

another clutch of five, the last egg being thin-shelled and

double-yoked ; on none of these occasions, however, did they

show any inclination to sit. Of the six eggs under the Canary,

two hatched, after thirteen days incubation, on the 5th of May.

They very much resembled young “Reed-Warblers” and were

remarkable for a large dark spot on either side of the back of the

tongue ; they lived and did well for a week, when they suddenly

died off, just as they were shooting their quills, and I am

therefore unable to follow further the life history of one of the

most interesting of our native birds.


To sum up briefly, it is distinctly a bird I can recommend

to aviculturists ; it is difficult to keep in good health, but would

do best in a large outdoor aviary ; the food should be very varied,

and contain a fair proportion of both seeds and animal food. Its

pretty and engaging ways, its tameness and its lion-combative-

ness, render it a very pleasant and harmless aviary inmate.



