Correspo?idence, Notes, etc. 45


has handled a Blue-tit; the claws of which bird grasp one’s finger like steel

springs.


Dr. Gunther has emphasized another point which I hinted at (t. c.

p. 11):—the importance of hand-rearing the Butcher-bird, in order to

reconcile it to captivity. My own bird was caught isoon after it had left

the nest; yet it was so wild, that it quickly ruined its plumage; and

though it ate voraciously, it did not live long. A. G. BuTEER.


Sir,—I can endorse all that Dr. Gunther says in his interesting

account of the breeding of the Red-backed Shrike, as to the desirability of

the Shrikes as aviary birds.


I have repeatedly reared the young of Grey Shrikes, notably

Lanius algeriensis , L. dealbatus, and L. hcemitecicurus, and find them most

docile, affectionate, and interesting. I fancy they require a good deal of

room, or at any rate a certain amount of liberty, and one I had in England

used to fly at liberty for hours and hunt for himself: he would, however,

come a quarter-of-a-mile to a certain whistle.


The habit of leaving the nest before they can fly is also common to

the Grey Shrikes, who leave the nest and squat and creep about long before

they can even perch. And at this early period they warble inwardly; and

it is curious to see the young being fed by the parents and then settle down

in the nest and begin to sing to themselves!


When abroad, I used principally to feed the Grey Shrikes on lizards

and grass-hoppers which were easily procurable : but here, at home,

mostly 011 Sparrows, mice, beetles, and mealworms—and they are very

large eaters. E. G. B. Meade-Waedo.


NOTES FROM TASMANIA.


Sir,—I n the May number of the Aviculturat Magazine I noticed an

interesting account of Sparrows building in Nile ferry boats, and perhaps

your readers might like a few words with reference to the nesting of a

pair of Welcome Swallows ( Hirundo neoxena) under somewhat similar

circumstances.


O11 the River Derwent we have some smart little steamers running

every half-hour between Hobart and Belleside, on the eastern shore. About

February, when voyaging across, I noticed Swallows flying about, when in

the middle of the stream, and now and then darting beneath the upper

deck. O11 arrival at my destination I asked my friend the cause of the

birds being so fearless. She replied that they had a nest in a crevice over

the cabin and between that and the upper deck, also close to a doorway

and an electric light. On going again a few weeks later I spoke to the

Captain, asking him if the young birds had been hatched ? He told me

that, to his disgust, some man had pulled the nest out with his walking

stick! (What senseless mischief!) Their nesting in such a place was



