42 The Breeding of the Silver -eared Mesia. 
succeed in obtaininf^ eggs or in having young birds reare'd; 
but, one iias a golden ciiance. That in the Everberg Aviaries 
to-day there are not several aviary-bred Mesias was not the 
fault of the old birds, nor, I can assure my readers, was 
it due to any want of attention on mine. 
It was a cold bitter morning in March last, the actual 
date being the 21st, when upon walking through the aviaries 
I discovered what proved to l>e the commencement of building 
operations — some strands of hay securely fastened to the up- 
right stems of a Laurel bush. After getting over the sur- 
pri.se of this discovery, for apart from the weather being 
unpropitious, the aviary was so well filled that breeding opera- 
tions had not as yet entered into my calculations. T began 
to wonder what birds it could be that in such a variety of 
occupants, for amongst others in this particular aviary there 
were the Mesias, Crackles, Cuban Black-eared Blue Thrushes, 
Cuban Red-legged Thrushes, Rusty-cheeked Babblers, Hard- 
wicke's Fruitsucker, Hangnests, Rose Finches, Black Redstarts, 
Shining Calornis, Green Glossy Starlings, Giant Whydahs, 
Bronze -winged Starlings, also a variety of Pigeons, Doves, and 
Quails. 
Close observation soon revealed the pair, which were 
eager to commence house-keeping in spite of such bitterly cold 
weathe-;-. 'To say tha^ tl at I haunted the outside of that particular 
aviary on this day would be to rightly describe my movements, 
and eventually my patience was rewarded by seeing the Mesias 
carrying strands of hay and dexterously winding them round 
and securely fastening them to three upright stems of the 
bush. They continued their labours until a strongly and 
closely woven open nest began to shape itself, the male bird 
encouraging its mate by his sweet though somewhat loud love 
song. During the initial stages I noticed (all observations 
herein recorded I made "rom the outside, the nest being just 
visible from the out: ide front of aviary, and curiosity 
tempted me to act the spy very frequently) both birds 
carrying and working in what may l>e termed " alternate 
shifts," but once the foundations were securely formed, and 
the outer shell shaped, Madame Mesia began to stay at home, 
whilst her lord and master busied himself collecting and 
carrying the necessary materials while she nimbly placed the 
