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Wm. Shore-Baily — A Strange, Friendship



nest and the bottom ones were so deep down that I thought they could

not get any heat. The cock came up, looked in and went off and

brought the hen, who had a good look, too. Both then went off to the

potting shed and proceeded to make a new nest a couple of feet away

from the gardener’s feet as he was working, and laid at once.”



A STRANGE FRIENDSHIP


By Wm. Shore-Baily


From time to time one reads in the daily papers of strange friend¬

ships between different kinds of birds and animals. One of the most

curious cases of this kind that has come under my notice has occurred

this spring in one of my aviaries. Last autumn I bought from Handyn

a pair of South African Plovers ; these on arrival proved to be

Temminck’s Coursers, an adult hen and a young one. They were very

pretty little birds, a trifle larger than our Ringed Plover. The hen

was in bad health and did not live long, but by keeping it indoors

during the winter, and by careful nursing, I managed to save the

young one. This spring I turned it into an aviary with a South African

Quail hen and two or three pairs of small birds. From the first it tried

to make friends with the Quail, but the latter did not respond. Later

on I introduced a cock Egyptian Quail as a mate for the southern

bird. The little Plover at once attached itself to it, and when handed

a mealworm, which it would take from my fingers, it would trot away

in search of its friend, calling to it in a low and rather plaintive whistle.

Very soon the Quail would come at once in response to the whistle,

and I regret to say that he now pays more attention to the Plover than

he does to his more legitimate mate. Mealworms are rather scarce,

and the other birds in the aviary have always looked on with rather

jealous eyes as I have handed them out to the Plover. The little

wretch will devour a dozen at a time if allowed to do so, but never

before he has carried one or two to the Quail. Latterly affairs in this

respect have become more complicated, as pairs of Diuca Finches

(Diuca minor) and Golden Breasted Buntings (Emberiza faviventris)

have nested in the aviary, and it has been quite a common sight to see

one of these birds snatch the worm from the beak of the Plover before



