Notes on the Pekiii Robin. 
273 
seeds of all kinds and inserts, and they indulj^c in all 
ai various times. 
1 will close with tlu' feniark tli.it tlic I'ckins' success 
has given mc nioin- ])lc'asurc than aii\ Dtiicr event ui the 
aviary this season. 
♦ 
Experiences of Foreign Finches and Softbills at 
Liberty. 
Rv Till -Makqiis of Tamstock. 
My ex[)c-riienees with \arious species ot foreign jias- 
serine birds at liberty can scarcely be described as fortunate. 
Yet many nested successfully and reared their young, and, 1 
sometimes think that if my experiments were to be repeated 
in a i)lace not deficient in winter cover, nor infested with 
a race of Owls as keen, if not keener,, after feather than 
they are after fur. a gratifynig result might be obtained. 
For the beneht of anyone who may like to try the 
rash venture. 1 therefore, write this "cautionary tale" which 
may enable him, at any rate, to avoid wasting time and 
money on species of wandering habits or unusual pugnacity. 
I will begin with the Finches, and their allies, for Softbills, 
as a class, are jn-etty hopeless, seeing that in summer there 
there is no artificial food you can otter them as an induce- 
ment to stay, half so attractive as the live insects they find 
everywhere in abundance. 
V'lRGiMAX Cardinals {Cardinalis cardinalis) stay well 
if released in rather poor condition (not too poor or they will 
die after the tirst fall of heavy rain). The plan I tried of 
releasing pairs m breeding condition was a failure, but a 
hen, let out to join a cock who had passed the winter at 
liberty, nested in a juniper bush and hatched three young, 
which the accursed Jackdaws ate when about half-grown! 
Both old Cardinals were taken by Uwls some weeks later, and 
a similar fate overtook so many others thar I tried, tliai 
I gave them up as hopeless. 
Ked-crested Cardinals {Paroaria ciicnllata) stayed 
well when tirst released, but the following spring the two 
strongest pairs took complete possession of the garden (a 
vci) biii one) and drove out all the rest, 'ihey reared many 
