The Secret of Keepivg Gouldian Finches. 119 
hundred times or more a minute we should hesitate to catch 
them up quite so readily, and think twice before we pushed 
a great finger into their tiny nests or permitted ladies clad 
in fearful and wonde/ful graments to enter their very sanctum. 
Of course, birds kept in cages and used to l>eing handled 
are very different, and do not seem to mind very much what 
Happens to them. But to return to our argument, I have 
come to the conclusion that possibly soil is a factor; next the 
change of surroundings and the fright absolutely inseparable 
from a change of locality, certainly are very potent factors 
in the loss of birds, particularly Gouldian Finches. But, in 
the case of my Gouldians they seem to get over all these 
enormous disadvantages and in a month's time one pair of 
Black-heads went to nest, and actually hatched out. I could 
hoar the young yelling for food as if their livv- dejjended 
upon it, as in fact they did. But one day the chorus was le;-s 
noisy, the next day or so it became fainter still, until fmally 
the chorus ceased. The parent birds got the hump and 
ceased to minister to the w^ants of their family. I have not 
the smallest idea why. Certainly it w^as not due to inter- 
ference, either from man, birds, or mice. But after that my 
parent birds seemed to mope; they made a second attempt 
at nesting in August when the hen bird died — I do not know 
of what. Fi-om the end of August onwards the Gouldians 
got more and more tired of life, they lost tone, and drooped 
their wings (what a pregnant sign it is when the primaries 
get well below the level of thp tail-feathers!) and 't!ien 
shuffled off "one after another, until I only had a Red-headed 
cock left. He was transferred to a warmed bird -room in 
November, but he found life a burden about Xmas and applied 
for his passport soon after. Aly friend, Mr. Sich, had a 
very similar experience. He had two breeding pairs in an 
exceptionally roomy aviary, they had a brood of A and later 
two of 7 {i.e. 4 and 3) simultaneously. The first four have 
all lived. The latter have all died and the parent birds as 
well, with the exception of one cock. The seven young birds 
were caught up and put into an inner flight, but pegged out 
about a month, six weeks, or two months afterwards, one by 
one. But the four older ones, which were in a cage in 
the same bird-room all survived, and are still alive to this 
day. Since going to Press the four young birds have been 
