250 
Some Sf^anoxi's in My Aviaries. 
were true species or liybrids; prol^ably the latter, as none of 
my books have descriptions of any birds at all resembling them. 
Unfortunately they did not live long, and I failed to find their 
dead bodies, or I should have forwarded their skins to the 
British Museum, and asked the authorities there to report upon 
them. 
Quite the most hantlsome of all the .*>parrow-tribe i.^ the 
C ape .Sparrow (I'asscr urciiafiis). For many years 1 had hens 
of this v.'iriety. but was unable to .^et cocks. This year quite 
a lol of males came over, so 1 put up three pairs in different 
;i\iaries. They all went to nest more than once, choosing;' 
boxes as a site for their nests, except in the case of one pair, 
where no boxes were available. Here the hen, which is the 
!)rincipal architect, had to build in the trees, so I was enabled to 
;_;et a photo of a really natural nest, as I take it that at the Cape 
they, to ;i lar.^e extent, nest in trees, 'llie nest was of the 
shape and size of a small football, with the entrance hole at 
the front. It was rather untidy as to its exterior, but was well 
woven, and the inside, which was lined with brilliant feathers 
from my .Satyra Tragopans. was quite dry. even after heavy 
showers. 
The e.^Li's from all three hens were of the same type, and 
they do not appear to differ, as do the ei^i^'s of our domestic 
sparrow. 
As far as 1 know the hen alone incubated, but both binls 
fed the young. In no case, however, were these fully reared, 
as they were usually thrown out of the nests when about ten 
days old. Probably the supply of live food was insufficient. 
It was rather a pity, as they are such handsome birds, and I 
should have liked to be able to follow the change of the voung 
to adult plumage. A bird that I have found much easier to 
breed is the Yellow-Sparrow (Passer liiiciis). The cocks are 
extremely pretty birds, quite as attractive in colouring, as manv 
of the so called " Ornamental Finches." and not at all quarrel- 
some with other birds. In 1013 I bred several voung ones, and 
have done so once or twice since. Very few of these prettv 
birds appear to have been imported during the last few vears. 
which I think is rather to be wondered at in view of their 
easiness to keep. 
