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•some hay which had been arranged against a wall behind some

lattice-work. After some time the female entirely disappeared ;

and when I was able to institute a search I found her dead on the

nest, still sitting on her eggs. It was not a case of egg-binding.

The faithful little creature had stuck to her post through cold

and rain, and had perished while still “mothering” her four

clear eggs. For how long she had been sitting on them I cannot

form an opinion. This failure does not alter the opinion I

expressed at page 170 of vol. IV., so far as it relates to the

probable fertility of eggs produced by birds of these two species

pairing together. The birds require warmth, and my aviary is

too cold for them. But a longer acquaintance with them has

taught me very plainly that, like other species, these two will not

interbreed under normal conditions.


A nice open aviary, thickly planted with trees and shrubs,

is a charming place in theory; but in our uncertain climate it

sometimes produces disastrous results. This is the second time

that I have lost a valuable mother from wet and cold. More¬

over, from time to time I lose strong, healthy, young birds, not

so often in as after they have left their nests. Branchers of many

species keep night and day in the trees, and wet and cold are

often too much for them. The opinion that one sometimes sees

expressed that, if the young of delicate foreign birds could be

hatched and brought up in the open air they would be as hardy

as Britishers, is a delusion. As a rule, the young are less hardy

than the adults—at least I think so. But there is a happy

reverse side to the picture. I have never had a single case of

ordinary egg-binding in my garden. On the very few occasions

that I have had a case of egg-binding, it has been in the house.

But 1 must confess to having lost not less than two females from

inflammation of the ovary, caused by cold. And, again, many

species will nest in a natural aviary which will not nest in an

artificial one ; and it is only in the former that the real natures

and habits of many species can be observed.


1 understand that the Masked Grassfinch has not been

bred in this country. The Natural History Museum Catalogue

(vol. XIII., p. 377) says of the young, “ Browner than the adult,

with a blackish bill; the whole plumage with less pink, and the

black mask and flank-spots not so pronounced.”


The sexes are practically alike; and there is something

about the bird which tends to mislead one as to the sex in a very

provoking manner. I think the male is a larger, more energetic

bird, with a thicker and more strongly-curved bill.



