Sir, — Mr. Farrar tells us that Cherry Finches, Diamond Sparrows,

and Blue Robins are “ supposed to require hot-house treatment.” I should

like to know who supposed anything of the sort? Does Mr. Farrar imagine

that he has been the first to discover the hardiness of these and many

similar birds ? Mr. Farrar might have found many blunders in some of the

little hand-books to which he refers, but he has been unfortunate in the

points which he has selected for criticism.


Septimus Perkins.



PROBLEMS IN BIRD BREEDING.


Sir, —In his letter under this heading in the June Magazine,

Mr. Rothera says, that “ probably the British mules we see at shows

are bred from a hen Goldfinch or Linnet, which has been hatched by

a canary, and so having been raised in a cage from birth has become

familiar and steady enough to sit in it.” It appears that this is not the

case, for in a letter which I received a few weeks ago from that veteran

breeder of hybrids, Mr. J. H. Verrall, he says “ The first Bullfinch

mule or mules were bred from wild caught hens. All the “ finch and

finch ” hybrids that I have bred were from wild caught hens. I prefer

young wild caught hens to caged nestlings, and so do other breeders.”

This shows how greatly practice may differ from theory.


Horatio R. Firrmer.



TANAGERS AND HONEYSUCEERS.


Sir,—T hough I was fairly successful in keeping and breeding foreign

finches, Tanagers, and other soft food tropical birds, were invariably a

source of disappointment to me.


The mixed food on which the tribes of Thrushes and Starlings throve

admirably, was evidently too coarse for them. Feeding these delicate birds

entirely on mealworms and spiders would not do, and the finest dessert fruit

obtainable in a London suburb in winter proved slow poison, I, therefore,

gave up trying to keep these beautiful birds.


When I had an opportunity of tastingthe sweetness of full}'ripe oranges

in Bahia, of pine apples fully matured in Pernambuco and of really ripe

bananas at Rio de Janeiro, I could understand why birds whose constitu¬

tion is adapted to such fruit would go wrong on the seemingly ripe fruit, full

of acidity, which I would offer them in London. Very sweet, almost over¬

ripe, William pears, were the nearest substitute to their natural food that

I ever found, but they are obtainable but for a very short time.


Whilst travelling on the Continent one day I became acquainted with

a gentleman who told me he had some tropical birds, and invited me to

inspect them. He showed me some Seven-coloured Tanagers which he

had kept four years, and which were simply marvellous. The birds were

as beautiful as they are in their wild state.


The fortunate owner of these birds most willingly disclosed to me the

secret of his successful treatment. He fed them on a kind of sponge or

Madeira cake and fresh cream. To obviate all danger that the cream should

turn sour, he fed his birds three times a-day, every time on newly-washed



