Corresponcle-ncc. 
1G7 
hatched out twioe last season but the young were not reared. Those, 
I believe, have not yet reared young in captivity. 
, Yellovv-rumppd Miinnikin.-; iMicnia jlaviprymtia). Tricolour Man- 
nikins (.1/. m/itiiccn). ( 'hrsi nut -breasted Finches {M . c'lsUni'ilhorax ), 
Gouldian Finches {l'o(pliila goiddlav), and Desert Trumpeter Bull- 
finches {Erylhrospizd githaginca) are about the onlj' ones I have not 
actually seen at work nest building. 
The Yellow -throated Sparrows {Gymnorhis flavicollix ) an' a 
bit of a puzzle ; the cock gives the hen no peace and she hides away, 
•but ther( is nothing further to report ; however, I fancy they will settle 
matters shortlj' . 
The Hair-crested Buntings (Mchphus mclmi'ctcrus) are hack in 
the shelter-shed again, the scene of last j'ear's operations, where they 
built a nest but diil not lay. They are in lovely condition and should 
do better this year. 
Rainbow Buntings (Ci/aho.tp/za lic'aiiclnri ) . Two years ago I 
bought a young bird of this species in nestling plumage . It moulted 
that j'ear and also last year, and as it showed no sign of colour ex- 
cept a verj- faint yellow -brown breast I thought it was a hen. Now 
I notice some blue feathers coming on the head and the breast becoming 
more yellow, so 1 suppose it Ls a cock after all, but it is surely a 
long tim(- for a young bird to take to come into adult plumage. 
I have to close my rambling notes with further disasters. My 
hen Eosella Parrake-'t became egg-bound and very weak ; I put her into 
heat and she seemed better, but I found her dead the next morning 1 
I have also lost a hen Bunting. I think, from violent pairing chiefly, 
though the cold sp<dl may have been a contributing factor ; perhaps 
from the skin you can name it for me.* I regret its loss as thej- 
are very handsome birds and quite uncommon I think . 
Cressington Park. Liverpool, HERBEET BRIGHT. 
21/V./15. 
*It is the Common Golden-breasted Bunting (E»26cri>o //ar<t'e??/r/s) . — Ed. 
NESTING OF BLUE TANAGERS. 
Sir, — In response to your enquiry, I made my first acquaint- 
ance with with Blue Tanagers at the port of Savanilla (Colombia) in 
March ini4, where I boiight a solitary, touselled, dirty-looking wild 
bird, which L was told would in time become blue, and feeling that two 
would be company I acquired another in Trinidad, similarly unattached 
and equally wild . 
Knowing nothing of birds, I fed them on bread and milk during 
the voyage home : however I got them safely to London and at once 
put them in a large cage ; ivs the birds were still exceedingly wild 
and unsociable, and presented a very bedraggled appearance. Proper feed- 
ing seemed to work wonders and I was delighted to find they were really 
becoming blue. 1 k( pt them in the cage for ten months, but they never 
got on well, squabbles and fights wc" ~ the order of the day: and; all 
my effort? to tame them being of no avail, I came to the conclusion 
