148 Red- crested Cardmais. 



covered with long black down. A few days l)efore the time 

 for hatching I supplied the parents with some soft food, made 

 of crushed Osborne biscuit, and the yolk of a hard boiled (\gg, 

 and mixed into a crumbly paste with scalded milk. Tlii i 

 they ate readily. I also supplied them with plenty of gre>M 

 food, fruit, and mealworms, and any garden insects that I 

 could get hold of ; these, however, just at this time were very 

 scarce. 



The young birds grew rapidly, and soon began to put on 

 feathers, and at twelve days old the stronger one jumped out of 

 the nest, being followed on the next day by the other one. 

 They were very " perky " little birds, hopping about, jerking 

 their tails and nodding their heads. 



In colour they were considei-aljly duller than their 

 parents', the pointed red crest and throat of the old birds 

 being replaced by a small rounded crest and throat patch of 

 snuff brown. The breast was white as in the adult. The 

 back, wings, and tail were of a greyish-sooty-brown, .ievoid 

 of markings. 



I was lucky about this time in linding a large ants' 

 nest, and although the cocoons were rather small they were 

 greedily eaten by the old birds. Green caterpillars began 

 to (get more plenliful, and the young birds grew and were 

 soon as big, and able to lly as well, as the old birds., Another 

 difference noticeable in the young at this age was that they 

 showed a considerable amount of white in their llight feathers, 

 those of the old birds being black. They were fed by the 

 cock bird for some time after they could feed themselves. 



About that time (July 20th) I noticed the hen making 

 angry darts at the young birds, but she never actually attacked 

 them. It was now obvious that she wanted to go to nest again, 

 so I fixed up a small orchid basket in the inner house, and 

 they soon built another nest, and again three eggs were laid, 

 all being hatched. The old birds, however, were not so at- 

 tentive, and two of the young ones died; the other grew quickly 

 but, when about a fortnight old, he fell out of the nest. I 

 should have said that I had previously fixed some long twiggy 

 branches from the floor to the higher perches, up which the 

 young birds might hop. ,This last youngster grew to be 

 full grown, but was never so strong as the two earlier ones, 



