Breeding Notes from New Zealand and Australia 111


fortunate in inducing a pair I had to breed after having had them

eighteen months or so. I believe the greatest difficulty in breeding

Munia maja is on account of their extreme timidity. I only succeeded

in raising one young.


The Painted Finch (. Emhlema picta). I had wonderful results with

these until the late summer, having bred thirty birds of this extremely

rare species. The majority had moulted out into full colour when

some of the younger ones started dying. At first I thought it was

due to their moulting, but unfortunately awakened to the true facts

too late, when full-coloured birds started dying at an alarming rate.

After isolating the birds and doing everything possible in the way

of tonics, and keeping the birds in a hospital cage at 80° (incidentally

not saving a single sick one) I finished up losing approximately twenty

birds. I understand the disease was enteritis. However, these things

are sent to try us, and I hope to gain by that experience this year.

I have one marvellous pair that have been breeding continuously since

last September, excepting for about two or three weeks, when they went

into a short moult. It will be twelve months in a week or two

since they started. This is no doubt an outstanding performance.


Dufresne’s Waxbill ( Coccopygia dufresnii). I succeeded in raising

four youngsters of this beautiful little bird some months back and,

by the look of things, I do not think it will be long before they will

be building again.


I was fortunate in securing our South Australian Society’s breeders’

medal for all the above species bred this year, so on the whole I am

very satisfied with the season’s results, and only hope the coming

one will be as good.


I have tried time and again with the Melba Finch ( Pytelia melby),

but in vain. One pair have had seven nests, and in the majority of

cases the young die in the shell. I have always encouraged them to

build under cover and this may have been the trouble, as they may

not have obtained enough moisture. On one occasion, in a different

aviary, they nested outside in a bush and raised one young to a fortnight

old, but unfortunately threw it out. I have now turned this pair into

a garden aviary, where they have nested again, so I hope for better

results this time.



