174



Mr. Reginald Phillipps,



a bad time. One young one had been reared somewhere in the

depths of the aviary ; after a while, another single youngster

appeared from somewhere. It was one of these two, I know not

which, whose transition plumage I described above. And then

the parents, who from time to time had played at nest-building

in a little thorn bush which was in the very front of the aviary

and fully exposed to view, unable to bear further persecution,

overcame their objections to human society, and completed and

occupied this nest. They had no wasps to act as guards, but

they were equal to the occasion. My laconic notes run as fol¬

lows :—“ 6. 8. oi—Felt in nest; there were young; funnel sloped

down from nest, and strongly fortified at entrance by thorn

boughs ; suspended—no boughs under” ; i.e. the entrance to the

nest was brought up, or rather down, to a cluster of thorn

branches growing together so closely that no large bird could get

at it without much difficulty. Later, they laid again in this nest;

and, on the morning of September ig, I found this entirely sus¬

pended nest apparently falling, owing to the weight of the young

birds, assisted, doubtless, by that of the parents during the night.

While arranging a support, all the youngsters bolted, four, or

possibly five : I thought I counted five, but eventually could

account for only four of them. Later, the parents slept in this

nest, which they had endeavoured to repair. One night, it came

to grief, and I removed it altogether. The succeeding night the

male, who was in perfect health, presumably failing to occupy a

warm or sheltered roosting spot, although there were numbers of

artificial shelters about, took a chill (the weather was cold and

wet) and died in a few hours—so slender is the thread that holds

the life of these tiny creatures, in our inhospitable climate.


The fledglings are noisy little fellows; one of my notes

runs, “Young make great noise, calling tsit .” Both parents feed

the young, the female usually, though not invariably, being the

more faithful in her attentions to them. Both are inclined to be

erratic, as they always want to be nest-building or nest-repairing ;

all being well, they keep to the same nest, brood after brood.

The following note is worth reproducing—“ Male fed from crop

eight times without stopping,” i.e. fed a young bird. Within the

limits of an aviary, only one pair may be kept, and, if practicable,

the young should be removed from their parents at an early age.



