54



Correspondence , Notes, etc.



minds that the want of a sufficient supply of insect food was the cause of

our failures, so we supplied them with mealworms, caterpillars, centipedes,

etc., about six ever}' hour, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the first week. The birds

came very close and asked for food, and a worm or insect was dropped one at a

time, and the cock and hen both took them, and fed the young immediately,

only taking a circuitous road to the nest to prevent our knowing anything

about it. Three were hatched out, but one was not so strong as the others

and died in a few days, and I removed the body. The young birds are very

tame, and one shows a little red on the wings, and the other has nearly

white wings.


Our other nesting successes this year are two broods of Californian

Quail, and one of African Quail; the latter laid seven eggs in a hole in the

ground, which I protected by placing a chair over it, as it was very wet and

rough weather. She hatched three, and one died when a few days old ; the

other two are now a month old, nearly as big as their parents and delight¬

fully tame playful little things; we reared them chiefly on small earth

worms, and a little soft food, bread, etc. I opened the crop of the one that

died and found some white millet not cracked, and I thought that might

have caused its death, so withheld seed from the others till they were three

weeks old. I should say that I shut the mother and chicks up in a coop as

the cock seemed likely to illtreat them, and have only just let them out,

and the whole family runs about together and seems very happy.


I have also any number of Zebra Finches, and as many nestlings still

in two nests ; and my Australian Crested Doves have hatched two pairs, and

the hen is sitting again. Also Redrumps and Budgerigars have done pretty

well, but I should think on the whole it has not been a good nesting year.


M. W. Connell.



TREATMENT OF INDIAN ORIOLE.


Sir,—C an you advise me as to the feeding and treatment of an Indian

Oriole. I purchased him in the Spring from a dealer. He was then in full

plumage but tailless, and the dealer told me “he had removed the stumps

of the tail feathers to make them grow again quicker.” The tail has never

come again, though there have been two or three small feathers, which

quickly dropped out. The bird has been a long time now in the moult,

and is nearly bare of feathers under his wings and breast. He is fat and

lively but there is not a sign of feathers coming. I feed on a well-known

insectivorous food, mealworms and bananas, which is the only fruit the

bird will touch. The cage is large and stands in a room with other birds

not heated. I fancy perhaps the bird needs more heat. He is very fond of

bathing. When I first got him he had red mite, but is now free from the

pests, as I washed him in quassia water, and now never see a sign of them.

He is tame and can be handled. M. M. Hamilton.



