Visits to Members' Aviaries: 
which tliree dififerent species of Whydahs, viz., the Giant, Red- 
collared, and Pintailed, have been bred for the first time in the 
British Isles. 
The Rkaring of Hybrids : With most aviciilturists these 
occur from the chance mating of odd birds of different species ; 
this has been the case in tliese aviaries, and as the result two 
very interesting hybrids have been bred, viz. : 
(1) White-headed Mannikin + Cutthroat {Mmiia maja 
+ Amadina fasciatd). 
(2) Nutmeg Finch + Bronze MK-iitiiK.m {Mimia pimrtulata 
+ Spermcstes aicullata). 
In each instance a very pretty hybrid is the result. 
(1) This hybrid has a white back and head, and the other 
portions of the body marked and coloured like the Cutthroat, but 
no sign of a crimson collar. 
(2) The body colour of this hj'brid is brown, with a spangled 
ruff all round the neck and shoulders (very similar in its mark- 
ings to the breast of the Nutmeg Finch). 
The above two cases also gain the Club's certificate. 
Sexing Banksian Cockatoos: Mrs. Anningson's speci- 
men, the well known and much admired visitor to, and winner at, 
many shows. It will Ije remembered that a few \'ears ago, many 
of those acquainted with this bird in its native wilds, denied 
the correctness of the recorded descriptions of the sexes, main- 
taining that the said descriptions were transposed and affirming 
erronously that Mrs. Anningson's well-known and beautifully 
spangled specimen of many shows was a male ; others holding 
the opposite view, and in October 1908, when I had the pleasure 
of looking over Mrs. Anningson's collection of birds, she assured 
me that, judging by its demeanour, she felt certain it was a male. 
Other owners of this grand species were of the same opinion. 
Well ! the question has now been settled once for all. Mrs. 
Anningson informing me, when visiting her on October 23rd of 
this year, that her bird had laid an egg (2" x i§"), and this morn- 
ing I received a letter saying that the bird had laid another egg, 
slightly larger than tlie first; thus, for those who were in doubt, 
the plumage question of the sexes is now definitely .settled. 
It may be of interest to state that for a week preceding the 
