210



Correspondence, Notes, etc.



BATHILDA RUFICAUDA.


Sir,—A male Australian Red-tailed Finch, that I bought along with

the Gamboge-headed Gouldian finch, etc. is surely a type not usually seen.

Quite half of the crown of the head (if not more) is clear bright unspotted

red, from the bill.


The specimens I have hitherto possessed, have a few red feathers at

the base of the upper mandible (or maxilla), and all the rest of the forehead

and crown is green.


Is this a variety ? or a sport? There are indeed two of these birds,

but in the other (although also, I believe, a male) the red does not extend

quite so far. In No. I it extends, on the crown, beyond the eyes.


I always think the title of “ Red-Tailed Finch” is inappropriate

because it is the red face which is far more conspicuous, and of a brighter

colour. * Hubert D. Asteey.


DURATION OF THE PERIOD OF INCUBATION.


Sir, — Our thanks are due to Dr. Butler for having collected together

so many facts on this most, interesting subject. His article, taken in con¬

junction with Mr. W. Evans’ papers in “The Ibis,” covers a very wide field,

though I do not think we can take all Mr. Evans’ conclusions as quite final,

as many of his results were obtained through the medium of the incubator,

or by the help of such birds as the Canary and Barbary Dove.


I find no record of any of the Spheniscifonnes among the birds

mentioned, so it may be of interest to record that Mr. Bernacchi in the

“ Report on the Collections of Natural History of the .Southern Cross,” (1902)

observed that the eggs of the Adelia Penguin (Pycoscelis adelice) “ took

exactly thirty-one days to incubate” at the remarkably low temperature of

between 70° and 8o° Fahr.


At first sight the Penguins do not seem to be very likely birds to

breed in captivity, but I was much interested in watching a small flock of

what I think was the Black-footed Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) very busy

feeding some half-grown young in Paris in April 1903.


For the past four or five years I have always made a point of putting

down the date of laying and hatching of nearly every egg laid by my

Doves, and, as some of the results do not quite agree with Dr. Butler’s

paper, they may be considered worth reproducing here.


I will preface my observations with the remark that perhaps I have

been placed in a better position than many aviculturists for knowing the

exact date of laying, owing to the necessity of my having to slint all my

birds up every night in the inner compartments shortly after dark (except

those hens which happen to have eggs or young in the open flights).



* We quite agree that the name of Rufous- or Red-tailed finch is inappropriate. Why

should not English aviculturists adopt the Australian name “Star Finch”? Individuals

vary markedly in the extent of the red colouring on the face.—E d.



