205 



though I can quite understand that there would be 

 ructions on introducing a new pair in the breeding 

 season. 



The cock is sometimes a little ardent in his 

 wooing (my old Black-head is), but often with good 

 cause. For instance I have a Red hen who was a flirt ; 

 she was always violently in love with a Red next door ; 

 it was no good giving into her wish, her thoughts then 

 turned to another next door, may be a foretime 

 partner. Next door was also my dear old cock Black- 

 head, who rejected all possible partners in his own 

 aviary (all Blacks), and had set his heart on the 

 flighty hen. I knew the old gentleman's little ways, 

 and in spite of my wish to keep colours together, 

 decided to give the flirt a lesson. At first she tried to 

 carry on the old game, then there were one or two 

 domestic scenes, rather alarming to the spectator, 

 but now she is the dutiful mother of good eggs, and 

 peace is restored to both aviaries. 



The chief charm of Gouldians lies in the amount 

 of individual character they possess and their habit of 

 asking for what they want. I cannot say that I have 

 noticed that the brighter Red has any advantage or 

 disadvantage in the matter of sexual selection. It 

 seems to be a question of a particular bird, not a 

 particular colour. 



On inspecting the young at the moment of 

 writing (Sept. 2nd, 1905) I find that the colour of 

 their "beads" is the same as that noted last )'ear. 

 The father of this lot has the longest pintails I've 

 seen, though there are some nice ones in the aviary. 

 Over two -thirds of the entire length of tail is taken 

 up by ihe Jifie part of the pin feathers, which becon:es 

 so fine for about an inch from the tip that it is 

 practically invisible except against a good back- 

 ground. 



I have mentioned cold several times, and I 



