Here is another query for the aviculturist. Is it in
any way possible to rear young swallows that have lost their parents? The effort is being made ; but the most difficult subjects of all are birds which feed, as swallows feed, by regurgitation. Birds differ strangely in dietetics. There are many superficial likenesses between the partridge and the pheasant, but the one is as difficult as the other is easy to rear in captivity. This year a cat killed a mother partridge sitting on a large clutch in a Surrey garden. The eggs were found stone cold ; but nevertheless every one hatched within a few days under a hen. Infinite care was taken to rear the 14 babies. But all began to pine at a certain date and in the sequel only one survived. It became even tamer than the domestic hens and would come to a call. The same thing occasionally happens with the broods of wild birds : they dwindle out of life mysteriously, though usually at a later date than these hand-fed orphans. No bird makes a more affectionate pet. It will even run about with its master almost like a dog ; and its low calls almost suggest
the purring of a cat. * * * *
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