on ihc Nesting of the Pileated Finch.



oo



the nest, but its parents came flying round in such fear and

anxiety that I left them to look after it. Two days later the

second bird had also left the nest. They seemed to be kept by

their parents almost entirely on the ground under the bushes,

and were fed there at first, but by the time they were a fortnight

old they could fly to a perch five feet from the ground, and

their tails were just visible. Both parents appeared to feed the

youngsters, and were most attentive to them.


It seems curious that these birds should build such a

small nest for their size, and it was not for lack of material.

Perhaps they knew their babies would not need its shelter for

long. An interesting point was the extraordinary way the

birds feathered between the eighth and tenth days. At a week

old their heads still looked downy, but at ten days their feathers

looked smooth and complete, and the birds could flutter well. I

suppose the absence of a tail is a kindly arrangement of

Providence, for they were so crowded together that I could not

tell where one bird ended and the next began, and there was no

room for tails even of the smallest!


I went away from home when the young Pileated Finches

were little more than a fortnight old, and I returned in five

weeks to find them almost, but not quite, as big as their parents,

and with tails of the usual length. The smaller one had lighter

wings than the other, and its head is quite flat, with no sign of

crest, but the larger bird is I think certainly a hen, I have seen it

erect its brownish head-feathers. They have been caught up

and are now in an aviary indoors for fear of early frosts.


The old birds seemed inclined to nest again, but it was too

late and cold to risk leaving them in the garden, so the cock has

been caught and is in a flight cage where he seems happy and

sings his harsh little song a good deal. The hen refuses

absolutely to enter the trap cage, and is still in the garden

aviary, but we hope she will soon decide to come in and rejoin

her mate. Their cage is large enough to nest in if they like with¬

out fear of their little ones being killed by frost.


I fancy though that they got a large quantity of minute

insect life out of doors. All the birds spent much time on the

ground, where they'' continually picked up something, probably



