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A. Sherriff—Softbills



Of course, these are only personal experiences, other people may

have found differently.


To summarize, there is little doubt, leaving out the question of

“ comparative 5 5 mortality, that, from a food point of view alone, Soft-

bills require more care than Seedeaters, but they are certainly worth

the extra trouble.


The Marquess of Tavistock has mentioned his experiences with Fairy

Blue Birds. I was luckier apparently in so far as the only two I ever

possessed were a true pair. They are most interesting birds but,

like some of the Bulbuls, are rather loose-feathered. Unfortunately,

owing to lack of space they never had an opportunity to go to nest

as they were always together with eight or ten other birds. The hen

became very tame indeed, and would take mealworms, meat, or grapes

from the fingers. She, at various times, used to carry nesting material,

but owing to the reason stated above nothing developed.


A pair of King Birds of Paradise lived well for a long time,

but eventually the cock succumbed, I believe to Polyneuritis, in spite

of continuous treatment. The hen certainly made an attempt to go

to nest by carrying nesting material into a hollow tree-trunk nesting

box but, maybe owing to the cock not being completely fit, nothing

further happened, though he used to display to the hen regularly.


The above is interesting for, I believe, until quite recently the

nesting habits of this Bird of Paradise were unknown and even their

eggs had never been obtained.


Mr. Frost informed me quite recently, however, that he had been

successful in getting the King Bird of Paradise to lay eggs and that the

nesting box used was a hollow tree trunk. This, I believe, took place

in Singapore.


The hen was always much more lively than the cock, even when

they first arrived, and is alive now.


I have never yet kept any of the Sun Birds but hope to do so

one day.


Sugar Birds, however, are very interesting and very beautiful.

A pair of Blue Sugar Birds, which had been in the aviary for some

considerable time, caused great excitement one summer by going to

nest, but unfortunately, out of five eggs laid in two nests, not one was



