The IhccduKj of Bantard'.s I'urruhccts. iii)? 



youiii;-, uulil tlu! laUci' wi'i'c many days old. For sujiic lime 

 nulluiiy was sera ul cilluT ol llu' liriis, b;il ,tU,)ul riyht \V!!e'ks 

 aider sIk' liad licyuu to sil i.e., at Iha end oi i\iay.i Tho 

 lir.st ro-aj'iH'arud, and 1 iriia^ruied would assist her husband iu 

 the eart! oi her childnMi until they were ready to lly. She did 

 not, however, behave as i explcted, ior in u ^■ei•y sliOit tiiui- 

 she went to nest ayain cdose by, it is true, so that slu' <,lid 

 not yreaily tax her male's wings or meniory, but, she gavi' liiiii 

 no turlher a^isistance in i'eeding the brood. Tiiis habit of 

 leaving- the young of the lirst broou in, the entire charge of the 

 cock is probably a natural one, but in this instance it seemed 

 most unl'oi'iunate and i I'eared that all three establislunents 

 would suilex- by the hen's premature anxiety to lay again. 

 However, two tine young bii-ds eventually made their appear- 

 ance, and although it is only too lilcely that they were not the 

 sole occupants of the nest, and that two others, at least, per- 

 ished -bf ^starvation, the result was a great deal better than 

 might have been expected. 



For •some time afier leaving the nest the young were fed 

 by the e(K'k aiul did not wander far. He would lly to the 

 garden nearly a mile away, lill his crop with seed and gi'een- 

 footl, and then I'eturn to the spot wdiere lie had last seen." his 

 famiU and start his clear w'histlhig "Ivuk-ti, kuk-ti, kuk- 

 ti." The young birds would hear him and answer by whistling 

 and shaking their taiis,--an action which is usually a sign of 

 anger in adults, but is, also employed to attract the attention 

 of a passing lloek of their kind which they may hear (iying 

 over them. As soon as their father came within sight the 

 young Barnard's began to utter a different and moi'c plaintive 

 note and Hew up to him, when he would proceed to feed tht-m 

 from the crop in the usual Parrakeet fashion. 



In June the secoiid hen emerged from her nest, and 

 from her hurried manner of feeding and the quantity of seed 

 she consumed, I felt certain that she too, had young. For 

 many days I anxiously awaited their appearance: the hen soon 

 vanished; having evidently started another nest, l;ut from Ihe 

 first one nothing came, and at last it became only too evident 

 that a catastrophe had occurred, the over -taxed father having 

 j.rotiably forgotten or neglected his third establishment. 



Some weeks later the fli'st hen re -appeared and not long 



