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Spratt's Partridge Meal, preserved yolk of egg, ants' 

 cocoons, dried flies, household bread crumbs and 

 boiled potato, with a liberal sprinkling of scalded 

 grocers' currants. In addition he gets some living 

 insects daily (mealworms if nothing else is available), 

 also ripe fruit and green stufi". He bathes three times 

 at least each day, and is so fond of the water that he is 

 usually in the bath while it is being filled, and does 

 not object to some of the water being poured over 

 him ; consequently he is always in perfect trim, in fact 

 a perfect avian " masher." 



Not the least of his attractions is his beautiful 

 song ; this was rather meagre when he came into my 

 possession, but he was just commencing the moult ; 

 he has since learnt the Blackbird's song, (these birds 

 frequent my garden in fair numbers), and his notes are 

 very rich, full, clear, and flute like ; at times they are 

 .somewhat marred by a rather harsh scream, which is 

 a good imitation of the call of the male Cockateel. 

 His song can be distinctly heard at least 300 yards 

 from the aviary. He does not run, but hops, and when 

 his spirits happen to be high, these hops are prodigious; 

 he arches himself almost in a crescent, beak and tail all 

 but touching the ground, the tail being spread fanwise, 

 and goes bounding forward. At such times the Cock- 

 ateel flees for his life ; but it is only exuberance of 

 .spirits on the part of the Ouzel, and he never does any 

 harm. He has for companions, Waxbills, Grassfinches, 

 Weavers, Doves, Cardinals, Liothrix, Buntings, Bud- 

 gerigars, and Cockateels. I must speak of him as I 

 find him, and in the above company he has been, as I 

 said before, a well conducted and most engaging 

 fellow, and in spite of high spirits and large size has 

 not harmed the smallest inmate of the aviary. 



He is as " hard as nails," and cares nothing for the 

 worst vagaries of our English weather. His flight is 



