Breeding of the Grey Waxbill.



83



King, of Paignton). In a few days they began to show themselves

in the more open parts of the aviary, and the dark markings on the

sides of the head and the bars on the wing were very conspicuous.

Soon they became very bold, chasing one another on the w T ing' and

catching' flies for themselves. On the 15th August I showed them

to another visitor (Mr. A. Bartlett), and on the 24th I released the

entire family, numbering seven individuals. Once or twice after¬

wards I saw them on the roof of the aviary but they showed not the

least wish to re-enter it. It is with very great amusement that I

now and again hear the suggestion made that birds prefer captivity

to freedom/"


The Yellow Wagtail seems to be rather a delicate species and

intolerant of cold, but I have never had any difficulty in dome&tr

eating it.



BREEDING OF THE GREY WAXBILL.


Estrildci cineera.


By W. A. B airbridge.


Only commencing the keeping of foreign birds towards the

latter part of 1912 it stood to reason that I should not know how to

begin. What I did was this : I went to a dealer’s and saw some

birds, when some such conversation as this would take place:—


What are those ? Firefinches : Grey Waxbills.


Are they expensive? No! 3/- a pair.


Are they hardy ? Very. ( ? ).


Will they breed ? Yes.


And so on ; the result was that the birds were bought and the

poor mites brought home and put straight into an aviary. Now we

know better, then we didn’t, and in consequence lost the majority.

Some, however, survived and amongst them the Grey Waxbills.

Why do people call it the Common Waxbill ? Of course it is

common in that it is plentiful, but so are others, and a Grey Waxbill

in good plumage is anything but common to look upon, as with his


* Some birds undoubtedly look upon their cages as humans do their houses.

One has known instances of birds shewing evident relief on getting home after

having gone astray. — ED.



