92



P. W. Teague—Gouldian Finches



on observations from an odd nest or two, for I am now well away with

my second generation, and have strong hopes of breeding my third

generation this next summer. Out of fourteen youngsters hatched

in May and June, twelve were kept in the outside aviary, unheated,

and with no artificial light—the other two were brought indoors

and kept in a cage. These two completed their moult when about

10 months old, whilst the twelve outside had not completed theirs

until 12 months old or more. Two August hatched birds were kept

together, fed and treated exactly alike, one moulted completely

to adult plumage except its head at 9 months old, whilst the other,

which is now 19 months old has scarcely changed a feather, yet another

from a December hatch, was half through its moult when 6 months

old then stopped, leaving it with a very patchy appearance.


Personally, I prefer the early hatched birds, because there is often

an abundance of fresh seeding grasses and green food to be obtained

which gives the youngsters that extra bit of stamina to stand the strain

of winter and the moult. Yet on the other hand my feeding method

has successfully reared the very late ones and it will help the town

enthusiasts who experience great difficulty in obtaining fresh seeding

grasses. The great danger in late breeding is egg-binding in the hens,

and one must be constantly looking out for this. Probably there

is nothing new about my feeding methods except perhaps the frequent

use of Virol in the water, neither am I going to suggest you try

experiments I saw recommended by a certain writer a little time ago.

I was forced to experiment and I have paid the usual price, but it was

the only way I could get any satisfactory information about these

birds. Individual Gouldians, like human beings, have varied tastes,

with one exception, and that is, they all eat a large proportion of canary

seed, so give them the best. In addition I give white millet and red

millet—some Gouldians are very fond of red millet, whilst others

scarcely touch it. Indian millet is also supplied, but chiefly in the form

of spray millet. All seeds are given in separate hoppers which

I make out of half-pint bottles on the same principle as the water

bottle. These hoppers I stand on two rails (2 inches or so from the

bottom) in a box about 5 inches deep and long enough to stand all the

bottles in with a space of about J in. between each, this allows



