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Zebra finches bred in a Cage. 
Zebra Finches Bred in a Cage. 
By Dorothy M. Pethie. 
The Editor has asked me to write of my success with the 
common hut pretty and entertaining Zehra Finch. 
This happy event occurred some years ago. hut ' 
rememher fairly well all the details concerning this, to me, 
interesting episode. I had a flight cage, 30 inches long, 12 inches 
wide, and 18 inches deep, with a dome to it. There were i pair 
each Zebra Finches, Silverbills, and Common Waxbills in it. 
and I always kept coco-nut shells hung in the four corners for 
them to sleep in; these they freely used. They had plenty of 
hay to play with and greenfood. The Zebra Finches had often 
raised my hopes by laying eggs, sitting for a day or two, and 
then throwing them out, or moving into an untenanted shell 
One day, there was a fearful scrap in the early hours, which 
woke m.e up. as they were kept in my room : of course the 
Zebras won, they evicted the Silverbill from their coco-nut shell 
domicile and dared them to return, while one fetched hay fron. 
the other shells. Then the hen began to lay, and when ther: 
were six eggs she sat steadily, and was not a bit disturbed at 
being cleaned and fed, though I used to bang the cage on the 
floor to get the stray seeds out, she only looked up with her 
little beady eyes. One day, about fourteen days after incubatior 
commenced, a little girl was cleaning them out, and she called 
to me and told me there were, some young ones! ! Mamma 
Zebra Finch, however, resented our curiosity and spread 
herself out over them. There were six of them at first, but a 
little later two more hatched out. and eight was rather a tigh*" 
fit for their coconut shell, so the three top ones were moved to 
shell in the dome, when I can't think, as they were there quite 
early one morning; about three davs after the other three were 
moved I put a clean shell in. Six were fuhy reared, and grew 
to be fine healthy birds, five S and one 9 . They were reared on 
seed, though the parents had access to soft food and plenty of 
greenstuff. As soon as they could fend for themselves I trans- 
ferred them to another cage, and a terribly quarrelsome 
company they were. I sold them after a time, and the parents 
too; now T regret having sold the latter acutely, but it's " too 
late." 
