J. E. Sweetnam—Some Notes from a Somerset Aviary 359


blood last week—and a beautiful cock Indigo Bunting whose celibacy

is due to failure to secure a wife for him. As a Bunting he should be

partly insectivorous, but I have never known him touch anything

other than seed. My modest collection includes also a pair of Crimson¬

winged Waxbills (so called, but in both appearance and habits they

more nearly resemble Finches) now nesting, pairs of Alario, White-

throated and Guttural Finches, Black-headed Siskins, three or four

pairs of Diamond Doves, and numerous small fry such as Java Sparrows,

Zebra Finches, Bengalee, and Silverbills. There are also some coloured

Canaries, acock Algerian Chaffinch which, mated to a British hen,

produced, but did not fully rear young in June ; and numerous

other British species which have already produced several mules and

hybrids, more remarkable for their vitality than their rarity.


A Chestnut-breasted X Bengalee hybrid which only lived for a

few days might have been saved had I had a true pair of Bengalee

available at the time.


My records to date (30th July) show a total of sixty-five young

reared but, as usual, the majority of these are “ small fry ”, and the

season has, so far, been disappointing.


I would advise anyone who can do so to procure a pair of Black¬

headed Siskins—delightful little birds and persistent breeders. My

only pair are again nesting, undeterred by the fact that their first

clutch was unfertile and, for some unknown reason, the four apparently

strong young in the second nest only survived a week. If they are

more successful this time I hope to contribute some detailed notes

about the nesting habits of this species, of which I can find no such

record. From the day the first egg is laid the hen never seems to leave

the nest, being assiduously fed by the cock who, not content with

this, is ready to assist in the rearing of any other young birds in the

aviary. Though not a very brilliantly coloured bird, his constant

activity and the contrast of black head with yellow body makes him

always conspicuous in an aviary.


I owe an apology to Zebra Finches for the bad character I gave

them in some recent notes in the Magazine. Since then my four pairs

have been exemplary, producing young with a regularity hardly

surpassed even by Silverbills—which latter increase so quickly that one



