304 P. B. Webb—Common or Bed-headed , and Tri-coloured


The day the young birds are due to arrive these should be again supplied

as usual, then increased gradually until the young birds are each getting

the same share as their parents when about nineteen days old. They

leave the nest at the age of eighteen to twenty days.


It is as well to look into the nest about the third day to see how

many young birds there are (if any). Parrot Finches do not mind their

nests being looked at provided it is done by the right person, in the

right way, and of course not too often. It is, however, safer to do it

when the parents are in the flight—“ What the eye does not see, etc.”

I once made the mistake of closing the entrance to the flight while

I had a peep. It was not till about two hours later that I remembered

to open it, and of course the result of the mistake was fatal. Here is

a better idea : instead of closing the door put your handkerchief in

the hole. If you forget to remove it you will miss your handkerchief

in a very short time—at any rate I do !


Young Parrot Finches soon learn to eat Millet Sprays, and it will be

found that a pair of old birds and four youngsters will get through

almost a whole spray in a day ; certainly four sprays will not last more

than five days.


It should not be found necessary to remove the young Parrot

Finches from their parents, at least until their younger brothers and

sisters are hatched. Even then I don’t think it would matter much,

as they don’t give the least trouble, neither do the old birds do them

any injury as some birds—such as Cuba Finches—would.


They are about the most peaceable family that one could imagine.

Several families will live together in perfect harmony. In fact I have

had a pair and three odd cocks in one aviary who have had two families

without the least bit of squabbling. The three odd cocks did not worry

the paired hen, but neither (so far as I know) did they give any

help with the rearing of the family. These birds were Red-heads.

A similar success, but not so marked, has been obtained with a pair

of Blue-heads and two odd cocks. In this case two young were hatched

and reared in the first nest, but the hen deserted the second nest the day

before her four fertile eggs were due to hatch. This was due, how¬

ever, to the birds being frightened too late in the evening for the hen

to find her way back to the nest.



