318 J. E. Sweetnam—Notes from a Berkshire Aviary


Finches this season, and the young so fostered and fed seemed to mature

as quickly, and be quite as hardy, as those reared by their natural

parents.


Cherry Finches have been disappointing this season in comparison

to last—when one pair reared twelve young. T think they require a

really warm summer to do well, and they certainly didn’t get it this

year ! Some Cherry hens seem to suffer from a malady akin to egg¬

binding, and with similar symptoms, even though no egg is concerned.

If caged in a warm place for a day or so they generally recover quickly,

and seem none the worse for the experience. Incidentally hen Cherry

Finches seem even scarcer than Parrot Finches, and repeated advertise¬

ments and inquiries failed to secure a mate for a fine cock, which is

still languishing as a bachelor. After three abortive attempts Ruficaudas

are only now (October) rearing their first brood. The earlier failures

were due to addled rather than to infertile eggs and this, and similar

experiences this season with Dufresne’s Waxbills and some other species,

makes one wonder whether there may not be some foundation for the

old belief that a severe thunderstorm—of which we had several just

then—may not contribute to this result.


For the second year in succession Black Seed-finches (Melopyrrha

nigra ) have failed to rear. In each case failure was due to the hen going

into a moult and deserting the young just before the latter were ready

to fly.


To any members interested in Doves I commend a species I have

“ discovered ”. Until I can take the parents to the South Kensington

Museum to compare them with the skins there, I cannot be sure that

I have correctly identified them as the Bronze Kecked (Zenaida

auriculata), which they certainly resemble very closely. My pair were

privately imported from Chile, and are quite the steadiest and most

delightful birds of this family I have come across. In size a little larger

than the Peaceful, the cock is rufus-coloured with a good deal of

iridescent bronze on the throat, the hen duller with no bronze, and the

young dark grey with indistinct barrings on the wings. The species

seems very prolific ; my pair, though freshly imported, immediately

laying a succession of rather large eggs, which they either neglected or

only partly incubated, until they settled down in earnest in September



