Visits to Members* Aviaries. 
fro amid the living creepers and bushes, or taking a flight the 
whole length of their long enclosures, or halting momentarily, 
perched on some twig or stem, when one had a brief glimpse of 
the azure garment of cyanea, or the gorgeous rainbow hues of 
ciris, were spectacles I must leave to the imagination of my 
readers — words cannot describe them. 
In the Urangery, where many of the birds spend the 
winter months, I saw two young cock Whydahs (Cliocra 
proene), which were reared in 1919 (none were reared in 1920); 
they did not come into colour last year, but now they are m 
full nuptial plumage, but with tails a little shorter than those 
of their parents. The only other birds at present here were a 
young cock Striated Tanager, and a Curl-crested White-cheeked 
Bulbul. The whydahs were certainly a very fine couple of 
birds, in full health and vigour, and apparently not a whit 
behind their wild born brethren in any respect. 
In one of the long narrow enclosures were two pairs of 
Gouldian Finches, and very beautiful they looked too, being 
o*' a more lethargic disposition than the buntings ; one could see 
more of them and admire their somewhat (to my mind) bizarre 
beauty at leisure. The cocks were faultless, but the hens were 
not in breeding condition, being in the midst of a summer moult ; 
however, the males were doing their best to induce them to go 
to nest, so I hope to hear of young birds reared a little later. 
We spent most of our time in the large aviary, which is a 
charming bird-paradise indeed--now in its full summer dress, 
and full of interest too, owing to the busy summer Hfe of its 
feathered inhabitants. It was by no means easy to trace the 
various birds, or recognise the species as they flew to and fro, 
and were temporarily lost amid the foliage of this huge natural 
enclosure. 
Soon we came across a sort of mystery nest, a beautiful 
cup-shaped structure in a dead branch fixed against the boarding 
in a secluded and darkish corner of the aviary. The nest was 
sm.all, and constructed of grass and lined with hair and feathers 
—therein sat, upon a clutch of four eggs, a wee sombre-coloured 
bird; only the crouching head and tips of tail feathers were 
\ isible, and amid the gloom of this corner 1 could not see enough 
of it to name the species, neither could I fit it to any of the birds 
