37°



Correspondence , Notes, etc.



it really an uncommon bird ? and if so ought not some of the rich, or

reckless members of the Society to buy it and tell us all about it.


D. Hamilton.


[The Great-billed Parrakeet ( Tanygnathusinegalorhynchus) of Western

New Guinea and the Moluccas. It is decidedly rare in the European bird-

market. (See Parrakeets page 91 ).—Ed.]



THE DIAMOND DOVE.


Sir, —Seeing that you have been successful in rearing Diamond

Doves, I should like to ask you if you will tell me what is the best food to

give the young ones ; and how long do the old birds sit ?


I have a pair in my outdoor aviary, and they have just carried a few

heather branches into a small travelling box, and I should think they have

been sitting about a week now. I have not seen any eggs, because so soon

as one bird conies out of the box the other goes in, and I am afraid of

disturbing them. At present I just feed them on white millet seed.


Frank Bathe.



The following reply has been sent to Mr. Frank Bathe:


Diamond Doves sit about 14 days. I supply no special food for the

young ones. The old birds have canary and millet seed, and rear their

young quite successfully on this. So long as your pair are undisturbed iu

any way they will most probably hatch and rear their brood.


D. Seth-Smith.



NOTES ON SOME BIRDS OF THE WHITE NILE.


Sir, —The Waders which I mentioned in my article, and which

Mr. Meade-Waldo has marked as Open-billed Storks, were more like Purple

Coots, only chocolate and brown—not the shape of Storks.


The Meyer’s Parrots are doing well out of doors, and have got much

brighter in colour.


T shall be very, glad to answer any questions I can about the birds or

country. The whole trip is a most interesting and enjoyable one—and one

which I strongly recommend to anyone who is keen about birds—of course

we saw it rather to an advantage, as so few steamers had been up the Nile

to disturb the birds (ours was the second to do the trip this year).


We also saw a herd of twenty-seven Giraffe, countless Hippopotomi,

and about six kinds of Antelopes—all from the steamer—while at Kanissa

we saw the tracks of a large herd of Elephants.


There were of course countless birds which I did not know, and so

did not mention in my article.



A. C. Charrington.



