My Present and Past Aviaries. 
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Grass . 
A / 
and not unpleasing in ap- 
pearance. As will be seen 
from the ground plan, it 
is well sheltered, being 
placed in the angle of two 
Avails, the entire ground 
area is 18ft. x IS^ft. On 
the ground plan " A " is 
the shelter 6ft x 6m.; 
" B " the covered-flight 
12ft. X 6ft.; "C" is a 
shrubbery 12ft. x 6ft.; 
" C — D " forms the open 
flight, the " D " portion of 
which is turfed, with the bath at " E." 
Its occupants are: Common Waxbills and Mannikins. 
My chief aim is to breed hybrids, and also to test their fertility, 
but up to the present my success in this direction has been nil. 
Last spring I procured two male and one female Zebra 
Finches, a pair of which I put into the aviary; the odd cock 
was put into a cage (30in. x 30in x 50in. high) and given 
a hen Kibbon Finch for a mate. They paired at once, built 
a nest and three eggs were deposited therein, which were in- 
cubated for three weeks. As no chicks appeared I examined the 
eggs and found them all infertile, so I turned them into the 
aviary. This was a inistake on my part, as the Zebra Finch 
promptly forsook the Ribbon Finch and persecuted the hen 
Zebra Finch already there with a imate of her own species; so 
to level up matters 1 'procured another hen and both pairs went 
to nest at once. They successfully brought up a brood each, of 
three and four respectively (2 cf and 5 9), all of which reached 
maturity. A pair of Bib Finches successfully reared two 
young, and a pair of Striated Finches had similar good for- 
tune. My Californian Quail only fully reared two. 
The following all made attempts at reproducing their kind: 
Orange -cheeked Waxbills nested and laid three eggs, but all were 
infertile. 
A St. Helena Waxbill paired up with a Grey, and a good nest 
was built, but, I never saw any eggs. 
Pairs of Cordon Bleus and Firefinches built good nests, but I 
