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Correspondence , Notes, etc.



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CORRESPONDENCE, NOTES, ETC.


MY EXPERIENCE OF THE NESTING OF THE GREY

SINGING-FINCH.


Sir, —I bought from Mr. Hawkins, of Bear Street, Leicester Square, a

pair of Grey Singing-finches last August, and kept them during the winter in

separate cages. Whenever they were placed close together the cock bird

grew very excited and clung to the bars nearest, singing most sweetly to his

dear little mate, who would listen with her little head cocked on one side.


In March I let the cock into the cage in which was the hen and a

number of Waxbills. The Singing-finches at once seemed desirous of

building a nest, which they did. Three Silverbills were very naughty and

pulled all the materials about, and ended by all three promptly occupying

the nest, so I thought I had better isolate the Singing-finches.


I placed them in a breeding cage and hung a nest on the outside of

the cage and gave them some thrums. They at once commenced to build,

making the neatest nest I ever saw, and laid four eggs. The little hen had

great difficulty in laying her first egg, I thought I was going to lose her:

she sat such a pathetic little puffed up ball all day, the cock hopping around

trying to make her take food. The next day she still had not laid her egg,

so I gave her one drop of castor oil, but it had no effect; then I gave her

sponge cake soaked in sherry, after that she soon laid her egg.


Three of the eggs were duly hatched on the twelfth day. I had been

giving the birds Mr. Hawkins's egg food slightly moistened, and this they

gave readily to the young birds. All went well until the eleventh day, and

when I came down at 6 a.m. I found, to my horror, two dead birds in the

nest and one dead on the floor of the cage with a hole pecked in it. I

wondered if the cock had grown tired of feeding his babies, or wanted to

go to nest again ; however, I resolved if there were more eggs I would

separate the cock from the newly-hatched birds.


In April four more eggs were hatched and I took the cock away at

once. For three days the little hen did bravely, but I thought the strain

was too much for her: they were such tiny helpless things, and she had

quite a difficulty in getting them to hold their heads up, so I thought if I

tied the cock’s little cage on to her cage he might feed her through the

bars, and it would cheer her up. The plan worked very well, and she was

much more brisk; but, alas, on the ninth day she gave them all seed, and

I discovered the chicks all dead in the nest, their throats swollen and the

poor little hen in a great state. I felt very upset, as I had been constant in

my care of them, giving the birds freshly-mixed food every two hours, as

they seemed to like very small quantities at a time, and it soon grew dry.


I put them both into my flight cage with all the other birds, but the



