C. H. Macklin —1935 Breeding Episodes



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Other breeding successes during the season were with Cuban Finches,

twelve reared ; Greater St. Helena Waxbills, two ; Bengalese, six ;

Cherry Finch, one reared by Bengalese ; Bichenos, two ; Black-cheek

Lovebirds, ten. Aurora Finches nested three times and hatched, but

failed to rear seven chicks; in each case they deserted them after a day

or two ; on the last occasion I transferred the two babies to Bengalese,

but although they lived a few more days their foster parents also failed

to rear them. They probably needed considerably more live food than

they got; Bengalese feed their own young almost entirely on

regurgitated seed and a little soft food. Cordon Bleus laid several

clutches of eggs, but failed to hatch any. A pair of Pagoda Mynahs

also laid several clutches of pale blue eggs in an old Budgerigar nest-

box, making a nest of green privet leaves, but the eggs were all clear ;

I don’t think they made much effort to incubate; they were very wild

and were possibly interfered with by other inmates of their aviary.

Another failure was with a pair of Silver Pheasants; the hen duly laid

a clutch of eight eggs, which I put under an alleged broody hen, who,

however, only sat for a week and then deserted and spoilt the eggs.


A hen Queen Whydah laid several small white eggs in various

nesting receptacles, but nothing, of course, came of them as there

were unfortunately no suitable foster parents breeding at the same time

in that aviary, or possibly the first Queen Whydah might have been

reared in captivity. I did not find the eggs in time to put them under

Bengalese, and should not have known whose they were had she not

laid in a shew cage later on.


A pair of Saffron Finches built a neat nest of dried grass stems and

root fibres in a Budgerigar box, but the five eggs, marked rather like

a Skylark’s, were clear.


The pair of Cuban Finches in the same aviary as the Parrot Finches

nested directly they were put outdoors in May, and went steadily on

until taken indoors in October. They used throughout the same nest,

a coco-nut husk hung under the roof of the open shelter, lining this with

shreds of felt from an old piece of carpet felt hanging on the shelter

door ; they hatched five nests of from two to five youngsters and fully

reared twelve of them. I found that the cock started to bully the

young birds when the next nestful were getting feathered. It was very



