230 
Some Fi)iclics in my A7'iarics. 
About the middle of last April they went to nest in my 
lars^est aviary, the hen building a neat nest of roots and twigs 
in the stumps of a tree; two rather large eggs, pale bluish green, 
thickly marked with brown, w-ere laid ; these as the season was 
early. I took for my collection. The hen soon went to nest 
again, this time in the heart of a black spruce (see photo). 
Incubation commenced on May 4th, and thirteen days later two 
young ones were hatched. F^or a week things went smoothly, 
and the young ones made good progress, md then a disaster 
occurred; the cock escaped from the aviary, and, as I was away 
at the time, it was not recaptured. The good little hen. how- 
ever, kept on feeding the young, and on May J/th one left the 
nest. Up to this time no soft food or mealworms had been 
provided, but. as the hen was now beginning to feel the strain 
of catering for two hungry youngsters, I started handing out 
mealworms, and very soon she would come at call and take 
them out of my hand. The second youngster left the nest at 
the end of the month, and was then quite well feathered. 
Unfortunately it was killed, either by another bird, or by 
fracturing its skull against the wire. The survivor soon grew 
to be as big as its mother, and was hardly to be distinguished in 
colour. Strange to say, this bird, when about three months 
old, also made its escai)e from the aviary, and, as we were unable 
to discover where it had made its egress, I had it. on its recap- 
ture, transferred to another aviary. I am hoping that it may 
turn out to be a male. 
.A-Uother pair of b'inches that went to rest about the san^e 
time were "^'ellow-rimii)ed Serins {Scriiiiis inigolciisis). These 
pretty little birds built a nest in a spruce fir and laid four spotted 
white eggs. These hatched in ten days. Both birds fed the 
young, and I thought that they would soon leave the nest, but a 
spell of bad weather set in, and the hen caught a chill and died, 
and the cock then deserted his nearly fledged family. 
My (Irey Singing T*"inches (.V. Icuco l^\giiis > were equallv 
unlucky. They built two of the most beautiful little nests that I 
have seen — nests very little bigger than some of the Humiuing 
Birds', but their eggs were taken by other birds on both 
occasions. 
My English (ireenfinch hen, mated with a hybrid (ireen- 
finch cock, went to nest twice, but laid no ei^'gs. The second 
