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Aviary and Nesting Notes.



and all kinds of grubs dug up by the gardener, who always has

some reeeDtacle to put them in when working. The old birds

become wonderfully tame and confiding when feeding young,

though rather wild and shy at other times. The hen again laid

two eggs in the old nest, but they were no good, and now she

has just died, I think from eating too many mealworms. One of

the first nestlings was killed by some bird pecking its mouth

badly, it was always opening its mouth and crying for food to

an}' bird that came near, and no doubt annoyed somebody. The

survivor is a hen and quite full-grown, only lacking the red beak.


Two Californian Quails have laid an immense number of

eggs, and both began to sit early last month, but one died quite

unaccountably after sitting a few days, and the other, who sat in

a nest prepared for a domestic hen, was disturbed by another hen

laying an egg in the midst of her’s. These Quail are in a large

enclosure in another part of the garden, where I keep rare

bantams. I used to have great success with these delightful

birds and have several times had twenty and more hatched out

and reared in one nest, but have failed with them entirely the

last two years.


A Black-breasted cock Quail and a Chinese hen made a

nest in a heap of grass in a corner of a shed and laid five eggs ;

three disappeared, one was addled and one hatched out. They

are the prettiest little family, always together and most devoted

to the tiny baby, who gets through an unbelievable amount of

mealworms, ants’ eggs, etc., and the hen clucks and broods

exactly like a domestic fowl. The little one is now nearly full-

grown and the hen preparing a second nest; they are quite tame

and charming little birds.


Any number of Canaries and Canary x Goldfinch hybrids,

a pair of Bronze-winged Doves, and many white and cream

coloured Doves make up the tale of nesting successes this year,

and I cannot complain, as I have not been able to keep up the

pairs of birds and have a good many odd ones, also some of my

Parrakeets have been disturbed. Better luck next year I hope.


I should like at some future time to give some statistics of

the wonderful longevity of some birds in my possession.



