Parro t ■ Fin ch es . 
357 
went over to Mr. Temple's, confident that I should lie able 
to help him in sorting' out hiii males land females, wliirli he 
wanted to part for the winter months. I was confident, he 
sceptical. We caught up about twenty birds, and sorted them 
out, into, say, 12 cocks and 8 hens. Result, during the winter 
several of the " cocks " laid fertile eggs, and some of the 
"females" also bred. I then modified my method of sexing 
these birds. If I had any certain cocks I left them in the 
aviary; any possible hens, oi- newly arrived birds I put into 
travelling cages in diffeient i>arts of the aviary. Any cage 
which contained a hen would shoi'tly be constantlj^ attended by 
one of the cocks; this cage I labelled "a hen"; those cages 
which were neglected, I took to contain cocks. 
I consider the above the only method of obtaining true 
pairs— an important point in the breeding of this species. 
They are very amorous, odd cocks a great nuisance and 
continually tormenting breeding hens the moment they leave 
their nests to feed. 
In my ex])erience they like a nesting-lyox three or four 
feet from the ground, and are quite .satisfied with hay as nesting 
material. Mr. Setli Smith found that tliey liked an old straw 
hat tacked to the wall as a nesting receptacle. 
Four to six eggs are usually laid, pure white in colour. 
Both sexe.s incubate, often both simultaneously, the incubation 
period is 13 days— the young are fed on regurgitated seed, 
and mealworms are freely taken to vary the menu; a certain 
amount of soft food is also consumed. Maw seed is a great 
treat for these birds, and they will use it ad. lib. in feeding 
young. 
In oonstrast to the other species the Common Parrot - 
Finch is continually on the move, displaying almost Tit-like 
vivacity, and in consequence he is easy to keep in health and 
stands cold as well as the common Sparrow. Of late, the 
species has been rarely imported and the few l)irds on the 
maiket have been bred in aviaries. It is to be hoped that 
in the near future these birds will be more freely imported 
for they are by far the most attractive of that section of birds 
known as Grassfinches. 
To be continued,. 
