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Review



for an aviary, and I hope a supply of aviary-bred Parrot Finches will

soon be available to bring the species within the reach of those who

hesitate to secure imported (and generally half-naked) specimens at

the present price of from ten to twelve pounds a pair.


Desertion, due to the hen starting to moult, denied me the privilege

of being, possibly the first, and certainly the second breeder in the

British Isles of Black Seed Finches (Melophyrrha nigra), two young

being almost feathered when the parents ceased to feed them. As this

species is very hardy, and my pair were feeding their young largely

on the invaluable milksop—the use of which generally means successful

rearing—I have good hopes of rearing some of these rather rare and

interesting birds next season. I would be interested to know on what

authority this species is referred to as “ Cuban Bullfinches ”. The facts

that they seen to belong to that genus, and do come from Cuba, is hardly

sufficient reason for giving them a name which seems to have no

scientific authority whatever.


As the other species now in my aviaries are either of no particular

interest or have failed to breed, I will not usurp any more space in

referring to them here.



REVIEW


TERNS OR SEA SWALLOWS


Those of us who love to watch and study our less common British

Birds in their natural haunts, have a very soft spot in their hearts

for the Terns or Sea Swallows, those most elegant and charming of our

sea birds, which, like the true Swallows, pass the spring and summer

months only in our islands, journeying away in the autumn to far

distant southern shores. There is no more delightful experience than

that afforded by a visit in May or June to the summer home of the

Terns, where one has to tread with the greatest care lest one should

crush the eggs or fluffy newly-hatched young, while overhead the air

is full of wheeling, scolding Terns. Over the near-by sea they are also

gliding, ever watchful of the surface of the water, and every now and



