292 
Correspondence. 
the seed dish. 
Thft Alario assisted in the feeding of the young birds and was very 
interested in the building of the nest. 
Beyond Zebra Finches, Canariei, and Goldfinch mules I have not 
rc.ircd many young birds this year. 
Bitterne. 7/9/'i5. Mrs C. M. D.'WIDSON. 
CUl.LECUNC AN IS' "EGGS" (COCOONS). 
Sir, — ' war. much inteiesled in Dr. L. Lovell-Kcays' arti^ k- on ' The 
Ureedipg ol Bcaided Tit. " which appeared in .•\ugust issue of ' Bird 
.Notes." but It he wdl pardon my saying so, I considex his meihod of 
procuring ants' eggs both troublesome and messy. I could gather a sack 
of these without a grain of foreign matter, with the; exception of a few 
t>t thit ant5 themselves, and they would be as sweet, clean and dry <ii 
when taken out of the nest. 
For the method of making and manipulating of the appliance I use, 
and many other valuable hints, 1 am indebted to Mr. John Frostick. 
One of his tips was' that in case of emergency, an ordinary sheet of 
newspaper should answer the purpose, and this I have fallen back upon 
with quite satisfactory results when I have unexpectedly dropped iCross 
a nes of young Wrynecks or Tree Creepers, flush in the nest, and no 
food to hand. 
I must congratulate Dr. Lovell-Keays upon being fortunate in drop- 
ping across such a mild colony of ants. Those of the Severn Valley, 
where I collect mine, are most vicious little brutes. When setting ouc 
collecting. I always take the precaution of socking my trouser bottoms, 
and fix hands and coat sleeves in strong leather garden gloves. At times, 
when I have to collect in an emergency for uncxpccteJ stock, .tnd have to 
use m; naked hands, these have been absolutely flayed with the fluid 
the Severn Valley ants possess and eject. 
Leicester, ARTHUR SILLS. 
September 15, 1915. 
[The newspaper method is given in some liird books, but evidently 
many are unacquainted therewith, and possibly Mr. Frostick's method 
(littci-. from the original one. We should be greatly obliged if Mr. Frostick 
would kindly describe his methods, with diagrams if necessary, for the bene- 
fit of readers of "B.N."— Ed.]. 
TALKING BULLFINCH. 
Sir,— I thought the following account of a Bullfinch I saw this week 
would be of interest to our members. 
It is five years old, and is one of a nest of five taken from Shirley 
Wcods Suirey. 
li did not talk till after its first moult, when; its ownar, Mrs. 
Maish, who reared it, was surprised to hear it say " Pretty .locy." He 
talks to command, to start with, and then continues on as under • 
" Pretty. Pretty Joey whose pretty Joey?" 
"Very Pretty, jump up, jump up." 
■ Conje and give us a kiss," 
