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Dr. A. G. Butler,



As a matter of fact most recorded instances of hybridization

between Ploceid finches in captivity have been voluntary and

have taken their owners by surprise, the parentage of the young

being frequently only discovered after they have left the nest :

yet there are still men so inattentive to what is constantly going

on around them, that they persist in dogmatically asserting that

no bird or beast willingly intermarries with an alien species.


In the case of the more excitable and vicious of the

Columbce I have had abundant evidence that they are not only

desirous of breeding with those of another species, but with any

other bird in the enclosure with them, though in no respect

related and perchance not more than an eighth or tenth of their

bulk. A Passerine dove which I still have so persecuted a hen

Zebra-finch with its attentions that I had to remove it to another

cage, while three Steel-barred or Picui-doves which I had for

some years would coo and bow to any other dove however large

it was : but it is not only among the Columbce that one notices

these depraved traits, for in my “ Foreign Finches” ist. ed. p. 78

I have recorded the fact of a Rosella parrakeet trying its utmost

to induce a Red-crested Cardinal to accept it as a husband.


This being so, it is not merely far from surprising that

wild hybrids should be occasionally trapped or shot, but the

marvel is that instances of hybridization among wild birds

should not be considerably more numerous than they are. At

the same time it is probable that, as a general rule, male Passerine

birds would persistently mate with their own sisters, but for the

great annual mortality which from various causes serves to break

up the family parties, and thus compels the bereaved units to

seek fresh mates : were it not for these apparently adverse hap¬

penings it is probable that sterility would soon reduce their

species.


If no mate of its own kind is available, it is not unnatural

that a vigorous male bird should console himself with an allied

species, or that even in the restricted space of a large aviary an

amorous bird should not be over-sensitive as to the degree of

affinity of its selected wife.


The bird which illustrates this article is the result of the

crossing of two species by no means closely related : in size,



