146 The Marquess of Tavistock—Zebra Finches at Liberty


a fourth, the weakest of the lot, died of chill. The three remaining

pairs settled down nicely, and soon had nests, one pair choosing the

top of a pear-tree in the kitchen-garden, another a branch of a Douglas

fir about 40 feet from the ground, and the third built in a juniper fairly

low down. In due course two pairs brought their families to the feeding-

tray, one consisting of five young birds, and the other of three. When

the youngsters were quite independent of their parents I caught them up

for next year’s stock. The cock of the third pair disappeared just about

the time that a brood should have flown. I bought a new mate for the

widow, but released him too soon and he did not stay. Some weeks

later the hen likewise disappeared. The two pairs soon set about

repairing their nests, and at the end of September two more broods

appeared—five and two, this time. As the season was getting on and

one of the old cocks was moulting and seemed a bit out of sorts, I caught

up the whole lot and ended the experiment for the year. On the whole

it has been a success, for though only seven old birds remain out of the

original eleven, I caught up nineteen Zebra Finches altogether. Had

I started in May with five strong pairs, and kept them in the aviary

ten days before releasing them I think there is little doubt that I should

have had well over thirty by now. The Zebra Finch is a jolly little

bird at liberty ; he is tame enough to let you see plenty of him and his

small size and nest-roosting habits protect him to a great extent against

the attacks of owls and other vermin ; he never goes far from home,

and will do well in quite a small garden ; Parrakeets need tall trees and

plenty of room, and are conspicuous targets for the guns of foolish or

ill-disposed persons, but tiny Finches are seldom noticed by those who

are not on the look-out for them. Zebra Finches build the same

substantial domed nests at liberty that they do in an aviary, and the

sexes seem to take turns in incubating the eggs, for when they are sitting

it is usual to see all the cocks feeding at one time and all the hens at

another. Both old birds accompany the young for a short time after

the latter have flown and the hen is the first to get tired of them; stop

feeding them and later drive them away.



