167 



recovered, and then I took another friend's advice and fed them 

 on soaked seed on which they did fairly well for a time but 

 always required careful watching and fairly frequent doses of 

 magnesia. 



My next attempt was with a pair of Varied Lorikeets and 

 a pair of Violet-neck Lories, these were fed on bread and milk, 

 and with careful watching did very well for a considerable time, 

 but all died from the same cause, viz. : the milk curdling in 

 the stomach owing to extreme acidity and thus causing death. 



I then obtained privately a large collection of very rare 

 specimens, amongst them three Black Lories, and one Black- 

 winged ~L,oxy*(Eos cya?iogenys) probably the only one ever seen alive 

 in Europe. Naturally I was a bit anxious about their welfare and 

 was perpetually racking my brains to think of a more suitable 

 diet. Evidently the milk sop was the most suitable, but how to 

 prevent the acidity was the question ; the milk sop was boiled 

 and watered down but with every care an analysis of the excreta 

 always showed a dangerous amount of extremely acid milk curd, 

 some of the small specks of curd being very tough. Thinking 

 out the problem one night I suddenly thought of barley water, 

 and next morning I instructed my aviary man to mix a certain 

 proportion with the sop, the result was most satisfactory and in 

 a few days the excreta of every specimen in my aviaries were 

 perfectly normal. For over a year now my Lories have given no 

 more trouble or anxiety than the hardiest seed-eaters, and they 

 are all in the most perfect condition. 



This past summer I thought I was going to have some 

 nesting successes, for a pair of Black-capped Lories nested three 

 times always laying on the ground, but all the eggs proved clear. 

 Also a pair of Red-collared Lorikeets, that I have had for over 

 two years, nested four times with a similar result. The Black 

 Cap Lories did not sit very well which may have accounted for 

 the eggs not hatching, but the Red-necks sat very well indeed, 

 so, as often happens in matters avicultural one must live in 

 hopes. 



Those people who have not kept tropical birds in aviaries 

 often think it necessary to keep up a very high temperature and 



* Mr. Millsum lias had one of this species since February. 



