314 The late Mr. August F. Wiener.


one keeps birds), but the hen Blackbird kept under cover and

dodged out surreptitiously and snatched the prize from her

husband when he was off his guard. It may perhaps be of

interest to mention that one evening we dug up over 150 worms,

fully a third of which were of full growth measuring six or seven

inches in length, and in about three days all had been devoured ;

think then of the millions which a flock of Starlings must

destroy every season when nesting ; though to anyone who has

watched the vast clouds of Starlings which assemble in the late

summer, darkening the air, as they pass over with a sound like

the muttering of distant thunder, it is unthinkable.


By the 2nd of June the young birds could fly strongly ;

but throughout the day they could be heard far more often than

seen; they spent a good deal of time under the shelter of the

large ferns in the aviary, only occasionally roosting on a low

branch; but towards evening they got up on a ledge, from which

I had to dislodge them as I feared lest some hungry cat might

spring at the wire and perchance wound them with its claws.


So far there seems every prospect of this batch of Ouzels

being successfully reared, in which case it will be possible to see

how far the young male will reproduce the grey on wings and

flanks of Merida boidboid. Breeding hybrids is interesting, but

not easy; and I don’t think my Blackbirds will spend another

year in my larger garden aviary ; they quite monopolize it.



THE LATE MR. AUGUST F. WIENER.



It is with very great regret that we have to announce the

death, which took place on July 5th, of our esteemed Vice-

President.


Although for some years past Mr. Wiener had not kept

many birds, yet some twenty-five or thirty 3'ears ago he had

probably the finest collection of rare foreign finches in England,

and long before this he practised aviculture extensively on the

Continent. He was a friend of the late Dr. Karl Russ, and a

contributor to his paper Die Gefiederte Welt , and he wrote an

obituary notice of that great German aviculturist in this journal



