F. E. Matthews—Breeding Notes



327



soon as I appeared and took her mealworms on the wing, returning

to her nest shortly afterwards. This third nest was outdoors at the

end of the flight. The cock (though the pair agreed well) held aloof

from his domestic duty—to feed the young ones. I never saw him

enter the nest. I wonder whether he, or the hen, were to blame for

the failures ? I fancy somehow he was. The hen was entirely satisfactory

until the end. Have any of my readers had a similar experience ? In

this district, owing to the low flying of ’planes overhead birds are liable

to be disturbed if not steady sitters.


In a small adjacent flight a steady pair of Dufresnes prepared a

marvellous nest inside a covered box. The hen sat well, the cock

sharing duty. These little birds had evidently great hopes, but no

young birds appeared ; it was a long time before they gave up. Their

second effort yielded no results. Their nest was composed, I should

think, of everything they could find. The cock never wearied of adding

to it, until the box became quite an Early Victorian abode, feathers,

coloured wools, sacking fibre, forming an enveloping cloud to the tiny

eggs almost concealed. The cock was on the watch ; if I put another

strand of wool in a wee basket on the door of the flight, before my back

was turned it had been added to the clutter surrounding his wee mate.

These birds certainly deserved a family !


A pair of Violet Ears, put out during the warmer spell, quickly

started nesting. During last autumn and winter they nested indoors

several times. The hen has been a very prolific layer, always starting

well, the cock also brooding the eggs. From some cause they failed at

the end to bring it off, though the eggs in several instances were

fertile. My efforts to employ Bengalese as foster parents fell through.

I feel they will do better themselves sometime as they are such steady

birds. When this last damp weather started, reluctantly, I brought them

indoors. The change in no wise upset the hen ; she started feeding

at once, and then laid an egg in her usual rush nest fixed in their cage.

I find that most birds prefer these closely plaited rush nests, resting in

the fork of a branch and fixed high up in their dwelling, to ordinary

boxes. I make a good number of them. Most breeders, I think, love

Violet Ears, and with reason. My two are very tame, especially at this

season. You can go close up and converse with them ; they chirp back

in reply. All new kinds of food are sampled at once. A millet spray



