Correspondence, Notes, etc.



289



fine sieve mixed with chopped green-food and crashed biscuit into a crumbly

state. Add also scalded ants’ eggs and dried flies to the mixture, and give

canary and millet seed, also well-scoured gentles and any other small insects

obtainable. As they get older and get feathered this animal food will be

less necessary, but at first is very important. Frank Finn.



BLUE BONNETS.


Sir, —I almost wonder that Mrs. Hartley, as she is an aviculturist, had

not observed how long young parrots take before they can go on to seed.

Had she at once liand-fed her Blue-bonnets with sop or moistened biscuit,

they would probably have been alive now.


I have just had some Senegals (pceocephalus) from France. They had

nothing but seed in their cage, and appeared fully fledged. I was not at

home, but fortunately my man observed they were making no hand at the

seed and gave them sop, which they greedily devoured. And yet there is no

trace of nesting feathers about them. Many years ago a friend had a dusky

Pionus from Guiana. You would never have supposed the bird was not

feeding on seed. But I saw it was not doing well, and gave it bread and

milk, to which it took eagerly, and soon became strong.


I am convinced that Parrots need soft food much longer than most

young birds. Even sick adults can often be recovered by stuffing them

with sop. I have brought back Parrots which were in the very jaws of

death with it. F. G. Dutton.


Sir, —In answer to Mrs. Hartley’s request for information from

purchasers of Blue Bonnets, as to whether any of the lot imported last

March had survived, I write to sa}" I bought a pair out of a lot of eight at

the end of that month (27th) ; they were then in very good condition,

though of course rather dirty. Mine were kept in a cage about a fortnight

and then turned out in an outdoor aviary, where they soon cleaned them¬

selves and seemed very happy. They soon paired, and I hoped were going

to nest; when about ten days ago the hen bird drooped and seemed half

paraE’zed one afternoon, and the next was dead. The cock did not seem to

miss her very much, and continues to look in perfect health and in beautiful

plumage, and sings after his fashion daily. They have been fed always with

oats, canary, hemp and millet, and had groundsel and shepherd’s purse

given daily. I did not notice that the other Blue Bonnets in the cage I

bought mine out of were younger than mine, and, as far as I know, they

never have much blue on their heads, and what they have is next the beak,

so that the name Blue Bonnets is rather misleading—Bonnets usually being

fixed more on the back of the head. Duncan Parker.



Sir, —111 reply to Mrs. Hartley’s letter about Blue Bonnets in this

month’s Magazine, I also purchased two of these birds at the beginning of

April. Their plumage was somewhat rough, but they seemed to be in fairly



