vi ule 
'l reeding 
(' 02 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Mule Breeding. 
A Lady Amateur’s Experiences. 
By MARGARET E. M. HEWITT. 
(<Continued from page 64.) 
Model Parents. 
The cock and hen Redpoll were in¬ 
defatigable in feeding the two young 
birds with groundsel and chickweed, 
which I gave them three times a day. 
The other birds did not disturb them 
at all, although one of the Linnets used 
to try and help with the feeding some¬ 
times. I never saw either of the Siskins 
go near the nest. The difference in size 
between the two young ones in the Red¬ 
poll’s nest was more apparent after a 
few days, and I was afraid of the 
smaller one being smothered by the 
larger and more vigorous nestling, so 
I transferred it to the Canary’s nest, and 
she fed the two under her charge with 
untiring care. But there was a marked 
difference between these two also, not 
so much in size as in the shape of the 
beak. 
The Redpolls ’ Tender Care. 
The young bird in the bird-room left 
the nest on the fourteenth day, and it 
was pretty to see the pair of Redpolls 
following it about, and watching over it 
lest the other birds in the room should 
molest it. When it was fully fledged it 
was a very pretty little creature, with 
plumage of a greyish hue, the breast 
very light, densely speckled with black. 
I was surprised that this should be the 
plumage of a young Redpoll, although 
I knew that the nest feathers of a bird 
are generally very unlike the adult 
plumage ; but I was still more astonished 
when little “ Plucky ” (as I called him) 
began to moult, for then the silver grey 
on the breast was replaced by a very 
pretty yellow green, and by degrees the 
plumage became that of the Siskin, ex¬ 
cept that the green was much less vivid, 
and the top of the head was dark olive 
green, instead of black. 
“ Pluckys ” Parentage Solved. 
There was no longer any doubt about 
“ Plucky’s ” father. It must have been 
one of the Siskins, although neither of 
them took the slightest notice of the 
young bird. His song was more like 
that of the Redpoll than the Siskin, but 
in his manners and in his greediness he 
resembled the Siskin. We had a very 
hot summer the year he was two years 
old, and the bird room being at the top 
of the house was very hot, although 
the French windows were open all day 
long. The heat affected “ Plucky ” in 
a peculiar way; all the feathers came 
off his head and neck, and for months 
he was perfectly bald. 
I thought I would try the open-air 
treatment for him, so I sent him to an 
outdoor aviary, and he came back to 
me after four months in splendid 
plumage. He lived for nearly five 
years, and when he died I took him to 
a naturalist to be stuffed. I asked him 
if he knew what the bird was, and he 
answered without hesitation, a “ Siskin. 
“Tot” and 11 PetP 
I have still the history of the other 
two young birds, “ Tot ” and “ Pet, to 
relate. “ Tot,” the youngest and 
smallest, was exactly like the old Red¬ 
poll, who must have been his father, 
which accounts for the difference which 
I noticed from the first between him 
