Edward J. Boosey—The Masked Grassfinch



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I become that the frequent failure—particularly among Finches—to

bring up their young ones successfully is due, in almost every case, to

their owners’ inability to resist the temptation “ just to have one

look in the nest to see how they’re getting on The result is that the

parents are given a feeling of insecurity, which is fatal.


It is significant how often a person who has succeeded in rearing

a brood of notoriously shy breeders in a large aviary will end an account

of the incident with the remark : “ And the extraordinary thing was

I never even knew they had young ones ! ”


It is not, of course, extraordinary at all, for it provides the clue

to their- success.


In a large planted aviary they will build their nests in bushes,

but failing that they prefer an open to a closed nest-box. All our

Masked Finches are bred here in our own “ Keston ” wire Finch nests,

which seem to suit them admirably.


The eggs are white, and incubation lasts from 14 to 15 days, the

young ones remaining in the nest about a month.


One gentleman in California states that they are fond of carrying

pieces of charcoal into the nest, presumably in order to keep it clean

and sweet. Masked Finches are not among the earliest of breeders

and newly imported specimens, particularly, seldom settle down to

breed until late in the season.


They should be fed on a mixture of white and brown millet and

canary, but the biggest proportion should consist of the latter, since

many seem not to care much for ordinary millet. They are, however,

very fond of millet spray and green food, such as flowering grass,

spinach-beet, etc. Mealworms or other live food should be supplied

when they have a brood to feed. The young leave the nest with a

lead-coloured beak which gradually changes to yellow.


They can be wintered without heat, provided they have a well-

constructed, damp-proof shelter to roost in at night.



