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Mr. W. E. Teschemaker,



I turned one of these into an aviary with a cock Zebra-finch,

nothing resulted therefrom.


Undeterred by this failure I, last year, purchased a pair of

Stictoptera bichenovii, the hen of which died : I therefore turned

out two hen Tceniopygia casla?iotis with the supposed cock : the

latter selected one of these hens as its companion and the two

spend their time from year’s end to year’s end in building nests

in various receptacles, the Zebra-finch from time to time laying

and sitting; but up to the present date no young have been

hatched.*


In the past I have tried to cross Poephila gozilditz with

Staganopleura guttata , with Poephila cincta and with Tceniopygia

castanotis ; in each case the hen ( P . gouldics) died egg-bound;

but then all were tried in flight-cages. I think it highly probable

that an aviary reserved for mule-breeding, in which were placed

males only of three or four widely different species, and females

only of three or four other species, might yield very satisfactory

results; at any rate it would be worth trying.



THE BREEDING OF THE RED-HEADED FINCH.


Amadina erythrocephala .


By W. E. Teschemaker.


Although I do not myself know of another instance of

the Red-headed Finch being successfully reared in this country,

yet it is reported to have bred so freely in Germany and so many

have been imported here these last two seasons that I think

there is much probability that it has been reared. Indeed it

would be a very singular thing if success had not been attained

seeing that this hardy South African species is perhaps the most

persevering layer and sitter with which I am acquainted. At all

times and seasons its whole energies appear to be devoted to

incubation.


There must, however, be some little hitch in the breeding

of this species, for it has, to my knowledge, been tried in not a

few aviaries where it had every chance of success, but without



* The Bicheno-fincli died suddenly from heat-apoplexy on September 4U1 : it was

quite well on the 3rd.—A.G.B.



