Birds in a?id about the Station {Bakloh.) 283 
experience) that I can hardly help thinking that nian\% like my 
hen, fall victims to "higher aviculture," being given a diet of 
mealworms and a powerful insect food. My present birds get 
bread and milk, cake and fruit, if there is any to be had. Of 
cour.se they pick up a few live insects for themselves, but not 
many I fancy, and they get practically nothing from the net- 
sweepings as they never come down for them and the flock of 
breeding Grass-finches and Waxbills leave few escapes and those 
the Quail soon bag. By the way, were I a grasshopper I could 
imagine no worse deatli than to be eaten piecemeal by aWaxbill. 
Of course the conditions under which they are usually 
shipped are enough to make any bird delicate. In May last, Mr. 
Ketmedy saw many cages of this bird about to be exported. 
They were dreadfully overcrowded, dozens almost hundreds to a 
China bamboo cage. I have watched the advertisements in the 
home papers, but fancy very few arrived and those would 
probably be in poor condition. I wonder common sense does 
not stop this over-crowding. Even the Pekin Robin cannot be 
benefited by it. 
In a cage my diet would pro])ably require supplementing 
occasionally with live stuff, but I do not recommend mealworms 
in this case. Hard boiled egg would probably be appieciated 
and prove sufficient. My old birds were very fond of maggots, 
the small variety. 
It would be hard to get more fascinating pets than these 
dainty little mites. I hope I shall not run short of phrases like 
this as our Indian Soft-bills require them. Anyhow our little 
friend with his soft pleasing call-note with which he can express 
so niucli can hardly be over-praised. 
Hanging Pakkakkets. 
On going over some old Bombay Natural History Society 
Magazines I came across a letter which may interest some of our 
members. I quote it in full. 
" In the ' Fauna of British India,' ' Birds,' Vol. III. p. 
262, Mr. Blandford says that Loriciiliis vernalis lays its eggs 'in a 
hole or hollow of a tree without any nest.' My limited exper- 
ience has been different from this. Last year I recorded in the 
Journal the taking of three nests of Loriculus indicus in Ceylon, 
