One pair of old ones are not satisfied with plucking the feathers, hut also

bite the skin and sometimes even kill the young ones. Once, when

examining the nests, I found a young one (the sole occupant of a husk)

about a week old, with no trace of feathers at all, and a week later it was

still quite bare. Eventually it left the nest and was found running about

the floor of the aviary without the least trace of a feather except round

the beak. I took him into the house and put him in a cage for a few days

till the feathers began to grow, and now he is again running about the

aviary almost full}' feathered, but not quite able to fly. Have any members

of the Avicultural Society experienced this sort of thing ? I presume it is

the parents that do the mischief, seeing that each nest of the same pair

is treated in the same way.


At one time I had serious trouble with mice, and found they were

killing and eating the young Budgerigars almost every night. A little

vermin-killer, placed outside the aviary in their runs, soon stopped the

mischief.


The young Budgerigars are full of fun and mischief, and they lead

some of the other inmates of the aviary a fine dance : pulling the tails of

the Cockatiels and Pennants, and riding on the backs of the Doves.


J. C. Poop.



INSECTIVOROUS BRITISH BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY.


Sir,—I am at once glad and sorry to see “ Varet’s ” letter in the

Magazine for September. Sorry that such cruelty should be practised, aud

glad that it should be exposed.


I notice that “ Varet ” mentions such birds as Wagtails and Redstarts,

along with Willow-wrens, Chiffcliaffs, aud Flycatchers, as if they were

equally delicate in captivity, and I am surprised at this. I have always

found Wagtails and Redstarts fairly easy birds to keep—easy that is for

small insectivorous birds; but I have never succeeded in keeping Willow-

wrens and Chiffcliaffs for more than a few weeks, and I never knew any¬

one who did. He also mentions Wood-wrens, but the Wood-wren is not a

cage bird at all. I have never seen a Wood-wren in a cage, and I doubt

whether “ Varet ” has.


Willow-wrens, Chiffcliaffs, Flycatchers, and Sedge-warblers should,

in my opinion, never be captured. It is practically impossible to keep them

alive for more than a very short time, and to condemn any bird to certain

death within a few weeks, or months at the outside, seems to me unjusti¬

fiable cruelty, and not legitimate aviculture. I have, in years gone by, tried

to keep these birds, but I would never do so again.


Wagtails and Redstarts are quite different, for with proper treatment

they may live for many months, and indeed for years. I do not think it

cruel to keep such birds, provided they are properly fed. At the same time

I do not think that they are really suitable birds for the aviary, or that their

capture should be encouraged. They are very much the reverse of hardy,

and do not take kindly to the artificial food with which we provide them.

I think it would be better for aviculturists to content themselves with seed-

eaters and the larger insectivorous species.



Septimus Perkins.



