106



Correspondence.



(10) The Terrace was planned by Decimus Burton, in his day a well-

known architect. _ Graham Bens haw.


AVICULTURE IN AUSTRALIA.


The Editor of the ‘ Avicultural Magazine.’


Dear Sir, — For some time it has been our privilege to obtain, through a

library, back numbers of your magazine. We have been so impressed with the

excellence of the reading matter and of the illustrations that we have come to feel

quite a personal interest in its welfare.


We decided that perhaps you would not consider it too great a liberty if we

forwarded a few notes on one of our birds which is, at any rate, known in England-

Of course, we are not members, although one of us, being interested in aviculture,

may shortly apply to become one.


As an explanation of the many defects you will notice in this attempt, we

must point out that we have, as yet, the disadvantages of youth, inexperience, and

a cheap photographic apparatus. Our desire to forward some little contribution

was prompted partly by our interest in the Magazine, and partly by a certain amount

of pride in our native birds.


With best wishes for the continued success of your good work,


Department of Labour, We remain, yours sincerely,


Melbourne, Victoria, S. A. Lawrence and


Australia. R. T. Littlejohns.


[We have pleasure in printing in the present issue the interesting paper which

accompanied this letter, and hope to have more from our Australian friends.— G. R.]



BIRD AND INSECT LIFE IN WINTER.


Dear Sir, — Many individuals (our excellent late Editor among them) seem

to think that the cold which kills birds is equally destructive to insects, whereas

the latter retain their lives in a dormant condition even when their bodies are

frozen hard and their limbs temporarily are as brittle as spun glass.


Many insects hibernate in hollow trees, under eaves, in barns or outhouses,

church towers or any old buildings, with no artificial heat whatever; others burrow

just below the surface of the earth, where they are drenched with rain and frozen

into the soil, yet with a little heat, either natural or artificial, they thaw out and

become active. Believe me,


The Lilies, 124, Beckenham Road, Yours very sincerely,


Beckenham, Kent; October 1‘Stli, 1917. A. G. Butler.



A VALUABLE SUGGESTION.


Dear Dr. Renshaw,—I have written you a short article (it will print into

about four or five pages) on the “ Development of Patterns in Birds.” The fact is,

I want to stir up some of our members to produce hybrids between birds not very

closely related. The cross between the Zebra- and Diamond-Finches threw a lot of

light upon the manner in which markings were evolved, and indicated relationships

which can only have merged at a very remote period. I suspect that you have

plenty of copy at present. Yours very sincerely,


124, Beckenham Road, A. G. Butler.


Beckenham, Kent; November ‘26th, 1917.



