172 
A Nursery of Buzzards. 
Birdroom Notes. 
By IsABFXLA Wilson. 
Concluded from page 148). 
Reprinted from " B.N.," vol. /., page J25. 
Numbers of young Green Budgerigars have hatched this 
year in my bird-room, but my last nest, containing the extra- 
ordinary number of seven young, were all but one killed by the 
hen bird. It cost me some careful watching to find her out — I 
then had her caught and killed without any delay. The cock 
bird fed the remaining young one most carefully, and it is now a 
strong bird. 
What satisfactory birds Grey Java Sparrows are in an 
aviary! They are always in perfect feather, and never dull. I 
have five Javas flying with the rest of the birds, and yet all is 
peace. They are full of mischief, and have picked a hole in the 
bird-room wall, deep enough for them to sit in. I am sorry to 
say that though a pair, of the five, had a nest this season with 
young, they starved them to death ; the young birds were nearlv 
ready to fly, and in a few days would have been able to do for 
themselves. 
Nothing ever happens to the birds of the grey variety, but 
the White Javas (which are, I believe, a kind of artificial produc- 
tion), always appear to be in some kind of trouble : my last pair 
were drowned. I have always understood that they, the White, 
were easy to breed, but mine showed no inclination to do so. 
Wonderful bad luck attends my endeavours to breed 
Cockateels; four hens have died one after the other, leaving the 
cocks in robust healtli. My four hens all came from different 
places, so I cannot account for the mortality. Two out of the 
four had eggs with young in them, and the parents were sitting, 
as I thought, steadily. 
I do not think any but a really patient person should 
attempt bird breeding, British or foreign. It is the unexpected 
that so often happens, the unexpected being the loss, five times 
out of six. of a nest of birds to all appearances so flourishing 
that success seems certain. When I say " to all appearances " 
I do not mean that I ever see my young birds in their nests : I 
judge by the coming and going of the parent birds. It is only 
when I feel a conviction that something has gone wrong, that I 
ever look inside a nest. And it is impossible to do any good by 
interference. 
