7 o



the most devoted care in their early days. This one I rescued

and transferred to a Barbary pair. Much the same is the fate ot

the young Zebras (Geopelia striata) : the parents nest incessantly,

and go to nest again too soon ; but during great heat one or two

are reared annual^ in spite of parental indifference. I think

this apparently unnatural behaviour of the old birds may easily

be accounted for. In a state of nature they are at once occupied

and fatigued in providing for their nestlings ; in captivity food

is always at hand, and the desire to breed again is induced

before the offspring can do without the warmth of the mother at

night.


I find Zebras wonderfully hardy for Indian birds ; I see

no sign of chilliness yet (Jan. 18) in some which I have still in

their cold summer aviary, whence they generally migrate in

November into winter quarters.



THE BLACKCAP AS AN AVIARY-BIRD.


By Septimus Perkins.


By common consent the Nightingale takes the first place

as a songster among our native birds, and I suppose few would

dispute the right of the Blackcap to the second place. The

Nightingale and the Blackcap, being thus recognised as our two

leading feathered vocalists, have become associated together in

the minds of most people, and this association is emphasized at

the large Bird Shows, where the species are almost always

classed together. There is, however, but little in common

between the two birds—which are, by the way, placed in different

sub-families by most ornithologists.


I am not prepared to sa} r that, provided both birds be fed

with equal wisdom and care, the Blackcap will live longer in

captivity than the Nightingale—but that the Blackcap will live

and thrive on food upon which the Nightingale will speedily

sicken and die, is an undoubted fact. Therefore I think the

Blackcap may fairly be considered much the hardier bird.

Indeed, I will go further than that, and say that in my opinion

the Blackcap, of all the small insectivorous birds, is the easiest

to keep, while the Nightingale is—well, scarcely one of the most

difficult, but still a hard bird to keep in health.


To those who are taking up with soft-food birds I would

say, “ Begin with a Blackcap.” Give him a good-sized aviary,

plenty of baths, as much fruit as he will eat, sop made with

boiled milk (unsweetened), and some mixture of insectivorous



