42 M. Amsler—Breeding Results at Delmonden Manor


remember how completely at sea I felt on many minor details when

I first began trying to breed Pheasants just eighteen months ago.


Turning to Passerine birds I at once feel much more at home, having

kept these constantly for upwards of thirty years.


I wonder how many present members of the Society can remember

the Australian collectors Payne and Wallace, who used to import

thousands of Gouldian, Long-tailed, Parson, and other Grass Finches

as well as a goodly number of the rarer Painted Finch; I well remember

my visit to Bath where these collections were housed in 1907.


The birds were kept in long and roomy box store cages : —the perches

ran from one end to the other of the cages and each succeeding perch

was a little higher and farther back than its neighbour.


Each of these boxes contained literally hundreds of birds and I

can remember my wonder at not seeing a single bird with its eyes

closed—or its head under a wing.


First, the birds were cleaned out several times a day—the grit,

which was ground quartz, was in feeders ; the seed, mainly canary

also in tins, was fixed to the front of the cage and any husks and spilt

seeds went through the cage floor which was composed of wire netting

for about 3 inches back from the bottom rail—it will be readily under¬

stood that the birds could thus not possibly eat waste or fouled seed

and the collectors attributed their success to this arrangement.


Certain it is that these birds lived when taken away and that they

did not require all the various chemicals and patent foods which are

now given them.


To return to 1937 and my own birds :—■


Siberian Bullfinches reared two young wdiich is rather unusual,

but our member, Mrs. Charles Seymour, had the good fortune to double

that number though it must be admitted that her hen had been in

England for two years and was therefore quite settled down and at

home.


Blue Grosbeaks (I think Cyanocompsa cyanea) for the second

year made no attempt to nest. These are very lovely birds but rather

wild. The cock has quite a nice, if somewhat monotonous, song.


Cuban Finches only reared two young, whereupon the hen died.

These little birds always interest visitors and appear to be ready breeders



