The Nesting oj Grey-winged Ouzels. 183 
hen again carrying nmd, etc., and this time into a parrakeet's 
nest-box with concave bottom ; here a typical nest was again 
built, and on May 3 I was delighted to see a clutch of three 
eggs — greyish-green in colour, thickly mottled and streaked with 
reddish-brown. The female alone performed tlie duties of in- 
cubation. On May 13 three young birds were observed in the 
nest, the following day one of these was either dragged or thrown 
out, but the other two grew apace. My garden produced no 
worms (weather dry) and my mealworm bill was something 
alarming; fortunately the birds were tame and would take the 
worms from a tin held in the hand, but on May 24 one young 
died and the next day the last ; both were very forward, witli the 
ends of the quills bursting and the colour of the fledgelings well 
indicated. This was a heavy disappointment, as up to May 23 
there appeared every indication that the young would be fully 
reared. I had better say here very clearly that my birds refused 
to feed their j'oung on anything but live food, refusing even 
meat. I supplied practically every existing item of avian diet, 
not even omitting egg (tiiough my views are well known tipon 
this topic, and that I neither use nor recommend its use) as I was 
anxious to achieve success, but all to no purpose, the parent 
birds would take nothing but live insects to their young. 
With very little delay a third nest was built, and on June 
II two more young were hatched from a clutch of three eggs. 
I was away at the time spending a week end at Cleethorpes with 
our esteemed member Mr. Suggitt, who, on hearing the news, 
kindly offered to keep me supplied with gentles, so as to vary the 
supply of live food ; however it was all to no purpose, failure 
again dogged their attempts; one of the young dying on the 
seventh day and tlie other four days later {vide p. 133 current 
Volume.) 
A fourth nest was constructed, again in a nest box. but 
was not used, the birds only appearing to go about it in a half- 
hearted manner, and I gave up all hopes of breeding them this 
season. 
Ultimate Sdccess . I had really ceased to take much 
notice of their doings in the keenness of my disappointment, but 
in the meantime they had repaired nest number two and again 
