F. E. Thomas—Breeding the Magpie Tanager



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he flew away was noticeably convex. The birds were not at all timid

and allowed an approach to within a few yards of where they were

sitting. Their voices were not loud or harsh and their usual call was like

the distant squeaking of a rusty hinge. There are three species of

Blue Bonnets, though some ornithologists maintain that there are only

two ; they state that the Yellow-vented and Bed-vented are one and

the same, and they state that the red under-tail coverts are only a

matter of age ; they bring out a long series of skins to show how the

birds graduate from the yellow to the red. I think, and other avicul-

turists in Australia also, that there are two species which gradually

merge into one another. The Yellow-vented form is found in South and

South-Eastern Australia and this merges into the Bed-vented form

which is found in Northern New South Wales and South Queensland.

Dr. Lendon had the three forms in his aviaries in Adelaide ; the

Yellow-vents are quite distinct from the Bed-vents, and this is not a

matter of age. The third species, the Naretha, is quite distinct from

the other two, and besides a difference in plumage is much smaller.



BREEDING THE MAGPIE TANAGER


By F. E. Thomas


It may be amusing to your readers to know of one fairly enthusiastic

aviculturist, who fell into the hobby quite by accident, who now has

about 250 birds, and who now has achieved—he hopes—an avicultural

success also by accident.


The desire and wish for the hobby arose some years ago, after

considerable thought as to the most advantageous manner in which

I might utilize a well-built and quite substantial little house in my

garden, which had been left to the tender mercy of the gardener and

used for no other purpose than that of storing tools ; surely some better

use might be made of this little structure with cemented floor and well

match-boarded throughout, strong enough in the event of another



