316



H. L. Sich—Hooded Siskins—A Failure



illusions about him, particularly since last winter when he was at

liberty and not only flirted outrageously with a hen Stanley less than

half his size but tactlessly brought her on to the roof of his wife’s aviary

to the intense annoyance of that ill-used lady ! His taste for low

company also attracts him to the Queen of Bavaria Conures, whose

clownish antics and deafening voices fill every broadtail of refined

disposition with wonder and disgust. The season’s successes and

failures have tended to emphasize the value of natural tree-trunks

as compared with artificial nest-boxes and indicate that the prevalence

or absence of rickets in young birds depends quite as much on the season

as on the feeding. Last year, using cod-liver oil-soaked seed I had

about eighteen bad cases of rickets, three mild ones, and about half

a dozen young birds dying in the nest out of a total of about forty

hatched. This year, without cod-liver oil, I have only had two cases

of rickets, one weakly youngster and seven dying in the nest out of

a total of about sixty-two hatched.


In November the Hooded Parrakeets hatched two young on the

floor of the aviary shelter, but they only lived three days in spite of

artificial heat.



HOODED SISKINS—A FAILURE


By THE LATE H. L. SlCH


One of my disappointments this year is that a pair of Hooded

Siskins hatched out at their second attempt but failed to rear the young.


Soon after they were let out of their winter quarters they took

a fancy to a Hartz cage hung up in the shelter. Two eggs were laid

and then they seemed to lose all interest in the nest, but when going

to get the eggs to give to a Canary I found them quite warm. I

discovered that one of several hen Sporophilce was incubating them.

As I still put the food dishes in the shelter the birds had to come in to

feed. The Hooded Siskins used, after feeding, to fly up on to this

cage and prevent the hen Sporophila from entering it. Matters were

further complicated by a pair of Black-headed Siskins which had a nest

on the opposite wall. The cock used to feed the hen on the nest and



