248 



to feed each other just as a regular pair would have 

 done. Someone having presented the lady with a 

 male Redface she thought her two hens would be 

 delighted to welcome him to their society and accord- 

 ingly put him into their cage, but to her surprise, the 

 hens fell upon him beak and claw, and would certainly 

 have killed the poor little fellow if she had not in- 

 tervened and taken him away. After the removal of 

 the male, the hens talked a good deal to each other, 

 went down to the seed box, and had a feed, always 

 side by side, exactl}^ (as their mistress observed) like 

 two nice old ladies having a cup of tea together, and 

 discussing the latest parochial news. 



A friend of mine had a pair of white or Albino 

 Jackdaws which he was very anxious should breed, as 

 he was interested to know whether the young would 

 resemble their parents or be like the ordinary mem- 

 bers of their race, but unfortunately for his plans, the 

 female fell violently in love with himself, would call 

 to him and follow him about everywhere when he 

 went into the aviary, which was an unusually large 

 one. In vain he attempted to drive her away and 

 convince her of the folly of her conduct. She abso- 

 lutely rejected all the advances of her mate and laid a 

 lot of eggs which of course came to nothing. 



Someone else I knew had an exceedingly tame 

 hen Californian Quail, which also became enamoured 

 of her master, and would hail his appearance in the 

 garden with every demonstration of delight, running 

 up and down inside the enclosure as he walked along 

 the path outside. When he ventured into the aviary 

 he had to exercise the greatest care to avoid stepping 

 on her, as she would continually run round and over 



