134 Notes of thi' Season. 



I liave succeeded in i earing seven line youni:: birds in the course 

 «il the season, from my two pairs. 



Stanley Parrakeets (Flatyccrcus ictcrotis) : May 20th 

 was really an exciting" day for me, for I noticed my hen Stanley 

 si)ent most of her time in the nest. On June 7th we found an 

 egg" lying on the grass in the flight; this did not look very 

 hopeful, but she continued sitting, so 1 hoped on. On July 

 jnd, however, my hopes were dashed to the ground, for then I 

 dicovered the nest contained one cold egg. An examination, 

 however, revealed that it contained a half-formed chick, so my 

 hopes are now centred on next season, as my greatest ambition 

 at the present time is to breed some Stanley Parrakeets. 



CocKATEEi.s (Calof^sittacus novac-hoUandiac) : My pair 

 h.ave behaved very Ixidly — at least I must not blame the hen T 

 suppose, for on May 20th we took away sixteen infertile eggs, 

 and on June 17th she forsook eleven; on July 25th we took away 

 twelve, and to-day (Oct 8th) we found she had forsaken eleven 

 more — all were infertile ! The cock is to all appearance a fine 

 healthy bird, but, T fear, the fault is his. T do not know 

 whether he is too young or otherwise; he does not look an aged 

 bird. 



By the way, I am afraid I have proved that there must 

 be exceptions (There are to all rules and dogmas. — Ed.) to the 

 almost universal belief in the docility of Cockateels. On June 

 Tst I found my blue-bred Green Budgerigar lying dead in the 

 seed-pan, with a badly picked skull. The only other occupants 

 rf the aviary were the Cockateels! I fancy somehow that the 

 budgerigar may have trespassed too near the cockateel's nest — 

 anyhow, I have wired off the budgerigars, as T do not feel T 

 del re try the blue-breds with them any more. 



[Though a reasonable deduction, it by no means follows that 

 such was the case, for, of late years, many accounts of budgeri- 

 gars proving" very combative with each other have appeared, so 

 a['parently prolonged domestication has neither improved their 

 manners nor their amiability. — Ed.] 



Budgerigars {Melopsittacus undnlatus) : My common 

 Trreens have done very badly this season and have proved very 

 disappointing, as I usually do well with this species. Perhaps 

 it was not their fault, as I have so many odd birds, till in August 



