302 Nesting of the Brown-throated Conures.


quick sudden runs ending in sudden stops under tufts of grass,

and the same anxious jerkings of the head. I have never seen

any young birds of this age such an exact replica of the parent.

The chicks were very difficult to feed after the first week as,

apart from the difficulty of finding them, one could never be

sure that they would not rush off to hide and fail to find the

food. On the 19th July the chicks were seen to eat millet and

canary seed for the first, time, and a day or two afterwards were

allowed a considerable portion of the outside grass run—a change

which they greatly appreciated, and afterwards remained entirely

in the open.


There is really very little else worthy of being recorded

concerning these chicks. By the end of July they had got the

full plumage of the parent bird, the only noticeable difference

being that the chicks were a little darker on the back. They

had by this time attained a considerable size and were well able

to look after themselves. They never seemed to care for lettuce

when offered them, and though veiy fond of most kinds of insects,

would not look at blackbeetles. By the 5th August their eyes

had changed colour and resembled those of the old bird, but a

little lighter. I perhaps ought to mention that these birds have

been reared on a dry gravel soil, this I should judge important.



NESTING OF BROWN-THROATED CONURES.


By Mrs. Williams.


It was in April 1906 that I received the little party of four

Brown-throated Conures from a fellow member of the Avicultural

Society. One has since died, but three so far flourish. The

pair are together, the odd bird being in another compartment

of the garden aviary.


I was away from home when the news reached me that on

the 20th June (1908) the voice of a baby Conure had again been

heard issuing from the nesting-box. I was not very excited, but

hope deferred maketli the heart sick, or at any rate despondent.

I heard of the infant’s arrival with the remark “ Oh ! I wonder

if they will rear any, but it is not at all likely, they have made

so many attempts and always forsake the babies when a few days



