when they Each Java

melody. Their droll antics, on a fine day, are in spirits, are indeed laughable to see. Sparrow will proceed to the farthest extreme end of one perch, commence singing exactly together, hopping the same step till they meet in the middle, they then rear themselves up on to the very top of their claws, finish their tune simultaneously, and with a jerk, one shoves the other by way of reminder, and he jumps heavily down, only to get up again and repeat the proceeding. I have known them continue this performance for an hour at a time. This pair that I owned were alike to a feather, although the birds were of different sexes. plumage is grey; the tail, wings, and head of jet glossy black, slate coloured legs, red circled eyes, broad red beaks, white cheeks, and the breast a bright deep rose, the feathers being peculiarly soft and bloomy in appearance. The Java Sparrow is a hardy, robust bird, about the size of a Bullfinch, and ranges in price from six to twelve shillings per pair.

The

For brilliancy of colouring, however, nothing can rival the exquisite many-hued little Diamond Sparrow: the scarlet, blue, green, and purple Painted Bunting, or Nonpareil, most deservedly so called; the light and dark shaded Indigo-blue Bird; the flame-tinted Fire Finch; the purple Finch; the rare, costly, tiny, Averdivines; green plumaged, red beaked Avadavats and Violet Amandavas: the two species of Bishop, with their orange and scarlet robes and black hoods; the gorgeous Cardinals; the greater and lesser Weaver

Birds; Brazilian Pettitivas; Angola and African Finches; and the Green Burdgerigars, with their red beaks; the curiously marked Shell Parrot; Grass Parakeets, and numerous descriptions of Love Birds, the uncommon flame headed, and the ordinary best known kinds. Equally striking in appearance as these their vividly-arrayed feathered brethren, although more sober in colouring, are the Parson Finches, with their glossy black plumage and white clerical bands; the dark, graceful, long-tailed Caffrarian Finch; and the merry, agreeable songster, the small "stale mustard" hued Silver Beaks. These last are very engaging, amiable little birds, and share with the Java Sparrow the droll trick of dancing to the musical low flute-like accompaniment of their own sweet voices.

The Diamond Sparrow, and most of the foreign Finch tribe, are smaller in size than the Canary. The latter are also almost invariably fine vocalists, as is the Indigo-blue Bird, Nonpareil, and mellifluous, bright-hued Virginian Nightingale. Nonpareils, Indigo-blue Birds, Bishops, Shell Parrots, and Love Birds are as large as a Goldfinch; and the Cardinals, Virginian Nightingales, considerably greater, more resembling the dimensions of a Pigeon. Nearly each of these valuable birds cost from fifteen shillings and upwards. They will all live amicably with Goldfinches, Bullfinches, Canaries, Linnets, and other familiar British favourites. It is more satisfactory however, if you purpose keeping them altogether in the same aviary, to have this constructed with three sliding

partitions that can be removed at pleasure. Place the helpless, gorgeous, tiny birds, in the centre divisions, with the English birds if you please; the Burgerigars, Java Sparrows, and more aggressive and powerful-beaked beauties in the neighbouring compartment; and the largest birds of the number, such as the Virginian Nightingales, Cardinals, and others, in the fellow to it on the other side. I must warn you that the Caffrarian Finch must have unlimited space wherein to disport his fine tail, or else it will be jostled off, and his appearance will of course be spoilt. The worst of foreign birds is that they lose so much of their loveliness during the winter. In the autumn, when moulting, most of the dazzling vivid colouring fades into rusty brown or nondescript humdrum neutral shades, and retain these until the ardent summer sun once more illumines their feathers, and dresses them again in rainbow tints, transforming the aviary into an entrancing dream of fairyland! The deafening combination of sounds however, soon dispels the illusion, and brings you down to the realities of life and its duties.

Foreign birds are chiefly desirable pets as curiosities. For the most part they are exceedingly dull and uninteresting in disposition. Greedy and very dirty, delicate, quarrelsome, most difficult to naturalise; and far cheaper, more easy and profitable to purchase than to breed, although with a conservatory, and your own leisure entirely at your own disposal to devote to the nesters, this may be done. But it will probably terminate in having occasioned them a good deal of teasing to little

appreciable purpose, as to compensation in results for the entire day spent on their pleasure. If occupations more useful be at a discount and needed, this pursuit at least presents the merit of being interminable. Love Birds build at Christmas time in cocoa-nut shellsa pretty, romantic proceeding, but one entailing certain failure and disappointment to their owner, unless indeed he have his aviary on a very magnificent scale. In conclusion I can only once more repeat to my reader the advice with which I started-namely, that unless he possess the purse of Fortunatus, the patience of Job, and space and leisure unlimited,-forbear from trifling with foreign bird keeping, or his hobby will lead him into endless labour, loss, expense, and waste of time and money over many a hill and dale of difficulty, before he is himself aware of the extent of the mischief and the labouring.

delusion under which he is

CHAPTER XV.

CONCLUSION.

Ir may perhaps be remarked that in this small volume, professedly a manual to practical bird-keeping, no allusion whatever has been made throughout to the subject of cross or mule breeding. If you my reader, will take the trouble to turn to my opening chapters, you will observe that I have markedly insisted on simply describing a mode of action likely to be serviceable and beneficial to a bird's welfare, and conducive to his happiness and enjoyment of life. Now mule breeding may be an amusing as interesting a speculation to a bird's owner, but I deny that as regards himself it can ever be otherwise than distasteful and disagreeable. For example, in Nature "birds of a feather mate together," and whenever different species do voluntarily and by choice pair and build nests, the circumstance is so unusual as to become remarkable; in fact, it is a phenomenon or kind of miracle, being quite apart and out of the established regular order of things. If what I observe be unsound, how do you account for the extreme difficulty everywhere mentioned by bird books and living authorities