Correspo?ide?ice. 135


the rest goes to the birds in the aviary. Though I clean his cage ever}' dav-

it sometimes smells sour. I tried Abrahams' food and ants' eggs and dried

yolk of egg : that suited him too. He is in perfect plumage and sings well.

Are these foods too heating? He always picks out the ants' eggs first. I

give him two or three mealworms a day. Can I give him more? He lives

in a box cage in a living room, the cage is about 22in. long and 14m. wide.

He will not go into his bath, only splashes on the edge. He throws up

pellets sometimes. I should also like to know how to get rid of mice in an

aviary. They will not go into traps and I will not use poison.


M. C. HAWKE.


The following reply has been sent to the Hon. Mary C. Haiuke :


My bird was sent as a present from Mr. Heselton in 1903 and is a fine

singer and never out of health. I keep it in a box-cage, 2ft. 6in. frontage,

l8in. from front to back, 2oin. in height, with zinc draw-tray and large

water-pan in which it can bathe at will ; this it does frequently. I keep

the cage at the end of my conservatory (31ft. by 15ft.) facing S.W.


I feed my bird upon two parts crumb of stale household bread, one

part powdered sweet biscuit, one part yolk of egg or hard-boiled egg (both

yolk and white) and one part Grade 1 Century Food. I rarely give meal-

worms, but often cockroaches and, in the summer, caterpillars, moths or

spiders.


During the three years in which it has been in my possession this

Shamah has never had a single dav's illness. A. G. BuTXER.



COLOUR-CHANGE IN FEATHERS.


Sir, — My own convictions with regard to the fact that feathers do

retain vitality after they have ceased growing were published in our

Magazine, 1st series, vol. VIII., pp. 132-5, in a short article entitled

" Feathers changing colour."


Since the publication of the paper above referred to I have seen no

reason to change my opinion. I listened with great interest to Prof. Dwight's

lecture at the Ornithological Congress; but it revealed no new doctrine,

but only proved what we knew before, that changes in the colouring of

plumage are often effected by the loss of the fringes of the feathers ; or

at times by parts of the web, thus rendering a coloured shaft more

conspicuous. I could add to this, that I have known a Brambling, in

the shelter of an indoor aviary, to retain its winter fringes almost up to

the time of the autumn moult; there being neither rough brushwood

nor stormy weather to assist them to break away.


During the summer of 1906 I purchased half a dozen Weavers out of

colour, supposed by the dealer who sold them to be Orange and Napoleon

Weavers; three of these died the next day, unhappily one which 5-liacL-—

selected as (a probable male of ) P. flammiceps among them; the other two-



