58



The Marquis op Tavistock,



condition it hardly deserved the epithet of a careless structure, which

has been applied to it by some writers. The nest was situated

among the stems of the reeds, and could only be approached by

wading. It was principally composed of broken stalks of the bulrush,

here called “ bolder-reed ” (Scirpus lacustris), by vast tracts of which

it was surrounded.


The young Bitterns kept about, and on the 27th two were

seen by Mr. Robert Gurney, but not together. This was within half

a mile of the nest, and the old bird could be plainly heard croaking

to them. That they eventually got off unmolested there is every

reason to believe, and I think a general desire was shown to protect

them.*



BREEDING NOTES FOR 1917.


By the Marquis of Tavistock.


The “ present disturbed state of Europe,” as railway notices

used to put it, still decrees that the majority of my birds shall spend

their time in temporary quarters, to which I can only pay an

occasional flying visit at long intervals. In addition to being rather

small, these quarters have the disadvantage of lying within what I

may term the “ septicaemia zone.” My first experiments in avi¬

culture were carried on in the Midlands, where cases of septicaemia

were almost unknown, and I used to read with some scorn the

statements by old writers to the effect that it was useless to try and

keep many-coloured or Paradise Parrakeets as they always die of

“ cerebral haemorrhage.” But when, at the beginning of the war, I

was compelled to move my collection to the Isle of Wight, I found

out that there was something in what the old aviculturists had

written after all. At irregular intervals, and without warning, one

after another of my Yellow-bellies, Many-colours, and Red-vented

Bluebonnets was seized with a brief, violent, and fatal illness, and

not only they but other rarities besides, including two Red-shining

Parrakeets and an Albino Grey Parrot. For a long time the post-



* [The American Bittern figured in this number was kept by Miss Dorrien Smith

for six years in captivity (see Avic. Mag., January, 1916.]



