200 



The old Red-heads were sitting steadily on eggs 

 again on the 23rd October. On 27th I had to have a 

 great clearing up, as I had to go into camp for the cold 

 weather, and I had decided to put a good many birds 

 in a large cage in the house for the winter ; hence the 

 catastrophe. I foolishly let go the old cock Red in 

 the house (by mistake of course), and he was out of 

 the window in a minute. Then I put the hen out in 

 a native bamboo trap-cage and she got out ; then after 

 careful examination the four young and the old Black 

 cock were distributed in or near traps with no result. 

 The truants were seen the next morning, but not 

 again. They looked splendid, but I don't want to see 

 a similar sight again, in Bakloh at any rate. I went 

 into camp on the 29th. Their eggs were put into a Spice 

 Bird's nest, and were hatched — to judge by the row. 

 My wife, who was not to join me in camp till December, 

 thinks that the young Spice Birds were also hatched. 

 It was the Spice Birds' first attempt at a nest, or other 

 results than ordinar}' vanishing- might have been 

 looked for. 



In the light of after events I wish I had let the 

 Red-heads chance it in the verandah aviary, as in that 

 there was only one death, (one Orange-cheek which 

 had survived many trials) ; indoors the casualties ran 

 to one young hen Gouldian, and five young Red 

 Avadavats out of six comprising two broods. Outside 

 in the aviary one pair of Avadavats were left, as they 

 had young in the nest. Their first brood of three had 

 been taken indoors. Before my wife left these young 

 (five) were out, and when we returned in March, 1905, 

 these were all alive and are so now. So if the Reds 

 had been left out I should probably now have had not 

 only the old ones, but some young as well. 



The fledgling plumage has often been described, 

 but there seem to be varied opinions as to the moults. 

 Before uiv wife left at the end of November their 



