Hooded Siskins and Cross-bred Chaff inches. 269 
days and their crop'^^ were full of green food, cliiefly burdock 
leaf, as far as I could make out. The parent birds have 
built anothe.' nest, and, as the hen has l>een on the nest a good 
deal, I am expecting to see an egg there soon. The eggs 
of the Hooded Siskin have been already described, so I have 
not given another description. Last year three eggs were 
laid by this same pair, and the four eggn laid this year (of 
which three hatched out) make a total of seven, which I 
have examined. These \;ii-icd as much as a clutch of black- 
bird's eggs might do. One egg had a circle of smudgy spots 
round the small end, two Iiad similar circles round the big 
end, and the rest had no circles round either end, but tiny dark 
spots, mostly at the big end. The general colour of the eggs 
was a dingy pale green. 
This experience has been satisfactory to me, as it has 
showed me that wild birds kept in an faviary will sometimes 
feed with bread and milk. 1 have often tried it before, but 
I have never as yet known any birds but Canaries to feed 
their young with it. ' 
♦ 
Breeding of the Orange-cheeked Waxbill. 
By J. GooDcniLD. 
At our Editor's suggestion I am penning these few 
notes of aviary episodes this season, and trust they may prove 
of interest, though the successes are more jx matter of luck 
than judgment. 
OBANuii-CHEEKED Waxbill {Sporuegmlhus melpodus): 
These are very pretty if common birds, nevei'theless I was 
very i>lcased to succeed with these charming Waxbills. Some 
uviculturists may possess elaborate aviaries and with the 
best of care and nianagement meet with but little success- 
while others like myself liave only small outside places, not 
good enough to be termed an aviary, yet meet with a fair 
amount of success. I have only kejjt birds about four years 
or so, at first starting with Canaries, but after a year replaced 
these by Foreign species, beginning with a few of the cheap 
and common kinds. 
Early last year I bought a dozen mixed Waxbills, 
including a pair of Orange -cheeks, but these all died during 
