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Mr. R. Phillipps,



And when you have your nest, and you have your eggs in

the nest, and you look for fertile eggs, and, behold, clear eggs.

Or it may be that you have your nest and your fertile eggs, and

your birds are sitting as tight as wax, and you look for chicks,

and you have your chicks—dead chicks in the shell. I think

that our cold climate and dry east winds have much to do with

the failure in these cases.


And when your birds are placed in the natural garden

aviary, they will nest in the open, in some bushy tree top from

preference; and the rains descend and the winds blow—and you

are more likely to decrease than to multiply the number of your

Blue-breasted Waxbills.


And when all is progressing favourably, and you have as

nice a brood of nestlings as ever were hatched—then comes the

most unkindest cut of all. But here I had better quote Stark,,

lest I speak unadvisedly with my lips:—“Although the adults

appear to subsist entirely on grass-seeds, the young, before they

leave the nest, are fed on small grubs and insects .” The italics are

mine; if Stark had ever had to rear a brood, he would have

used capitals! ! !


I began life last winter season with five Blue-breasted

Waxbills. Of these, two paired up in mid-November ; and all

through the winter they were a nuisance. If separated, they

moped and pined away as if they would die; if placed together,,

even in a flight cage with several other birds, they plucked one

another’s heads and necks bare. These were Jacob and his be¬

loved Rachel. Of the others, two appeared to be males, and

looked as clear-cut rakish-looking knaves as ever entered a bird¬

cage ;. while No. 5, a Reah-like female, despised by the others,,

was left to herself.


Picking out one of the Rakes, I placed him in a small cage

with L,eah ; but he treated her with contumely, to which he added

personal insult and affliction ; so I removed Real], and placed the

two Rakes together.


Over and over again I closely examined these two birds,

and there was not a pin to choose between them. They seemed

to be exactly alike in every line, in eveiy contour, in every hue,

in every feather ; I doubt if any human eye could have detected



