Breed i» (J of the Jaearini Finch. 
bu.sli above the nest singing liis peculiar little song of two 
notes, or fiercely driving any other birds i'l'om the vicinity. 
Owing to the positon of thr nest 1 could not actually see 
whether the cock fed the hen while slie Avas sitting, but T often 
saw him pay visits to her probably for that purpose. One of 
the eggs hatched on the morning of May 29th, and the other 
the next day. I had no live food to give them with the 
exception of mealworms, and these appeared to be too large 
foi" the ue-^tiings' tiny throats. Both parents incessantly hunted 
insects, either hawking them in the air or searching among 
tlie grass, but probably only caught sullicent to barely keep 
the youngsters alive. On .June 4th a bitter north wind set in; 
the little hen looked ill, and grew worse towards evening, wlieii 
she i^robably al)andoned the nest, as the young ones .were 
cold the next morning; one was dead and although tlie ofiKU' 
revived a little after being warmed, it did not live long. The 
nest was (}uite on the ground and was not woven round the 
grass stems. It was a tiny structure, vei'y neat, open and ciip- 
shaped, of medium depth and built of hay with a sparse lining 
of fine fibres or rootlets; inside diameter If inches, outside 2^- 
inches, the skins of the young ones were purplish black in 
colour. The hen recovered from her illness in a few days, 
and another nest was commenced on June 19th, botli l)irds 
assisting, this time in a thick gooseberry bush (probably the 
reason this site was chosen was because the whole of the 
grass ill the aviary had been fiattened by rain). They had no 
sooner got the nest complete than a pair of Blackcaj) Warblers 
forcil)ly took possession of it, altering and enlarging it to 
suit theii own requirements. 
A third nest lined with horse-hair was built on the ground 
in a patch of very long grass in a corner of the aviary, and 
the first egg was laid on June 25th; the ne.xt morning the 
second egg was laid and incubation commenced. Both eggs 
hatched on July 6th, making the incubation p:'riod ten days. 
Th(^ hatching of the?e eggs was again the signal for a strong 
cold wind to blow accompanied by heavy rain and consequently 
flying insects were very .scarce, however by dropping sm;ill 
mealworms, blow fly pupiB and a few spiders near the nest, 
the parents managed to keep the young ones alive. The 
old bii'ds would have nothing to do with soft food; but I am 
