A, Sherriff — Black-headed Sibias at Liberty 23


BLACK-HEADED SIBIAS AT LIBERTY


By A. Sherriff


I thought it might be of interest to record some further notes on

the breeding of my Black-headed Sibias.


The original birds which first reared young in 1925 have surpassed

themselves in 1931 in spite of the bad weather. Their aviary is

situate in a garden which is within a short distance of bus and tram

routes, but which has the merit of being fairly open for a London

garden.


In the middle of April the usual opening was made in the wire of

this aviary. The birds had already gone to nest and the hen was sitting

on two eggs. For some reason, known only to the birds, the nest was

suddenly deserted ; it was decided, however, to allow them to continue

their freedom. Shortly afterwards a neighbour informed me that some

strange birds, they presumed belonged to me, were busy building a nest

in a fir-tree close to their sitting room window. They told me they

would watch the birds and do their best to prevent any marauders,

such as cats or squirrels, interfering with them. The nest was completed

and three eggs were laid—everything appeared to be going on well.

Suddenly, however, the hen bird failed to appear for her food and was

not seen for two or three days. The nest had been constructed close

to a fence and I feared that a cat had put an end to all dreams of young

Sibias. The nest had been tipped up and three broken eggs were found

at the foot of the tree. The hen, however, was still alive and was seen

once again carrying nesting material. This failure was due probably

to grey squirrels, of wdiich there are many about and which some

people will feed although they would be terrified at the thought of

having anything to do with their first cousins the rats.


The position of the third nest was in a monkey-tree in a near-by

garden. Everything here appeared to progress satisfactorily. After

about three weeks both birds were busy taking mealworms away back

to the nest—so far, so good. Suddenly, they ceased to be interested

in mealworms except for their own consumption. What had happened ?

Three young fledgelings were found at the foot of the tree, dead. A

Blackbird had a nest only about 2 feet away from the Sibias and it



