P. W. Teague—Gouldian Finches



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dipping its beak into this Virol water, until it began to show signs

of reviving, then it began to shell some soaked seeds; finally recovering

it is now one of my best breeders.


There is no need for me to waste space by attempting to describe

this lovely bird, well known to most of you, but its colouring is gorgeous,

and a true description of the brilliant colours would sound almost

unbelievable to those who have not seen it. I have kept numerous

kinds of birds from time to time, but amongst the seed-eaters, the

Gouldian is one of the most beautiful. It is clean in its habits, and

dainty in every sense of the word, whilst the sibilant little song of the

cock bird is really most pleasing, and so is his quaint little love dance.

A group of ten or a dozen of these brilliantly coloured birds together

in full plumage is a lovely sight.


I cannot tell you anything about its wild life, but I will attempt

to tell you my observations of them in cages and aviaries. They can

be bred with comparative ease in either the outdoor aviary, or a good

sized breeding cage in the house. Some of the most successful hatches

I have had have been in box-pattern breeding cages, 36 X 11 X 16 in.

with a nest-box fixed at one end, well hidden by bits of heather, broom,

and empty millet sprays. Give them plenty of nice soft hay for building

and leave them alone. You will soon hear when you have any young

in the nest. Many have asked me what sort of a nesting box to use,

if anything they show a preference for those small cardboard bird

travelling boxes, and the next best is an ordinary foreign Finch nest-

box, only add a deeper piece of wood to the front. You can give them

a good choice in an aviary, but in the breeding cage I find they will

take to the one provided as a rule, if they intend breeding. Incubation

takes 12 to 13 days, but I have had them go 15 days. The nesting

plumage of the young is plain dusky green, shading to fawn under the

breast without any of the adult coloration. In spite of what previous

writers in our Magazine have said, I find they take a long time to come

into complete adult plumage, and very often not until the second

moult at 18 months or 2 years old; individual birds differ

considerably. I have hatched and successfully reared Gouldians

from early May up to and including December, and I have birds

in my aviaries representing each of those months, so I am not writing



