than I liked. One Gouldian cock on eggs got a broken beak and 

 had to be despatched, but that casualty was put down (rightly, I 

 think) to an evil tempered Blue-wing who could not, or would 

 not lay eggs, though she sat steadily for weeks at a time. Still 

 nesting Parrakeets and Finches are best kept apart if it can be 

 managed. 



She had a most curious habit of carrying small chips 

 tucked in among the upper breast feathers, I might almost say 

 the lower throat feathers as she liked to get them in as high up 

 as possible, going through curious contortions to get them 

 there. My Blue-winged and Madagascar hens did the same (but 

 that is another story). I cannot say for certain which species 

 started it, but the Hanger was the first to be seen at the game. 

 Her unusual position on the ground away from seed trays first 

 attracted my attention and I saw her tucking away small bark 

 chips (gnawed off b) r larger Parrakeets). Afterwards I saw her 

 carry off all sorts of odds aud ends, hemp and canary husks, small 

 bits of steins and petals of flowers, flakes of cuttle fish, all small. 

 Lots (apparently all) fell out at once, but inspections of her nest 

 boxes showed that 'she did get a good lot of rubbish into them. 

 She showed no inclination to sit steadily even when I restrained 

 uiy curiosity to give her no excuse for shifting her quarters. 



As to food I think the best staple is boiled rice with milk 

 poured over it. The rice should be properly cooked, each grain 

 soft but separate, not the sticky mass many English cooks 

 insist on serving up, and which none of my birds would touch. I 

 am told the fault lies in not allowing the rice to strain long 

 enough on the range. I know that any cook can do it right 

 if you stick to it. Mine also eat a great deal of soaked gram (a 

 sort of pea), a certain amount of canary and rather less of hemp 

 seed. They are very fond of sweet fruit (bar stone fruit which 

 none of my Parrakeets cared for), green stuff and flowers, if placed 

 convenient. They are by no means lazy birds, on their own 

 ground or rather branches, but they like things convenient. 

 Dealers try to force them on to hard seed alone, which I am sure 

 is not good for them. I have seen and had birds on hard seed 

 which were lovely to look at, but they had little go in them and 

 were not long lived. When I go out again to India I shall try to get 



