The Endurance of Birds. 
ill 
general colouration is greyish-brown, washed with cinnamon on 
the upper parts. She is smaller than the male and has a quiet 
demure beauty of her own. 
N cstUng pliDuagc. Resembles that of the female. 
1 have found this species quite hardy in a roomy, natural! v 
planted garden aviary with a good shelter-shed attached thereto. 
It has proved ready to go to nest with me, the main difficulty 
being" that very few hens are imported, and not many avicultur- 
ists have possessed pairs. It pairs readily with the domestic 
canary, but most of the resulting" hybrids are not so pleasing as 
the species; however, the males are g"ood songsters, which is 
also the case with the pure Alario. The majority in captivity 
usually choose a box of some kind as a foundation for their nest, 
but I had one nest, from which young emerged, built in a privet 
bush, about 3 ft. above the ground; it was a fairly neat cup- 
shaped structure — a typical serin nest. A second clutch of eggs 
in the same nest were washed out during" a violent thunderstorm. 
Another nest was immediately built in a box hanging in the 
shelter, but the hen died with her second egg. 
The young were mainly reared on seed and greenfood, 
but the parents were very keen on mealworms and captured a 
good many flies in the aviary. 
Pretty, amiable, and a sweet songster; submits to no 
aggression from any other occupant of the aviary. 
Aurora Finch ( Pyiclia pliocnicoptcra). A very beautiful 
species; fairly hardy, but it should be taken indoors for the win- 
ter months. It has not proved a free breeder in captivity, and 
successful cases are isolated indeed. A nest was built in a large 
elder-bush in my aviary, from which one young bird emerged 
and though it lived for some weeks after it was able to fend for 
itself, it did not live long enough to moult into mature plumage. 
I can give no nesting data, as I only discovered the nest, 10 in. 
above the ground, the day before the young one made its exit. 
Description. Grey, finely barred with darker grev, 
washed with reddish on the back; flights and tail crimson; beak 
black. 
BuLLFi^iCH (Fyrrliula ciiropaca) . When I kept British 
species I w-as sucessful in breeding quite a few of this, one of 
the showiest of our indigenous species. 
