338 Further Notes on the Violet-eared Waxbill.


eggs that I attributed the illness of the female to them ; and

when I did realize what was wrong it was too late — it is doubtful

if she could have been saved in any case. Notwithstanding

something like a week of dry weather (some of the nights and

mornings were exceedingly cold), the foundation and lower parts

of the nest were found to be wet and mouldy, the heavy solid

dome being dry. The parts of the tree-stem and branches, and

the bunch of branchlets, where the nest had been pitched, were

well covered with mildew, mealy-bug, and the like. When I

saw the birds carrying feathers, I put an evil construction on

their actions : the poor creatures were really endeavouring to

ameliorate the miserable condition of the nest. Such a state of

affairs was more than sufficient to account for the death of the

young — probably two, possibly more — and the fatal illness of the

mother. She died of acute inflammation of the kidneys.


Just about the same time, a pair of Ringed Finches reared

three young in the adjoining aviary. The Rings are delicate,

they had the same weather as the Violets, and yet their young

are now flying about well and strong, and their mother is sitting

again — for the third time this summer. Why success in the one

case and disaster in the other?


The Rings' nest was built at the top of a pollard lime

tree's upright stem, in the midst of a thick clump of leaves, the

materials being old hay and feathers, no green wheat nor grass.

The tree in which was built the nest of the Violet-eared Waxbill

was quite dead from the top of the thickly-branched head and

downwards as far as the fork where the nest was pitched. At

this joint, there was a cluster of thickly-leaved branchlets, which

held the damp and screened the nest from the sun. The thick

leaves of the lime dispersed the rain. The bare branches of the

elder not only collected the rain, but acted as so many runnels to

conduct the water to the fork, where it was intercepted, sucked

up and held by the mass of materials which had been collected at

this spot. Even the thick wheat-stalks helped to contribute to

the mischief; externally they appeared to have been dried up,

but the inner mass must have become heated. A fermenting

nest may be a very delightful place for a Dabchick, but can hardly

be quite the thing for a Violet-eared Waxbill. When I put the



