I20 
My Birds and their Doings. 
the bank mentioned above and seem about to lay. A pair of 
PiLKATED Finches also seem desirous to nest, but no sooner do 
they get the foundation of their home laid than they pull it down 
again, the cock gets very much boycotted by his wife who con- 
stantly chases him round the aviary, but, in spite of this, they 
seem fond of each other. 
With the exception of the Gouldians and the Red-headed 
Finches, which seem to prefer rush nest baskets under cover, 
all the other pairs have built in shrubs or in the grass bank, the 
usual domed nest of hay. The cock Diamond Sparrow seem 
to have taken upon himself the duty of looking after his young 
family, as the hen, having tidied up the nest and added con- 
siderably thereto, is now busily engaged in incubating her second 
clutch of eggs. 
Amongst the misfortunes (for although I have had good 
luck I have also had bad) occurring in this aviary, the first was 
the death of three j'onng Red-headed Finches about eight days 
old, and the second of a hen Crimson Finch sitting on fertile 
eggs, picked up also dead beneath her nest. 
The only birds in this aviary that have not nested yet are : 
Peaceful Doves, Crimson - winged Finches and Painted 
Quail. 
Proceeding now to the Wilderness aviar)^ No. 5 (no longer 
a wilderness, see plate), here are now congregated many odd birds 
and only a few pairs ; the first to nest was an odd English 
Thrush, she built a nest in a Laurel bush, laying four eggs, 
which being of course infertile, she was given four eggs from the 
nest of a wild bird, two of which she reared. 
Cow Birds: One of the most interesting experiences I 
have had this year is the nesting of my Ruddy and Silky Cow- 
BiRDS ; towards the end of April a Green Cardinal built a 
nest in a small Fir tree, and on the 29th I noticed she had two 
eggs; on the morning of the 30th, when I again looked in the 
nest I found not only three of her own eggs but one of an entirely 
different colour: this latter was about the size of, or perhaps 
rather smaller than the Cardinals' eggs, being as long but nar- 
rower, the ground colour was of a creamish pink, blotched at the 
large end with clear and frosted spots of reddish brown ; on the 
