32



A. Sherriff—Softhills



Some common Ringnecks intended as foster parents reared three

young of their own, which were given away as pets.


The big hen Banksian, formerly the property of Mrs. Anningson,

laid twice and sat well but her eggs were infertile.


Bib Finches and Zebra Finches at liberty reared a few young as

probably did the Orange Weavers. The latter stayed well and made a

pretty show, one especially obliging cock taking up his residence in

the vegetable garden and allowing parties of visitors to stand and admire

him from a distance of a few yards. My small liberty birds did so

exceedingly badly last winter when I began to keep them partly shut in

that this season I decided to let them take their chance, merely feeding

them into the heated shelter and furnishing it cosily with branches

and boxes. To my surprise quite a number have voluntarily left their

outside roosting quarters and taken advantage of the accommodation

provided for them inside the shelter.



SOFTBILLS


By A. Sherriff


I was most interested in the Marquess of Tavistock’s article on

Softbills which appeared in the October number, and at the risk

of bringing a “ ton of bricks ” on my head I am going to state that

Softbills are the most enjoyable and interesting birds in aviculture.


A few Parrots and many Seedeaters have inhabited the aviaries

during the past ten years together with Softbills, but somehow Parrots

and Seedeaters always seemed to decrease while the numbers of

insectivorous birds increased. Naturally I am referring to conditions

in which only a limited number of birds can be adequately housed.

Of course, if money and space are of no consequence any and every bird

would be welcome. Let me admit that my experience of Parrots is

too limited for them to be included in this article.


Seedeaters never appear to become “ personal in a way in which

a Softbill will. By “ personal ” I mean that one ordinarily does not

expect a Seedeater to come to the hand for a special fine grain of canary



