My Malabar Mynahs. 7 



As regards food, the adults (the young also now) take 

 milksop freely, also inscctile mixture (containing a good dash 

 ■of grocer's currants), ripe fruit, and live insects. The young 

 were fed on live-food entirely for the tirst week, and, as meal- 

 worms were not pljntiful, they had to do with wasps' grubs 

 and gentles. It was amusmg to watch them, when the li\e- 

 food wai; thrown down; in a Hash the Malabars were on the 

 spot, and one of them never left it till the wants of their 

 progeny were supplied; they made alternate journeys to the 

 nest wiih food, thus alternately feeding their precious babies 

 and standing guard over the live-food till they had satisfied 

 their own and fannly's rcqunenients; and all and sundry were 

 welcome to the leavmgs ! Durmg the second and third weeks 

 of their progeny's existence, ripe fruit, and milk sop was 

 taken to them in gradually increasing quantity, and once the 

 young had left the nest, the parent birds were willing to feed 

 on whatever food was available, but 1 always decrease live- 

 food gradually. 



I have found this species quite hardy — the present is not 

 my first experience with them, and 1 have always found them 

 unafiected by the worst \agaries our winter infiicts upon them. 



I have written at greater length thaq 1 intended, but 

 ha\e striven to avoid mere "packing," and trust I ha\e suc- 

 ceeded, foi space in " Bird Notes/' is loo precious for such 

 indulgence. 



I may add (December 27th), that both young are still 

 living and have successfully moulted, but both are much darker 

 than their parents, and have as yet only indications of the 

 hoary grey of the fully adult bird. 



Psephotus Parrakeets at Liberty. 



iiv Till-: .M.\RgLi.s of TAVisroc k. 



Two obstacles ha\e alua>s interferetl with the success 

 of my experiments with Pscpliotiis Parrakeets, septic fever 

 and Uwls. The first of these migiit be overcome, or rather 

 averted by rigorous measures of quarantine, but the second 

 would be likely to trouble aimosl anyone who cared to risk 



